A Photographer’s Guide to Posing Family Photos {Boca Raton family photographer}

The key to taking genuine and authentic family photos is knowing how to ‘pose’ families in front of the camera. I use pose lightly as I prefer to direct my clients towards movement and activity that will help capture their family photos in a more natural way.

The following is a photographer’s guide to posing family photos that will help you achieve exceptional images to show your clients.

Get Close

The last thing you want is to create family portraits that look stiff and awkward. The secret to creating a beautiful, intimate family photo is to get close. Have your client’s snuggle up with the people they love. This will produce the best photos. If there are people of varying heights in the photo, take a few photos on the same level so that you can get your heads close together too.

Have Fun

Your photos always look more authentic when your family is genuinely having fun and laughing. Ask your clients to walk holding hands, tell them to spend time talking about their favorite vacation or a memory that makes you all laugh out loud. Another favorite game I like to play at photoshoots is ‘telephone’, this get’s everyone interacting and laughing together. With really young kids I like to have my clients swing them along as they take a walk. This usually gets me tons of giggles and great shots. These candid moments always make for the best photos.

Keep it Natural

When you overthink posing, it takes away from the genuineness of your photos, which is why it helps to shoot family photos in a setting where everyone is comfortable and where you can go about your lives as naturally as possible. For example, if you’re in an outdoor setting, have your clients walk with their little one. If you’re shooting at your client’s home, a baking activity or snuggling up for a story work great.

Use Your Surroundings

Very often, having client’s standing upright in the middle of your setting will make your photos look and feel stiff. Use your surroundings to make everyone more comfortable. For example, if there’s a wall in the vicinity, lean up against it. If there’s a log or large rock use it to get that awesome shot!

Make Use of Props

If you would like to change things up a bit or give a younger child something to do, you can also always incorporate a few basic props into your photos to get a few non-standard shots. I like to bring along a few items for little ones at my family photo shoots. A little boat or a start fish given to a young child at the beach can get you some fabulous photos.

I hope this Photographer’s Guide to Posing Family Photos has given you some helpful tips. If you would like more information on my Boca Raton family sessions please use the contact form here. You can also follow along on my Instagram journey here.