Family photos About This Page:

[disneyknut]

To celebrate our family getting back together , I decided I wanted to get a family photo taken.. nothing formal ..just some shots taken with my Canon G6 at a local park. I'm going to go today when I take Jamie to work (he works at the wave pool of that park) & scope out the lighting etc.. but would love any tips or hints to make a perfect shot... i'll share the area photos I take later to give you an idea of what I want.
There will be individual shots & also family shots.. ( & Jamie & his girlfriend are also getting some pics taken)

TIA for any help on poses, lighting etc for photos taken with a digital camera

[Marybeth]

Try for some kind of interesting background. You might want to also ask in the Darkroom Forum. Those guys really know their stuff!

[Cheriemek]

What are you guys wearing? We had an extended family picture taken a few years ago (26 people) and we all wore khaki pants and white tops.

[disneyknut]

moved to darkroom.. DUH.. I forgot all about the great help there!! Can I blame it on old age??? Will send the photos I took today shortly

[disneyknut]

Here's some pics I took of the area today.. should I go for sunny or dusk pics?? There is also a huge wedding gazebo in the park but there was a wedding today & the area was roped off.. these were just spur of the moment trial pics

first is Brendan on the bridge.. I was thinking of here for our family shot..Very informal.. shorts, tanks even..far away & up close



then there is a cool rock where I see tons of photos being taken when I take Jamie to/from work..




Bren peeking from behind the big rock...

then me...


Me sitting on the rock in front of the big rock




Brendan on side rock (by large rock)
..

then Brendan on rock in front of small lake & waterfall..


Okay.. hit me up with your suggestions, hints etc...

[Cam22]

The bridge looks cool and could make a great backdrop. If you are taking photos with sun, remember the best locations have the photographer facing away from the sun, but then the subjects tend to squint and have sun grins. I like dusk photos for this very reason. I have also found that even in the full sun, the use of a flash helps with calming the brashness of the light.

I also like the photo of you behind the rock. It really is cute. You may want everyone to take off their sunglasses though as you'll want to remember all those precious faces. Luke and I always forget this at WDW and then regret that we can't see our eyes.

The photo of Brendan on the side rock could be a great prop for a pose with several of you as it seems to have some slope that would allow you all to be seen. Too bad you couldn't get by the gazebo for some shots yet. We have one at school and when we took small group photos, it really made from some cool shots.

I hope the photos all turn out well and that you'll post them for us to share, too.

[Magistar]

Wow, those pics are great! I was going to suggest using things to "frame" the subjects, but you did it beautifully!

[stretch2864]

When DD had her senior photos taken, it was a bright cloudy day. At first I was disappointed, but the photographer said that it is actually preferable to full sun. He said that with full sun you get a lot of shadows and have problems with people squinting. He turned out to be right. A lot of the photos were taken outside, and the lighting was perfect. Some of the photos were also taken under trees which was really cool as well! Good luck, and I hope you have lots of fun with your family photos.

[A & J's Dad]

I think you've found a great location. Since you're probably trying to capture the people and no so much the location remember to keep the background in the background. Using the first two images as an example; 1. I see a nice park with a kid sitting on a bridge. 2. I see Brendan in a park-like setting. At this location I'd try to find a different angle to minimize the background clutter and (if your camera has the option) shoot it with a wider aperature to soften the background.
I like the rock shots. Again, remember what you truly want to capture. Like Cam22 said, lose the shades. If the eyes are the window to the soul let us see them.
For the last two of Brendan I would move around him to find a cleaner background.
It looks like your lens is also quite dirty which is exacerbating some of the flare while shooting in full sun. Get yourself a decent cleaning kit, usually $10 or less. Also, if your camera has the option over compensate your exposure 1/3 to 2/3. If your G6 is anything like Canon's DSLR's it will make your colors "pop".

Cheers
Craig