new ideas for family portraits.

hey all,

 

on saturday i'll be doing some family shots of my boss and his

brothers and thier kids and wives. I was wondering if anyone had

some ideas on differant and unusual poses. i'm still gonna do the

regular formal poses but i'd really like to try some new things. any

photo's of wht ur talking about would really help.

 

thanks,

fall

Well, I haven't tried it...

 

You know those dome-shaped monkey bars that they have in playgrounds? You climb up on top of one of those with your camera, with a very wide angle lens. (Or fisheye). Get your group of 5 or 6 standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a circle directly under you, and shoot straight down at them. Their faces would need to be at more or less the same height. Might help if it was a cloudy day, so you don't get shadows where you don't want them. A diving board on an empty pool would work, too.

hmm... i like that one... but i shoulda mentioned that i've gotta shoot inside my studio because i happen to live in the home town of kodak, so the weather sucks. thanks thou:)

You don't say what the kid's ages are, but how about Boss and Wife reading to kids. Having people in the shot DOING something other than posing is the key, and figuring out what to do in the confines of a small studio is the tough part (Handball? Chess?).

 

Try having them bring things they like/care about. Look at Elsa Dorfman's photos, as she does a lot in a small studio: http://elsa.photo.net/

Yes. I have one idea. (And one per month is my average at this age). Have the group lying down on the floor. Or sitting on pillows. Poses are half the battle,getting people to be natural takes more time to loosen them up. Remember the photographer who shot people jumping in the air?Whats his name?. Everyone has the actor bug in them, so do some loosening up exercises. And maybe your group will sort of fall into poses naturally. Don't be too directorial. There are countless examples in the Portrait books. But again,get them horizontal for a change. And hanging on to each other. And ask them to bring a hat or a prop sometimes helps. For kids I like little hand puppets to get them loose. And of course,unequal head alignment always makes for more interest but you know that. Sorry,no examples at the ready chris babe. Check the folios herein.

You might want to help the family loosen up so you can get a more natural look by haveing them recant some of there favorite family stories. Also if you have enough time to forwarn them when doing shots in a studio or in ones home with a plain backdrop often haveing uniform in dress can look terrific. i.e. all white shirts and blue jeans with white tennis shoes. / Sometimes something uniform can bring a photo together. Give them all matching wine glasses with juice or soda and let them toast there family. / Guys usually enjoy all wearing matching sun glasses while all the females roll there eyes. Shots like theese can be a lot of fun. Good luck. I would be curious to see how they turn out!