Here are 7 Tips and Tricks for Getting your Family Portrait this Christmas.
Ok, so we all hate doing it, we all hate suggesting it, we hate trying to organise it and yet once it's done, we all want one......
The Dreaded Family Photo
Want to know how to make getting that Family Photo easier this Christmas?
Here are 7 tips to help you get that family photo with a little less drama.
#1. Get the camera out early. Take a few snaps as everyone gets settled and greets one another. This gets them used to seeing the camera and being included in photographs.
#2. Give your family some warning. Tell everyone WHEN you will be rounding them up and taking the family portrait. E.g. after lunch, or before dessert, that way they won't run away before you get them all together. No-one leaves before dessert.
#3. Set up a tripod if you can, but if you don't have one, find a spot where your camera can sit so that everyone gets in the photo and all you have to do is keep setting the timer
#4. For those reluctant teens, tell them not to worry about smiling, they just have to be themselves, that way they will be more likely to at least stand there without you having to fight them.
#5. If you have one especially reluctant subject, tell them that they can take the first few photos for you as long as they agree to jump in for at least the last few. (Then you might be able to stretch that out to more photos once you have them there.)
#6. If you have lots of little children in your family, then you will probably need to work quickly, but also, make it into a game. Tell them they can do a couple of photos with silly faces and then they have to do some with beautiful smiles. Tell all the kids at the start that whenever you say "FAMILY HUG" they have to come running back and hug their family. This will bring them back to the group and allow them to refocus and maybe get a few of their sillies out on the way back.
AND
#7. It doesn't matter if you don't have everyone looking at the camera. Some of my favourite family photos are of all of us looking at one another and smiling and laughing at each other, not the camera. Make a point of getting a photo like this. It could be your best family photo yet.
Happy Snapping and make sure YOU don't hide behind the camera!!