Photographing Families ─ Use Natural Light, Flash, Posing, and More to Create Professional Images

This comprehensive volume teaches photographers simple approaches for producing client-pleasing family portraits in any location and with the use of minimal equipment. Family photographers must face all of the typical challenges that the average portrait photographer faces, but as the subject numbers increase, so do the number of issues the photographer must confront in order to produce a pleasing, saleable image. The methods used to produce 60 high-end images of actual family groups are shared here—including what went in to the conceptualization process; the posing and grouping strategies; and how the photographer can establish rapport with his subjects, especially with babies, children, and disinterested teens—address the entire range of obstacles portrait photographers must overcome. Also featured are tips on modifying and manipulating studio and natural light, how to use physical elements as posing aids, and what tools are needed for off-site work. With lighting diagrams and alternate images, each section in this book illuminates the many aspects of family portrait photography, equipping and inspiring photographers to create to create quality, heirloom-worthy images.

Lou Jacobs Jr. is a professional photographer; the author of more than 30 photography books, including The Art of Off-Camera Flash Photography, Photographers Lighting Handbook, Professional Children's Portrait Photography, and Studio Lighting; and a regular contributor to Rangefinder magazine. He lives in Cathedral City, California. Tammy Warnock is a portrait photographer working from her studio, True Blue Photography. She lives in Los Alamitos, California.