Tips For Taking Better Family Photos

Family photos are among some of our most treasured possessions, but lots of us try to duck the camera when someone gets it out. If you’re sick of family photos where everyone is squinting in the sun, has their eyes shut, or is looking the wrong way, try these tips to take better pictures. You’ll be taking beautiful family photos in no time. 

Choose Your Tool: Smartphone Or DSLR?

To take good pictures, you need the right tools. A few years ago, this would have been an easy question to answer. A DSLR camera would have been the best choice any day of the week. You will still be able to get better photographs if you know how to use a decent camera, whether that’s a DSLR or a mirrorless camera. However, if you’re not sure how to use a proper camera, and know how to shoot in manual mode, you’re more likely to mess up the shot. If you are handy with a camera, you could go all out and take really creative pictures using a drone, like the https://www.drdrone.ca/pages/dji-mini-2. 

If you don’t have or can’t use a DSLR, don’t worry. Smartphone camera are now so good, that they’re the most sensible option for most people wanting to take good photos. The other advantage of using a smartphone is that you will be able to share the photos with the rest of the family straight away, and not have to wait to transfer the pictures onto your computer, process them all, rather then email them over to everyone; assuming that you remember to do all this. 

Go Candid

There is of course a place for classic posed group shots (there are tips for those later in this guide), but in most cases, the nicest family photos and the ones that we treasure most are usually the candid photos. Photos like your smiling children ripping into the presents on Christmas morning, your husband laughing with his siblings at the dinner table, or your mother smiling at her latest grandchild are often the most precious. 

Capturing candid photographs doesn’t have to be very hard to do. All you really need to do is to be taking a photo at the right time. To be able to do that, you need to have your camera out and ready to go. This is another reason why smartphones have an advantage over bulkier cameras. Having a large DSLR camera on hand and ready to snap a picture is a lot more awkward than just taking your phone out of your pocket and swiping the lock screen to get into the camera. 

To give yourself the best chance of being able to capture just the right moment, don’t shoot just one at a time. Shoot bursts instead. If you’re using your smartphone, this is easy. For most phones, you just need to hold down the shutter button and it will keep on shooting photos until you take your finger off the button. After you’ve taken the burst, you can go through all the photos and choose the best ones. Using burst mode can be what makes the difference between taking decent pictures and taking fantastic pictures. 

A big mistake that people tend to make is shooting videos of those special moments, like gift opening on Christmas morning, that make for the best candid shots. There is a place for videos, of course, but it is pretty unlikely that anybody will ever watch them after they’re taken. However, if you shoot photos instead of videos, you will have something that is much more easily shareable, and is printable and frameable too. 

One thing that you definitely won’t have to worry about is being unobtrusive when you’re trying to snap candid photos. Most people are very used to seeing smartphones being absolutely everywhere, so you whipping yours out and snapping a few pictures won’t put them off or distract them. If anybody does notice and say anything about it, just announce that you are the official events’ photographer for the family, and just carry on taking all the pictures that you like. 

Get People Posing

Taking candid family photos is a lot of fun, and you will often get some fantastic results. On the other hand, shooting a few posed group photos can be a massive pain, whether you are trying to snap two people, or a crowd of fifty. 

The big thing for group shots that ruins them is usually people looking in different directions, often because they are multiple people trying to take a photo and people look at different photographers. To stop this from happening, the rule should always be one photographer with one camera. You can always take turns if anyone else wants to take a photo. This way, at least everyone will know which person they’re supposed to be looking at and you’ll get everyone looking the same way. Enforce this rule when you’re taking pictures of the family and you will immediately get better group photos than most people manage to get. 

When you’re taking family pictures, use only one camera. There’s no better way to get on the nerves of a group of people than having your photographer taking the same picture with seven different phones. People who have got irritated don’t pose as well. Choose the phone in the group that has the best camera on it (check the phones of the teenagers, who are bound to have the latest, trendiest phone available) and use that one. Afterwards, you can share the picture in the family group chat, and everyone has a copy without needing to take loads of pictures on different cameras. 

Another mistake that a lot of families make when trying to take group portraits is taking them too late at night. Indoor lighting is almost always ugly and unflattering. Flashes are even worse. Let’s not mention relatives who’ve had a few drinks too many. They definitely don’t look their best. Instead of taking the group photo at the end of the party or after the family dinner, take the picture as soon as everyone first arrives. The earlier you can take the picture, the better. You’re more likely to be able to shoot in daylight, and everyone will still look their best, before they’ve had a drink, smudged their makeup, or creased their outfit. 

It will be easier to find light that is flattering to everyone during the day, so everybody looks at their best in the photos. The light that makes people look best is either in the shade outside, or indoors from a window. If the weather is good, get everyone to go outside and have them stand together in the shadow of the building or a tree. If it’s too cold to take everyone outside for a photoshoot, or it’s raining, then get the family to pose inside against a wall that faces a large window. A relatively small change like this to the way that you take your family photos that will make your photos look a lot better. 

Unlike candid shots, directing people on where they should stand and what they should do can go a long way. Once you have everyone in a position you like, make sure that you can see everyone’s face clearly, and that nobody short is hidden in the back row. If people are chatting and laughing too much, tell them to stay quiet while you take the picture so you avoid strange faces. The more authority you are able to wield, the faster you will be able to get a good photo.  

If you have to be in the photo, and there’s nobody available to take it for you, get a cheap tripod for your smartphone, set it up on a chair or table to get the right height, and use the camera’s self-timer. Make sure you test all these out before you get the group together. Nobody wants to stand around while you fumble around trying to work out how to fit the tripod. 

Like with candids, take lots of photos to get a good one. Use burst mode, and make everybody pose a few times. Take more pictures as people relax after posing. Sometimes, there are the best ones. Even if these shots aren’t your best work ever, you will still be more likely to have at least one picture where everyone has their eyes open and looking at the camera. 

Save Or Favorite Your Photos Straight Away

Taking pictures is great, but doing something with them is even better. A lot of people forget about pictures after they’ve taken them, and beautiful family photos end up languishing in the depths of your camera roll, never to be looked at again. 

To stop this from happening, as soon as you know you’ve got a great picture, favorite it or put it into a separate album. This way, you will have a collection of the best family photos somewhere easy to find that you can print out or send to relatives.