The Secrets to Great Family Photography- Utah Family Photography

In times of economic uncertainty we focus on surrounding ourselves with people that matter and things that are meaningful.  Family life has always been important but has become even more important in our unstable economy.  People are finding the time to spend with their families as they rediscover the  purpose and meaning in their own stories.  This summer we’ve seen the creation of the “staycation“,  the resurgence of the family road trip, and an uptick in family portraits.

Portrait means to portray.  It’s not just a picture of your family, it’s an artist’s interpretation of your family’s character, personalities, and story.  It expresses information about you as a group and about each individual.  It’s basic function is a means of remembering, a story telling device, a visual history, and hopefully a family heirloom all rolled into one.  We as a culture are in love with good family portraits for these reasons, they help us to remember those stories and solidify our sense of belonging and cohesiveness as a family.  In short order, family portraits are about love.

How to get a good portrait?
We’ve all seen them.   A great portrait evokes character and emotion.  It’s not something you just see, it’s something you feel.

-Spontaneity and Fun. These are two essential elements to capturing something that moves beyond a mere likeness and more into the realm of expressing personality.  Your photographer should be genuinely interested in people and have the ability to make the session as fun and relaxed as  possible.  Laughter is the ultimate enemy of camera anxiety!

-Posing and Communication. In order to look relaxed you need to be doing something you normally do.  Movement is a great way to allow this, walking, playing, holding a child- even kissing, hugging, and talking.  A great portrait should be believable and true.  Being close to one another will convey warmth while a little distance lends some formality.  We’ll try to do both.  Above all, don’t be afraid to communicate with your photographer.  If something feels fake, it will look fake.  Speak up!  If you have some ideas then by all means share them.  This way we can work together to create great images where everyone looks great.

-Technique. Of course, this is the photographer’s realm but when you’re shopping you want to find someone with an expertise in controlled lighting (both indoor and out), composition, design, and a sensitivity to your desires and wishes.

-WHAT TO WEAR. Some will consider this a more traditional, formal approach to a fine portrait but it is equally important in contemporary portraiture where spontaneous expressions and a relaxed feel are wanted.  In order for the image to “work” it needs a certain prearranged sense of importance, a coordination of look and expression, color and clothing.  This is a hard one because for some families, it’s easy to coordinate, but for others, matching might feel fake and not really who they are.

Not to worry.  Coordination doesn’t have to mean matching outfits from the same department store.  You want the group to look unified.  What we’re talking about here is color harmony.  Clothing should suit and flatter you personally and the environment you’re shooting in.  Formal or casual, bright and funky, or subdued and natural.  White is always a great choice.  Blacks and darker tones lend a more formal feel and can be slimming for necks and torsos.  These neutral tones (black, white and gray) will emphasize the faces and make them appear warmer.  Solid colored clothes in cool or neutral shades with long sleeves always look good.   A pop of color is always fun too, little red shoes to match a red t-shirt under dad’s jacket.  V-necks are another flattering choice, again drawing the eye to those beautiful faces.

When all is said and done, don’t stress out about it too much but whether people are aware of it or not, lack of color harmony and coordination is the main reason people don’t like previous family portraits.  We are all natural artists and our eyes are hungry for the basics of composition, line, shape, and color.  Don’t resist, feed your inner artist, coordinate your clothing!

The Lelis Family

-A Word About Price. A professional portrait whether it’s for a newborn, older child, family or high school senior is an investment.  It may not feel like it right now, but as time passes you will look to the portraits you’ve taken the time to commission to remind you of good times past.  That’s what a good portrait session is, a fun time and a visual history of your life’s stories that can never be taken away.  There are a lot of ways to purchase portraits.  We offer economical choices and complete package experiences depending on your budget.  We never require minimum orders.  Most people spend between $200- $1,000.  We feel family photography should be fun and affordable because everyone deserves portraits they can be proud of no matter how much they spend.  Choose wisely, get the best, we won’t let you down.
-For more info check out The Best of Family Portrait Photography by Bill Hurter, Amherst Media Inc. 2006

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 at 11:03 am and is filed under Families and tagged with Families, Photography, Salt Lake Family Photography, Techniques, Tips, Utah Family P, Utah Family Photography, Utah Lifestyle Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.