Friday, April 20, 2012

How To Photograph A Family Portrait

By Donald Adams


When it comes to family portrait photography, a more formal pose is often called for. This is to capture oneness, an attribute that is vital in making a family intact. Studio photographers use various elements - both technical and non-technical - to depict what it means to be a family.

Technically speaking, how the portrait would look depends on the composition. Composition pertains to how the key elements are put together to come up with an interesting picture, or in this case to highlight the family's unique personality as a group. On the not so technical aspect of portrait photography, professional photographers attain great composition by requesting the family members to use coordinated color tones for their clothing. Formal attires are already available in some photography studios that their clients can use, particularly those that photograph a group in their formal clothing.

Aside from executive attires-which are considered typical for formal family portrait-there are other ways to make a formal look without wearing coat and tie or corporate dresses. A formal portraiture can also be achieved by asking the family to wear clothes that represent their culture or religion, or anything that identifies them as a family.

A Muslim family, for example, can wear clothing that exhibits their cultural heritage. Muslim women are required to wear long shorts and skirts or the more traditional high-necked, lose robe that protects the arms and legs called jilbab. Again, the family's color of clothing needs to be well-coordinated.

Another essential pointer in capturing group photography is highlighting the individual personality of each member of the family. To achieve this, photographers check if everyone feels good about the their dress and their overall appearance. One or two family member looking very uncomfortable in the photo will ruin the great composition the photographer has envisioned. This proves that a family portrait is only as interesting as each individual in the photograph.




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