>

By Lelia Hall


Taking portraits require meticulous calculations. This is because you will deal with people of varied ages, sizes and styles. It is important to remember that the family portrait is a masterpiece that is treasured and remembered for many generations. Therefore, the tips below on great family portrait photography Portland, OR will come in handy for first time shooters.

Put your camera on a tripod whenever possible. It will help reduce nervousness and make your photography stress free. A tripod will automatically force you to slow down. This will enable you to check your settings, review the composition, exposure and make eye contact with your subjects. With a tripod, you have a chance to direct the kids to the best pose for the snap as well as get their attention.

Use information posted on the internet to get a great pose. The social media is a good source. You can also watch great poses from magazines and directory. In dealing with a large family, get people to stand together but in groups. Let the grandparents while seated pose in the front row with the kids.

Never wake an infant to take a photo. Take photos of kids in their natural pose. A snap of a sleeping infant will make a great collection. Do not force them to smile or control their natural fun character. Remember, too much control will ruin a great photo session for eight year old. Play and have fun with them as you take their snaps. Do not let adults tilt their heads into each other.

Light is critical when taking snaps. Either too bright light or dim light will destroy the snaps. It is thus important to control the amount of light. Use the external flash to supplement light. Consider the amount of light when taking snaps indoors or outdoors. The best time of the day to take snaps is late in the evening when the sunlight is not very bright. Have the session under shade when the light is too bright

It is a good idea to take samples of snaps as you test your equipment and skill. Work especially on different angles. You will discover that you will not get good snaps when you pose people too close. A good pose is to get people stand slanting with shoulders partly extended. Remember to provide chairs to persons who are aged and cannot stand for long.

You do not want to take gloomy photos or one that seems too official. Try to crack a joke. This will have your clients go out with all smiles. You can try to get them in an activity that is rarely done, like jumping and running to get that genuine smile. Tell them to whisper to their age mates something interesting such as sexy, funny or nice.

Do not forget to check and preferably adjust your camera settings. It would be sad to get to the end of a great session only to realize you did not adjust the lighting or the aperture settings. Remember as general rule outdoor and indoor settings do vary quite a lot.




About the Author: