posing a family of 10+

goldilocksandmy3bears

I have a photoshoot coming up that includes mother father kids their husbands and their kids coming up how do I pose such a large family uniquely?:dunno TIA

Swartzy

Think groups of triangles/diamonds....heads never straight across. Take some with space. Typically seat the taller ones that they don't overpower the shorter ones. Consider the setting and use elements to enhance the family. Outdoors or in?

angevin1

Swartzy wrote:

Think groups of triangles/diamonds....heads never straight across. Take some with space. Typically seat the taller ones that they don't overpower the shorter ones. Consider the setting and use elements to enhance the family. Outdoors or in?

And think from above with f8 or f9 and at a distance too. Though they can be seated...

May want to use this tool just for reference: here

VayCayMom

I just had a large family shoot, they had 8 kids! 15 - 4 mos. I also did some research on posing and what I found helpful was the suggestion of having people at different heights by having some sit , even just one on a stool, some stand of course,some hold children, some kneel or crouch, some even sit on the floor and work from there.
Good luck, keep us posted !

goldilocksandmy3bears

Swartzy wrote:

Think groups of triangles/diamonds....heads never straight across. Take some with space. Typically seat the taller ones that they don't overpower the shorter ones. Consider the setting and use elements to enhance the family. Outdoors or in?

Definately going with outdoors. I don't want to have to worry about getting the lighting right along with figuring out diffucult posing. What do you think about doing one shoot w/ them lined up at an angle from tallest to shortest? Different?

goldilocksandmy3bears

VayCayMom wrote:

I just had a large family shoot, they had 8 kids! 15 - 4 mos. I also did some research on posing and what I found helpful was the suggestion of having people at different heights by having some sit , even just one on a stool, some stand of course,some hold children, some kneel or crouch, some even sit on the floor and work from there.
Good luck, keep us posted !

Did you post those pictures on here???

goldilocksandmy3bears

angevin1 wrote:

And think from above with f8 or f9 and at a distance too. Though they can be seated...

May want to use this tool just for reference: here

Thanks!!!

Swartzy

goldilocksandmy3bears wrote:

Definately going with outdoors. I don't want to have to worry about getting the lighting right along with figuring out diffucult posing. What do you think about doing one shoot w/ them lined up at an angle from tallest to shortest? Different?

Somewhat cheesy. It all depends if you're going for radical or wall hanger. Most families that want portraits expect the "Wow" factor wall hanger...this is where creative settings come into play. You'll want to use a small ladder and get up just a bit as I'm certain not all family members are that photogenic. Shooting straight away will not complement the various types of facial structures, nor will it be appealing. You will need to take many shots as inevitably, someone will close their eyes, look away and daydream. Look through the viewfinder....you should be able to assess whether the shot is there or not. If not, move a bit, left, right, up. Turn bodies a tad as it is never flattering shooting someone straight on. Don't let anyone lower their chins...get animated eyes and smiles for example. Oftentimes, people think they are smiling but it is only a smirk at best. Your personality and command at giving directions will be the breaker of a great shot to yet another so so.

The rule of portrait photography.....GET THE PEOPLE UP! Excite them. Make them look their best. Make them want to look their best. Being upbeat yourself is half the battle. Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm.

VayCayMom

goldilocksandmy3bears wrote:

Did you post those pictures on here???

Here it is, NOT ready for prime time, I feel like I am naked putting this out there sooc, it was my first at this type of shoot,I was very nervous, BUT it shows you posing AND how you can never get all of their attention at once, the dad here closed his eyes or looked away 9 out of 10 time.

photo not ready at all for prime time, really !!

Art Scott

goldilocksandmy3bears wrote:

I have a photoshoot coming up that includes mother father kids their husbands and their kids coming up how do I pose such a large family uniquely? TIA

Do a google search...this what I do when I need inspiration or just ideas.....also hit your local bookstore, like B/N or Borders....they have books giving examples.........

Wil Davis

VayCayMom wrote:

Here it is, NOT ready for prime time, I feel like I am naked putting this out there sooc, it was my first at this type of shoot,I was very nervous, BUT it shows you posing AND how you can never get all of their attention at once, the dad here closed his eyes or looked away 9 out of 19 times.

Love the picture…

…if you'd got in close and filled the frame, it would have been brilliant! I love the dangly lights, I wonder if you might have made more use of them? (…bit worried about the one directly over Dad though! …he isn't looking at the camera, BTW )

Here's a tip to get all their attention and make sure that everyone has open eyes:

Get everyone to look at the camera and close their eyes, and keep them closed until you say "open!" or "say CHEESE!" or whatever, at which point they open their eyes and you squeeze the shutter; the reasoning being that people seldom blink or close their eyes directly after opening them; I've found it to work but YMMV

- Wil

BTW: to the OP; I seem to remember a thread here on a similar topic, certainly within the past 6 months where the goal was to take a family group picture (3 generations from what I remember) and the photographer was looking for ideas. Very interesting discussion; anyone else remember? Use search perhaps?

