Posing families and groups is one of the more intimidating feats for photographers. Working with several people of different heights and ages is certainly a challenge, but following a few posing guidelines makes the job a bit simpler.
“Young Family” captured by Good Eye Video
1. Family portraits are largely about capturing relationships and interaction, and that’s pretty tough to capture when everyone is far away from each other, so the first thing I do is get everyone to squish together.
“Walker Family Photos” captured by Meghan Marell
2. I like to get everyone’s heads fairly close together which can be done by having everyone sit down. Even if the kids are dramatically different heights, sitting down brings everyone closer. It can be as simple as just sitting on the ground. Look for nice colors, textures, and clean backgrounds. Steps and benches work great, too. There are tons of options!
3. Position each individual so they are visually connected to another individual. You can do this by having them stand very close to one another or, better yet, have them touch another person. No matter the poses you go for, always try to incorporate direct contact through touch. Hands on shoulders, arms around waists—any way that you can get everyone in physical contact with each other. This will convey emotional closeness.
Photo by Kate Hliznitsova; ISO 400, f/1.8, 1/3200s, 50mm.
4. One of the easiest way to dramatically improve your composition is to stagger everyone’s head position (but keep them close). Arrange faces on different levels so that any pattern of height does not distract the viewer from seeing the group as being one cohesive unit.
5. The other posing technique that I often use is to have the pose wider at the base and narrower at the top. Some photographers refer to this as the pyramid pose. This makes the group look like a single unit and the composition looks complete.
“Kathy’s 50th” captured by Nom & Malc
6. Pay attention to your subjects’ hands. It is usually a mistake to have everyone in your pose doing the same exact thing with their hands. Occasionally I will direct one or more of my clients to change their hand position to improve the pose as well.
7. It’s ideal to have everyone in the family looking in the same direction, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be in your direction. You can direct everyone to look behind you or at the youngest family member.
“Untitled” captured by Kenji Wang
It really doesn’t have to be stressful the next time you want to capture your family’s portraits. Be patient, be flexible, and make it fun. You’ll end up with some awesome portraits, lots of real moments, happy parents, and happy kids! Try it out! It will surely improve your photos. Good luck.
About the Author:
Linnae Harris is a portrait photographer who specializes in photographing families, babies, children, and high school seniors. I primarily photograph families and children outdoors or in their home for natural light sessions.
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I really appreciate the idea that each individual should be visually connected to another individual in a photo. My family has finally been reunited after 15 years, and we are planning a trip to Hawaii. We want to hire a photographer that will be able to capture the emotions of our reunion.
My first time opening the Pic Correct and this is illustrated
very well with the words and images. I love the variety in the pose examples
Thanks for sharing your tips.
For large groups I like to use a stairway, grouping everyone as tightly together as possible. Stairs provide a place to sit, but in ascending higher levels to make it easier to see everyone. Use a tripod, always, and fire off five or ten continuous shots to try to avoid those inadvertent “blinks” on at least one or two of the group. Worst case, use the clone tool to transfer an open eye over a closed one. Works for me….
Great tips! Will definitely keep these in mind.