A quick guide to DIY family photos
9 December 2019
We’re deep in the holiday season, and there’s no time like the present to take family photos while you’re all together. We know that sometimes the budget won’t stretch to a professional photo shoot, but that photos are a great way to document the growth of your family. To solve the problem, we’ve put together a guide for DIY-ing your own portraits. Trust us - the results will be even better than a studio shoot and you’ll save both time and money.
Locations
Wrap up warm and head outdoors for the benefit of natural light and props. If you’d rather stay warm and dry inside (and we don’t blame you if you do!) use rooms where you feel the most comfortable as a family. Don’t worry about your Christmas tree still up in the living room, or artwork on the walls. The space should replicate your life as a family, and if you include your tree in the photo you’ll be able to use it as next year's Christmas card. If you’d prefer clean walls, it’s easy to move the artwork on your walls and Photoshop the picture hooks out of your images later.
Handy tip: Snap kids in their bedrooms where you’re able to capture their personality, and have access to lots of props! Ask them to show you what they got for Christmas and you’ll get some great shots in return.
Posing
Capture personalities rather than perfection. Is there an activity your family likes to do together? Concentrating on something other than the camera will help to give your photos a relaxed, candid feel. Focus on showing the bonds between family members. Some ideas for casual family photos include having family members hug or tickle each other, hold hands or walk together.
For more formal portraits, place babies in the centre of the group and pose everyone so their heads are at different levels. Make sure all family members are touching each other, because physical touch shows connection. Once you’re happy with the way everyone is grouped, take some test shots to check your focus and settings. Leave a gap for you to jump into once you set your self-timer - although the dash to get in the photo can make for some great shots too.
Plan
Kids don’t want to sit still, especially at this time of year. Plan to take their photos and any full-family photos first, so they can relax while the rest are being taken. If you’re feeling brave, set up the camera and show your child what button to press, then let them play photographer and take photos of you. In years to come, when they look at all the photos from when they were younger and say, “but where was I?” you’ll be able to tell them they were behind the camera taking the photo, making it even more special.
The Technical Settings
Don’t forget to adjust your camera or smartphone settings for the environment and the number of people in the photos. Choose your aperture, shutter speed, ISO and white balance, and remember: the larger the number of people in the portrait, the larger the aperture number!
Let us know if you use any of our tips, or if you have your own to share, by tagging Photo Prints Now on Facebook.
Printing photos is just as easy as taking your own family photos!
1. Visit photoprintsnow.com
2. Upload your photos and select your required print sizes.
3. We'll send your order to your selected CVS Pharmacy and they'll have your prints ready to be picked up on the very same day.