"Bare with me, im learning"
Someone told me they don't shoot families because it’s a lot to deal with. Thank goodness I had the best family for one of my first shoots. They are family friends of mine and they completely understood that this was one of my first times doing a “session” and not shooting for fun. It was a lot of fun but I also learned so much about posing, conversation, and locations.
Posing
The person that told me that they don't like doing families told me that they are hard to pose because kids sometimes do not like to cooperate. Then, the parents have a hard time posing because they are trying to get their kids to calm down and pay attention. Now my experience was sort of like this, but the fact that I knew the family personally helped a lot. Needless to say, they were very patient with me. I looked up poses before I got to the session, so I had to tell them what I needed them to do without pulling out my phone each time. For the most part, they already knew how to pose, I just had to tell them to look a little to the left or a little to the right. However, I love getting candid shots, so I would prompt them to say something funny to each other and crack jokes. I know for next time to have poses or dialogue that are specific to my client to get them in the right positions for a picture.
Conversation
I realized that I'm going to be spending an hour or so with these people and I should probably think of some conversation starters for clients. If your client doesn't really like pictures, having a fun conversation with them about things that they like could help loosen them up and get them a little more comfortable in front of the camera. Hopefully, at that point, they forget about the camera. That's when you get the money shots.
Locations
The family that I was shooting had a newborn and I really didn't consider the location and the walking they would have to do. I scouted this location beforehand and I was so focused on the pretty scenery that I completely forgot that this mom just had a baby! They had a baby backpack, a carrier/carseat, and a toddler. Next time I know for families with smaller children, to choose a location that has more scenic backdrops in closer proximity.
