Family Photography Tips

So, this is my first 'legit' paying job as a photographer, and a family has asked me to do their family photos. Do any pros have any tips? A checklist? Certain poses? How much to charge? Most people in my area charge around 80$ for a half hour sitting, and a half hour at an outdoor location, so I should charge less, right? But how much less? How many pictures do I give them? Etc. I just want to be sure that I nail this on my first time.

find out if they expect a studio sitting or want location work. Then do your homework first and inspect the location site if that's what they want. Determine whether you will need to bring accessory lighting (i.e. strobes, umbrellas, bounce cards, etc.) and what time of day will be the best lighting. Will it be indoors, or outside? If it's indoors, you will get your best results if you have a large picture window as the light source, as long as you don't have direct sunlight coming through the window. As far as the number of prints go, I would show them several "proofs" which are sample images to choose from. Then, let them select the images they want, offer them prices on a variety of sizes and possibly some package deals to get them to purchase more images.

2008-09-11 16:04:22 by Amy

Learn how to arrange your subjects, what clothes to wear, and what not to do when you want to take unique family photos that you will want to ...

http://digital-photography-school.com/we dding-photography-21-tips-for-for-amateu r-wedding-photographers

I'm excited my sister asked me to be her photographer for her wedding. I've always loved photography and take loads of pictures of my own family but I've never done a wedding! I want to be sure to do an awesome job.

Make sure sister is prepared to receive less than stunning photos of her big day. Although you may do a decent job there will still be things that would be done better using a professional. Also think of this: As the event photographer you will not be participating in the festivities as a sister and honored guest. You will be working. All day. No time to chat with sis and family members. Also family members and other people may not take you seriously as the real photographer, so you may find it difficult to take control when you need to.

Anyway, here is a link:

http://www.rokkorfiles.com/Wedding101-pa ge1.html

Also www.photo.net, look for the beginners section in the wedding and event forum.

If you decide to do it, be sure to get backup equipment of some sort. Cameras do fail, so you need to be able to continue shooting. I have given many tips to first time shooters, just look at some of my past answers and you will find my sage advice repeated many times. Good luck.

2009-08-18 07:39:02 by proudmama

In a few weeks I am photographing a friend of the family's wedding. I have done other weddings in the past, but this is the only one where I actually know the people personally. It is a small ceremony in their parents' backyard. Any tips on poses or anything else would greatly be appriciated. The backyard is by woods, and they have a brick patio with a small waterfall (man made) and a lot of wildflowers. The ceremony is at 2pm, and the couple is very casual. Hope someone can help.

when i was asked to photograph a wedding, i looked through many wedding pictures on webshots.com
It would be cool if you could come up with something like this
http://family.webshots.com/album/3523454 47BRjMGY
i think those pictures are absolutely gorgeous, if you can, show them to the couple and say this is something you want to achieve.
I didn't manage to take pictures like this because it was raining hard the whole day long on the wedding day.
Usually couples have lots of ideas what pictures they want, and they will direct you in most cases.


good luck!!!

2007-08-22 06:34:01 by shorty951983

I've got a great camera, wonderful fabric for backdrops but need idea for hanging backdrops on. Someone suggested a shower rod. But haven't a place to put it. Any other ideas or tips on starting would be great and well welcomed.

How about a good old fashioned projector screen. If your space is limited, it can be easily folded and stored. Attach your various backgrounds to the top of the screen with self stick velcro strips.

2007-10-17 08:20:40 by Sondra

I live in Montana but travel to see family in Alaska during the summer - I drive through beautifull scenery and only have a cheap $70 camera which doesn't work to well. I'm travelling to Alaska in couple of weeks, and I've saved some money to buy a better camera/equipment. Any help would be nice, thanks.

http://www.image-nut.com - 700 tutorials covering most of the stuff you'll want to know about.

It's free and open source...

2008-07-16 14:44:34 by Dawn