VayCayMom

Wil Davis wrote:

Love the picture…

…if you'd got in close and filled the frame, it would have been brilliant! I love the dangly lights, I wonder if you might have made more use of them? (…bit worried about the one directly over Dad though! …he isn't looking at the camera, BTW )

Here's a tip to get all their attention and make sure that everyone has open eyes:

Get everyone to look at the camera and close their eyes, and keep them closed until you say "open!" or "say CHEESE!" or whatever, at which point they open their eyes and you squeeze the shutter; the reasoning being that people seldom blink or close their eyes directly after opening them; I've found it to work but YMMV

- Wil

BTW: to the OP; I seem to remember a thread here on a similar topic, certainly within the past 6 months where the goal was to take a family group picture (3 generations from what I remember) and the photographer was looking for ideas. Very interesting discussion; anyone else remember? Use search perhaps?

ARRRGGGHHHH someone get me a bathrobe!!

Wil Davis

VayCayMom wrote:

ARRRGGGHHHH someone get me a bathrobe!!

- Wil

Ed911

First, let me say that the image right out of the camera looks very nice technically. But there are a few problems. One being that there is a light fixture coming out of the man in the backs head, and he seems to be nodding out. Second, it really doesn't look right to me to have the big kid right in the middle of the little ones...it sort of looks odd...like you missed the shot and had to stick him in, in post. Don't you think the big kid looks out of place. He should have been in the back. Since you can't see his legs...the bottom half of his body, it's like he only has a torso...just sticking up in the middle of the picture.

You also have a girls head popping right out of the top of the big kids head. To me, this pose is more like a jumble of get where I can see you. The setting is quite nice.

I would have tried sitting the mom on the chair with the baby and forming the others around her.

That's my two cents.

VayCayMom

Wil Davis wrote:

- Wil

I mentioned that posting my sooc photo made me feel like I was naked, the photo was not ready to really be viewed, it was not even cropped, so I was jesting that your scrutiny made me feel over exposed, just a JOKE. You know, like cleaning up before the cleaning lady arrives because you don't want anyone to see how dirty your house REALLY is. I didn't want anyone to notice out loud how mediocre my shot was, before I could spruce it up! Confusing I know, maybe I am overly insecure...

VayCayMom

Ed911 wrote:

First, let me say that the image right out of the camera looks very nice technically. But there are a few problems. One being that there is a light fixture coming out of the man in the backs head, and he seems to be nodding out. Second, it really doesn't look right to me to have the big kid right in the middle of the little ones...it sort of looks odd...like you missed the shot and had to stick him in, in post. Don't you think the big kid looks out of place. He should have been in the back. Since you can't see his legs...the bottom half of his body, it's like he only has a torso...just sticking up in the middle of the picture.

You also have a girls head popping right out of the top of the big kids head. To me, this pose is more like a jumble of get where I can see you. The setting is quite nice.

I would have tried sitting the mom on the chair with the baby and forming the others around her.

That's my two cents.

I just grabbed a random shot from this series, as an example for Goldilocks, nothing else. It is unfinished, IF it even makes it to PP.

Wil Davis

VayCayMom wrote:

I mentioned that posting my sooc photo made me feel like I was naked, the photo was not ready to really be viewed, it was not even cropped, so I was jesting that your scrutiny made me feel over exposed, just a JOKE. You know, like cleaning up before the cleaning lady arrives because you don't want anyone to see how dirty your house REALLY is. I didn't want anyone to notice out loud how mediocre my shot was, before I could spruce it up! Confusing I know, maybe I am overly insecure...

That's OK - I felt as if I was being a bit harsh, and if so I apologize, but I like the original idea of your shot; I thought the grouping was good, and there are all those different expressions right there in the picture. I was just trying to help you tidy it up, that's all!



- Wil

(BTW: I looked around for the other similar thread, but I haven't had any success…)

sweet caroline

Here's a large family of 11 I did last fall. Not the most unique posing, but it worked out pretty well.



Caroline

Wil Davis

sweet caroline wrote:

Here's a large family…
snip

Nice job!

…so how long did it take you to set up that one?

- Wil

VayCayMom

Wil Davis wrote:

That's OK - I felt as if I was being a bit harsh, and if so I apologize, but I like the original idea of your shot; I thought the grouping was good, and there are all those different expressions right there in the picture. I was just trying to help you tidy it up, that's all!



- Wil

(BTW: I looked around for the other similar thread, but I haven't had any success…)

No problem, it just wasn't a photo I really was thrilled about to begin with.

sweet caroline

Wil Davis wrote:

Nice job!

…so how long did it take you to set up that one?

- Wil

We worked surprisingly fast, as it was starting to drizzle on us. This family knew how to take direction, even the kids! I think this shot was about 10 minutes into our shoot.

Caroline

VayCayMom

wow, great , great job there !!