How To Take Large Family Portraits | Copperopolis Family Portraits

How To Take Large Family Portraits

Copperopolis Family Portraits

When you get hired for a large family portrait sometimes it can get quite intimidating and a bit overwhelming. I created this blog post to really help simplify things.

How to take large family portraits technical tips:

1. Make sure to shoot both vertical and horizontal of the same pose
2. Shoot a close up and also a wide shot
3. Make sure you have the right aperture! This is huuugggeeee!
   • You don't want to have too wide of an aperture to where you blur out the people in the background. If you have 2 rows of people you need to be shooting at f8 or above
4. Shoot with a fast shutter speed especially if there are little kids in the photo.
   • Kids move around alot and very fast. You want to make sure that nothing is blurry.
5. Shoot multiple images with the same pose. You can also shoot on burst mode.
   • The reason for this is to make sure to get a shot with everyones eyes open.
6. Pay attention to your background. Make sure you aren't getting anything weird in the background.
7. Be assertive, but nice at the same time.
   • This is key! When there are alot of people it can get a bit tough to get everyone doing exactly what you need them to do. You need to take control. You are the photographer and you are responsible for getting good photos. Make sure to take the lead. Tell people what you need them to do and talk with authority while being nice and having a good time ;)
   • You want to make the experience fun while making sure you get good photos so don't be afraid to joke around a bit.

Example of tip #1

Example of tip #2:

How to take large family portraits posing tips:

1. Don't have everyone doing the exact same thing. This looks weird and way too over posed.
2. Pose one shot with a little separation between people and one shot where everyone is close together (see image above for an example).
3. Layer!
   • The layered images always look the best. I like when there are 2 layers of people. The layer in back is where everyone is standing. The layer in front is where everyone is kneeling. (see image above for an example)
   • Don't be afraid to bring in some chairs for people to sit down on. This helps with the layering.
4. Pay attention to peoples hands and feet
   • Make sure that peoples hands aren't somewhere they shouldn't be. lol. Ok that just sounds funny but it is so true. Make sure that you don't have random hands coming over peoples shoulders, hands in other peoples faces, etc.
   • As far as feet go, just make sure that peoples socks aren't showing. The small details really are key.
5. Pay attention to peoples hair
   • This really can make or break photos. Make sure that peoples hair isn't doing something crazy.
6. Do not cut peoples feet or hands off!
   • Make a decision on if you are including the feet or not. If you are including the feet then make sure to adjust in order to get everyones feet.
   • If you aren't including the feet then make sure to crop the image at the right placement (above knees, above elbows, etc.

How to take large family portraits - What groupings to get:

1. Take only a few poses / images with the large family, meaning with everyone involved
   • Don't try to over pose anyone. This is going to get stressful and complicated very fast.
2. Individual family portraits.
   • Make sure to get each family within the larger family.
3. Couple portraits
   • Everyone wants a good picture of just the two of them. Make sure to grab each couple and get at least one shot of just the two of them.
   • Choose 1 or 2 poses for every single shot. Do not over complicate this. Choose one of your favorite poses and use it on every couple within the family. Simplify!!!
4. Grandparents and grandchildren
5. Just the Grandchildren
6. "Original Family"
   • What I mean by this is who is paying you? Make sure to get a picture of that original family with no children or significant other.
7. Just the siblings

Example of Individual Families:

Example of Couples portraits:

Example of Siblings:

Example of Grandparents and Grandchildren:

Example of "original family"

I hope you all enjoyed this blog and it helped give you some good ideas for taking large family portraits.

Bessie

P.S. wanna know what gear I used? Check it out here: Kit Used: Camera: Sony A7Rii: http://amzn.to/1taGpAu Favorite Lens: Sony FE 24-70 F2.8 G Master: http://amzn.to/2n747NJ Best Wide Angle: Sony 16-35mm lens: http://amzn.to/1UBjBDW Vanguard Tripod: http://amzn.to/2aoI5ku

Filming: LG G3 Smart Phone

Editing & Processing: Bulk editing: Adobe Lightroom: http://amzn.to/1WB7Jnc Fine tuning: Adobe Photoshop : http://amzn.to/1WB7YPh Viva Video Pro for combining videos