I've had a request from a girl I kinda sorta know from work, for me to take pictures of her family. I'm SO nervous!!! I've only ever taken pictures for my own enjoyment, mostly of my LO and outdoors. Any tips for a productive, successful first shoot? Thanks!
P.S. There will be 5 total people. 1 couple with a kid, and her sister and her kid. And it will be outdoors
pomegranate / 3890 posts
Good luck just try to make them relaxed and comfortable. And make sure lighting is good. If u have bad lighting don't feel bad for asking them to move.... could u go a couple minutes earlier to the location to plan out some nice spots where scenery and lighting is good?
persimmon / 1134 posts
@stargal: I plan on using the open field behind my house. There's both shaded and wide open areas there, a nice tree line for background, and there's some railroad tracks behind the trees we could even use. Any tips on how to make them more comfortable? Especially when I'm nervous too...
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
If possible, I would go to the location the day before at the same time of the shoot and find good locations and test your camera settings.
Also, research poses so you can help come up with ideas.
persimmon / 1134 posts
@Thehistoryofus: I'm doing that now. But I'm having a hard time coming up with poses that don't look awkward with the 3 adults and 2 kids. It's a married couple + 1 kid, her sister + 1 kid, and I'm afraid it's going to look like the man has 2 wives! Haha!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@jennylynn: Haha. I think maybe just look for poses for 3 people, and then poses for 2 people and then put the two poses side by side.
Are all the pictures supposed to be of all 5 of them?
persimmon / 1134 posts
@Thehistoryofus: That makes sense. Yes, they want at least a few photos of them all together as a gift for her MIL.
bananas / 9357 posts
Maybe don't stick him in the middle of the 2 women. Put him on the end then hopefully it won't look like a guy with 2 wives!
pineapple / 12526 posts
I find that slight shade with the sunlight coming in from behind them always gives me the best pictures. I also like early morning or late afternoon light, because it's nice and soft.
Maybe stick him on a far end with his wife and kid and then leave a slight space between the first family and the sister and her kid?
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
I thought this little guide I found on Pinterest was helpfulhttp://www.iheartfaces.com/2012/03/photography-posing-mistakes-tutorial/
The last couple of tips are particularly relevant to family shots. Maybe you could have the couple sitting/kneeling like that last photo, and the sister with the kid standing next to them or something?
I'm not a photographer so no real ideas! I am sort of amused about the concern about 2 wives though!
pineapple / 12234 posts
I second pp's, also not sure if you use it already but @mrskc gave me a tip about back button focus and my photos look SO much better now!
But, @jennylynn: your photos already look fantastic so I'm sure it will go well. Has it been sunny where you live lately? I also love backgrounds with the sun coming through.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
Yay that's awesome! I do some shoots on the side for fun or as gifts.
I've found i get the best pictures when the light is behind the subject, but not directly behind. That way your camera isn't hazy from direct light and your subjects aren't squinting. It also eliminates shadows!
I've seen some of your pics and they're good so I probably don't have to tell you about manual settings 
If you're looking for some good editing tips- I downloaded a bunch of actions from pioneer woman and the coffee shop blog and those help me edit pics pretty and quickly.
I also constructed a DIY light reflector for dark spots out of aluminum foil and cardboard and it worked magnificently!
persimmon / 1134 posts
@HLK208: thank you, and thanks for the focusing tip! It's kind of hard telling what the weather will be like on any given day in Indiana, especially this time of year, but so far the forecast is saying partly sunny.
@Mrs. Pen: Thanks! I've got a lot of the coffee shop actions already, but I'll def. check out pioneer woman. I haven't experimented with a reflector yet, they intimidate me for some silly reason! 
pomegranate / 3890 posts
what I always do is just start talking to them and joking around usually brings them to be nice and relaxed.....posing people is really hard my opinion and something I struglled with I just looked online for imspiration and try to keep that in the back of my mind.. looking online and getting a general idea of what you want to do really help. Also ask them if they have any specific poses want to do. Catching them when they don't realize your snapping their pictures while their walking can be a great way to get some candid shots
cherry / 123 posts
A piece of advice I took from one of my favorite photographers, Jasmine Star, is to sketch out some poses on a piece of paper before the shoot. Sometimes I look through other photographer's blogs, or some photography pinterest boards to get some posing ideas, and then I try to draw them. The act of actually drawing them on paper helps me to remember them during the shoot. Before I started doing that, I would tend to freeze up and my mind would go blank during the shoot, but I feel much more prepared and remember the ideas better now that I take time to sketch them out.
Another tip is starting out with some candid shots of everyone walking together, holding hands - first away from the camera and then back to the camera. I also do this one when things start to feel "stale"... it seems to loosen everyone up and makes them feel more comfortable in front of the camera.
Hopefully if you can break it up a little bit and also do some individual ones of each kid, some of the two adult sisters together, just the couple, etc. it will give you a break from the awkwardness of trying to make the group shots not look like a polygamous family.
Good luck! I still get nervous about shoots and I do them all the time!
bananas / 9357 posts
@jennylynn: you could ask her to send you some inspiration photos.
@HLK208: glad that tip helped you!
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