Perfection?
Is there such a thing as perfection?
In my opinion, perfection is completely dependent on the way it is defined by the most valuable and credible person I know...the client.
Print show judges, friends, peers and others can offer only opinions, but when it comes to creating family portraits that sell, your client gets top vote and first priority.
Getting to what matters most to them is key. You do this by following some basic rules and by listening to them. In family portraits, mom is typically top boss. Make her happy, and for the most part, you should have a successful and profitable session.
In this article let's go over some of the most valuable "basic rules" and some great posing and lighting ideas
Recently I had an opportunity to photograph one family who had an interesting story. They had two children, a boy and a girl. The boy married a few years ago. His best friend since grade school was his best man.
Sadly, the son died an unexpected death. His best friend, a few years later, married his then widowed wife. Interesting. The mother told me all this. To her, you see, the girl who married her son, and now was married to her sons best friend, was still her daughter in law. Her son's best friend since grade school, now married to her, was like a son. The important thing here is that to the mom, they were all one family.
I knew this, sensed it and knew i was only going to photograph them that way. And that's exactly what I did.
When I arrived at their home, I noticed the sun was setting to the left, just over the trees. This created a great open shade area. In the first photo you can see the first image I created. In the second photo you can see the Alien Bee, small octobox, powered by a Paul C Buff Vagabond Mini. This added a little extra fill.
Notice the leg position of the ladies. One leg is relaxed for a smooth angled feminine pose. The guys are square and straight to the camera. This pose was shot vertically. The dogs are responding to me acting like a fool, making cat sounds and barking. Shot at F4 for a little extra depth because of the dogs, 200mm, using the Nikon D800 and 70-200 lens.
