Planning a family photo session
The Clients Requirements
The first thing I do with any client is ask them what they have in mind for the end result. It could be that they just want a single group shot of the children to put on the wall or it could be much more in depth where they would like a photo book of the entire shoot.
I try to meet up with them beforehand so you can have a good chat about the photo shoot but also just to get to know each other a bit. It’s a lot easier on the day if you already have a rapport with the client.
Location
Most of my family photo sessions are on location around Essex. My favourite places are parks with woodlands, the beach (because I live on the coast), anywhere you can have a beautiful natural background and the kids can run off some steam.
A client’s garden can also be a very good place for a shoot as children are typically more comfortable in familiar surroundings. This is especially true with very young children as we all know how much stuff you take with you when you go out with a little one!
Once a location has been agreed with a client it’s always a good idea to scope out a few places to shoot even if you’ve used that location before. There could be an event or building work going on which would stress you out on the morning of the shoot if you didn’t know about it.
The other reason to view the location is of course the light. I try and view the location at the same time as the forthcoming shoot just to get an idea of where the light will be coming from and seeing what places would and wouldn’t work. This is dependent on the weather of course which is surprisingly good in Essex!
This brings me on to the next part of the plan which is the weather. Very unreliable but surprisingly unusual to have to cancel because of it. Most people would think sunny weather would be best for a photo session and while you can get good shots you really have to be careful about where your subject is facing. Into the sun and their eyes are squinting, away from the sun and their face is in dark shade whilst everything around them is bright which really annoys the camera! If you know the weather will be clear then try to photograph either early or late in the day, an hour after sunrise or an hour before sunset. But getting a family to a location by 7am isn’t easy so you’ll inevitably have to compromise.
This is probably why I prefer shooting natural portraits in woodland areas. If it’s bright sunshine at midday you can still find a great place in the shade of a tree for a beautiful photograph. Woodlands just remove an awkward variable from one of the many things you have to think about.
The next step running through my head is what poses am I going to use? And I’ll talk more about that in my next blog.