Saturday, January 19, 2013

Anatomy of a Family Portrait Session

I enjoy photographing families.  Because the families make the effort to get together I try to take as many combos of groupings as time and little kids patience allows.

 I normally start with a portrait of the Matriarch and Patriarch of the family (AKA Grandma/Grandpa).  Besides doing a couple's portrait of them, I also will do individual portraits of them.
 If everyone is ready, then the next shots would be the Grandparents with the Grandkids.  I try to follow a sequence so I don't miss any possible groupings.
 Then would be the portrait of the Grandparents with their kids.
 Then Grandma/Grandpa with any of their Brothers/Sisters if they are present for the session.
  At this point, I'll get the whole family together and do at least one good family portrait.  I may do more than one grouping if they location and the temperament of the young ones allows it.
At this point I'll do the individual family units which includes the parents, their family and their children.  What I photograph is also dictated by special requests of the family.










Then, any special groupings such as the siblings or just the grandkids are taken.

Once the session is over, preview images will be available for viewing on line in a password protected gallery within 24 hours.