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Talk to Your Subjects

The Setting

Tammy’s favorite beach, just before sunset, was the setting for a portrait of this happy family. She likes to capture groups walking together, and the picture she took of the Cudiamat family will have the kids pointing to themselves in prints. She also did a more formal family portrait with the group posed in front of a pier.

Mom and Dad Alone

Often when Tammy does a family session for the first time, the parents mention they haven’t had a good portrait of themselves since they were married. That is a good reason to make a series of images of the parents alone as a special feature of your coverage.

Image

Canon EOS 30D with 24–70mm f/2.8 lens. Exposure: 1/200 second at f/11 and ISO 250. Flash fill.

Banter

It’s good practice to keep a conversation going while posing and photographing families, together or in separate images. As you are giving directions, moving people, asking for smiles, or tilting heads, ask subjects about their vacations or tell them news about your business. Conversation and comments help to maintain the photogrpaher-client connection and can keep individuals and groups from feeling self-conscious, which will ensure successful portraits and future sessions.

Image

Image

Exposure: 1/200 second at f/11 and ISO 400. Flash fill.