For those that are too busy (or unorganized in my case) to have professional photos taken in time for holiday cards, there’s always New Year cards. I’ve It’s been a few years since I’ve attempted sending any type of card but with our change of address as an excuse I decided we had to get it done.
But sending a holiday card is really more about showing off your beautiful, perfectly staged family photos right? As much as I’d love to have professional photos taken, I can never get my act together so I’ve mastered 3 tips for taking our own family photos.
The photo shoot is always the most dreaded part of this entire process. No matter how much I bribe or plead, my family never seems to cooperate. This is probably why hiring a pro seems even more daunting. I need to be fast, keep it simple and get everyone out alive.
And with no other human around capable of dealing with the stress of taking our family photo, it was imperative to figure out a way to do this ourselves. It may seem like you need a lot of complicated equipment but good news – you only need three simple things.
3 Tips for Taking Your Own Family Photos
Camera: The first piece of equipment is of course a camera (duh). This can be any type of camera – even your phone – you just need to know now to use it properly. Recently I upgraded to a Canon Rebel EOS T6i. After owning for a few months I love it but starting to wonder if I should have taken the plunge and purchased a full frame camera. Oh well! It still takes much better photos than the last DSLR.
At the end of the day it’s really more about the user than the camera itself. Be sure you play around with the settings BEFORE gathering everyone together for a pose. Test different backgrounds.
I always make the girls and hubs stand in a potential area to see how it will look. For our holiday photo we started inside which looked terrible and decided to move it outdoors that resulted in much better photos. Any time you can use natural light do it!
Tripod: The second thing you need is a tripod. Nothing fancy just sturdy. Mine is the Professional 60″ Universal Tripod DX-TRP60 and gets the job done. I like that it has a bubble level, a quick-release plate (can take the camera off quickly) and extends to 60 feet.
My mom was here visiting during Christmas so we snapped a few pics before heading to church. I used the tripod for this one too. Here’s a great article on why you need a tripod and when to use it.
Wireless Remote: Lastly and what I call an underground secret – is a wireless remote controller. My friend Canon RC-6 Wireless Remote Controller which has a two second delay allowing time to hide the remote before the camera shutter goes off.
Sure you can set your camera’s timer but who wants to run back and forth. Now we just stand in place while I scream “SMILE” and snap a few pics without having to move. And we can easily adjust our poses.
My new Canon Rebel EOS T6i also comes with a video screen and we can see ourselves which helps tremendously.
This is the family photos that made it on New Year cards. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Of course you need to play around with the camera settings and figure out lighting but for the most part all our family photos are taken with these three pieces of equipment. The wireless remote has a few limitations – works best standing directly in front of camera sensor – but for a quick family photo you are good to go!
We used JANSALE20 at checkout and here is no minimum purchase required.
Did I mention I’m really hoping to get these in the mail this week? Better late than never. Happy New Year!!
What tips do you have for taking your own family photos?
If you’re looking for more family photography tips, I really like this article from Photography Concentrate.
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