Family Portrait Photography - Beyond The Technical Skills

Since time immemorial,family portraits have always had a 'family' at its center, hence; innovation and distinctiveness continue to remain a challenge even for the most famous photographers. Each family has its own social-cultural background, a set of traditions that it was raised in. Bringing this alive through the camera lens is sometimes a herculean task.

It goes without saying that a family portrait has to be worthy of the living room or drawing room walls; in some cases a museum or a fort. This requires immense effort towards making a great composition. A good image would include correct emotions or body language of the artist, an appropriate background, accurate exposure, right shutter speed and an overall well balanced frame.

If a photographer has so many angles to deal with to get the right click, picture the following situations:

1. A daughter who has just had a huge argument with her mother about her choice of dress for the family portrait


2. A mother of three teenagers telling them how to pose for a family photograph


3. A father yelling at his family to come quickly for a group photo because he is running out of time

All of the above situations and several others like them that occur often when dealing with humans as our subjects require many other traits beyond just the technical skills. One certainly needs to be an effective communicator.

An image is a moment captured for a life time. Therefore, being able to sculpt the story of the family with a camera lens distinguishes a creative photographer from an ordinary one. Cracking a joke or making the moment light for all those who are about to be clicked is another rare trait which helps make the expressions of the family members so natural and effortless. It is extremely important to be cool headed and patient in this profession. After all it is a people's person whom someone would want to hire. If the same client employs you time and again at different occasions, family functions and ceremonies, you certainly have all the reasons to rejoice as a professional photographer.

It is also vital to be very quick in grabbing the golden, timeless moments like the exchange of engagement or wedding rings, cutting of a wedding anniversary cake and blowing off the candles on a birthday cake. You cannot afford to be puzzled or lost with so many attendees at any ceremonials. So, it is best to meet the family in advance and know what their preferences are to yield the best results. In any case, always remember 'customer is the king!'

If you are a photographer with great photo editing skills just take down the following as a side note. There may be a variety of photo-editing software available in the market today to enhance or correct a photo, so one tends not to strive for a perfect original image, be it black and white or coloured. But it is just that, which makes an expert different from a beginner!