What Makes A Good Family Portrait?
Professional family portraits offer an important opportunity to preserve precious memories for years to come. As experienced family portrait photographers, we’ve helped hundreds of families to document these irreplaceable moments. We’re often asked what makes a ‘good’ family portrait, and the answer may surprise you.
The best family portraits show love and connection on full display
No two families are the same, which means that no two portrait sessions are exactly the same. That said, we find the best family portraits are often those that purely and simply have a strong emotional quality.
Our favourite portrait sessions are those where the love and connection between each family member shine through. Whether your family is captured laughing and playing in the park or embracing in our studios, it’s the person-to-person bonds that we aim to capture.
Inspiring backdrops, coordinated clothing, and bright smiles all add pleasant finishing touches to your family portraits. At the end of the day though, it’s the love your family shares that makes a photograph truly beautiful and worth treasuring forever!
How often should we take family portraits?
Another question our clients often ask is, ‘how often should we take family portraits?’ At Timeless Images Photography, it’s our belief that family portraits are worth investing in every two to five years.
The first reason is simply that children grow and change so quickly. As any parent knows, the difference between a one-year-old baby and the same child at three is astounding! We’ve covered this topic throughout our recent blog on newborn and baby photography.
Secondly, family portraits help us to celebrate the time that older relatives have with their children and grandchildren. We’ve worked with many clients who are grateful and relieved to have captured the time shared with older relatives when they had the chance.
The final reason is that with semi-regular portrait sessions, your family will know what to expect and the results may be better. With a bit of experience in front of a camera, young children are likely to be calmer, adults are likely to be more relaxed, and so forth. Our photographers will guide you throughout each portrait session to ensure your family gets the most extraordinary results possible!
Here are a few pro tips we use to get that emotional ‘spark’ in your family portraits:
- During your photo shoot, we may encourage you to look at each other, not at the camera! This encourages more genuine smiles, authentic laughter, and helps everyone to feel more relaxed in front of the camera set-up.
- In addition, we’ll often position family members so that everyone is standing or sitting close together. Portraits with family members slightly overlapping one another visually demonstrate a strong sense of togetherness.
- Another way to emphasise the connections between family members is to wear clothing that has significance for each of you. For instance, we’ve had the privilege of capturing many portraits where families have worn their traditional cultural dress. We’ve talked a little more about what to wear in your family portraits in this blog.
Would you like to safeguard your family’s special memories for the future? Enquire with Timeless Images Photography today. We’d love to chat with you!
