Some Tips for Family Portraits with Children

The best way to achieve natural portraits with children is to be entertaining and have the parents interact with them naturally.

Never rush.Children are easily distracted. Mums and dads can have short fuses when it comes to catching that memorable moment in time.

We had a Christmas photo taken last year with Santa. Our then 3yr old was keen as mustard and our 6 month old had no idea of what was going on.

Due to the short window of opportunity, and to the growing queue, it was to say the least tragic.

The  3yr old at the last minute felt uncomfortable with the strange man in the red suit and beard let loose a wail that. The 6mth old followed suit.

Keeping in mind the tight conditions of the set, when the photo was taken not one person looked happy or looked liked they wanted to be there.

I am sure if we had the time to relax a bit, we would have gotten it right after a few attempts.

It is important the children are comfortable.

Rather than being rigid and having the whole family maintain an un-natural pose, have them following the children around or alternatively have the parents fixed with the children circling, moving, just being children around them.

Anybody with children knows they tend to do there own thing when you want them to do something else.

It is not natural for children to be static and rigid. Let them move as they would normally.

Don’t be afraid to take a lot of photos. Children are spontaneous, so it pays to have several shots to choose from. Parents aren’t perfect either. We all blink, sneeze, cough etc. By being shutter happy will give you more opportunity for that special moment.

Be flexible when going into a shoot. Be ready to adapt to the situation and let it unfold. Parents and children both can come up with good ideas, however it is important you maintain some control in the situation. Have some ideas, but be prepared to be flexible throughout the session.