Group/Family Portraits

Family Portraits
These are possibly the most important portraits you will take. You are capturing the most important group in most people’s lives, the prized possessions they love the very most. Often, you are recording a rare event—a time when the entire extended family is present. Potentially, these are portraits that will be posted on websites, displayed in offices and homes, and distributed across the country in Christmas cards and given as gifts to extended family. These can become priceless treasures of comfort at times of loss. Taking one’s family portrait is both an honor and a responsibility. In our class portrait sessions, as we practice on each other’s family’s we have the opportunity of providing a service that will be remembered and treasured for years. Feeling over-whelmed? It’s great that we’ll all be there together, and with multiple cameras snapping, we’re certain to get a variety of shots that will be loved and cherished.
Since portraits are so important, I ALWAYS say a personal prayer before each photo shoot and a private prayer of gratitude afterwards. It helps in so many ways. I’ll give a quick summary of some helpful things to know.
What Family Should Wear:
Solids work best, drawing attention to the people rather than the clothes. Choosing a general color scheme is helpful, possibly coordinating with the décor of the room the portrait will hang in. If everyone is wearing the same color, the photo can appear flat (though this is a popular choice, as you’ll see in the examples). A sweater, jacket, or scarf in a different color can help break this up. Choosing a color scheme (like for a large group, request everyone wear blues, blacks or whites) or a variety of shades (black, gray, charcoal, white) helps provide contrast. For women, darker pants make one look smaller; ¾ or long sleeves are more flattering. Broad stripes or patterns distract, drawing the eye to the pattern rather than the people.
Important things to keep in mind
Bring plastic trash bags or mats for people to sit on, a bucket for standing on (photographer) or for someone to sit on.
The group portrait is probably the only portrait that will be enlarged to a size larger than 11x14 (unless it’s a sports poster print). There are all kinds of size options, many depending on the frame. When composing the portrait through your lens, leave some extra space in your composition to allow for cropping. The sizes that capture the entire frame of what you are seeing through the lens end up being 8x12 or 20x30. Typically, people like giving 8x10’s or 11x14’s to parents to update their family’s spot on the photo wall; large framed portraits often end up sized to 16x20 or 20x24. If you’ve filled the frame and composed the perfect family shot with no extra room, when it is printed as an 8x10, for example, 2 inches will be cropped off. Many places online will show you what the cropped print will look like, but often you have to know to even look for it. So, be sure to check a preview of your crop and if it lets you, make that choice yourself. If you forget to leave room for this adjustment, you’ll then need to start looking for frames that are 8x12 or 20x30, which are not as easy to find, don’t have as many options, and usually will cost you more money. Always shoot in the highest quality image setting.
Placement: If it’s a family portrait and there are two parents, I try to always keep them together, visually expressing the “oneness” that marriage creates. With candid and jumping shots, it’s hard to hold fast to this rule, but when possible, I think it’s important. TOUCH is also an important element for making a visual picture of unity. Try to portray love and warmth by having some arms around others, hands holding, hand on shoulder, leaning on, etc… I usually start by arranging the couple (unless there’s an active toddler or baby, I arrange one parent, leave a spot for the other, then arrange everyone else around them (they don’t have to be in the center, just together as a couple), having the parent with the busy toddler come in at the very last. I try to have variety in heights and levels. Remember that whatever is closest to the lens appears larger, so I try to keep everything on the same geometric plane, or as close as possible, which helps with depth of field and making sure everyone is sharply focused.
Once the group is posed, move quickly, change YOUR angle for different looks, without the family moving, shoot from down low, shoot from slightly above, use grasses and foliage to frame the family, come in close, shoot from a distance so background shows.
Take several shots of the same thing—same arrangement, same distance, etc… Hopefully, you’ll get at least one shot that is perfect. But if a head swap is needed, you’ll need several options where everything is the same except for facial expressions. In general, I try to take lots of shots of each family pose/angle/arrangement to increase the odds of success.
After the photo shoot, when you’re sorting through, DO NOT automatically delete any family shots that are not perfect of everyone. If the image quality is poor, it is fine to delete, as long as you first know you have some that are better. If a head swap is needed, you’ll want plenty of shots to choose from as you look for alternative “heads.”
Group Portraits Task Sheet
· Jumping shot in full sunlight
· Shots on deck
· Playground shots
· End of trail
· Near dock
· Barn shots
· water in background
· Candid, playful shot
· Posed
· Silly shot
· Loving shot (group hug)
Subgroups:
· Parents
· kids
· The boys
· The girls
· Mom & son
· Dad & Daughter
· Individual of each person
Bird’s eye, worm’s eye
Use fill flash when group is backlit