Take Your Family Photos to the Next Level This Holiday Season

The holiday season is officially here, which means family portraits galore. Many people seek out a professional photographer around the holidays to get images for Christmas cards. For others, it could be one of those rare times when everyone is together, and they want to commemorate that with photos. Or, maybe you just want to document your own family through the special holiday season. No matter the situation, you’ll want to do everything you can to produce quality, wall-worthy images. It can be overwhelming if you’re new to family or portrait photography, but here are some easy tips to help you get the best out of each session.

Full disclosure: This article is brought to you by MPB.

Image licensed via Depositphotos.

Make Sure You Have the Right Gear

First and foremost, you’ll need to ensure you have the right gear for family photos. Shooting family photos with the wrong equipment can be like showing up to a running race with high heels; you may be able to finish and get the job done, but it won’t give you the best results. Of course, each situation is unique and may call for different kit.

When choosing a camera, most will do just fine for photographing portraits. Of course, a camera with advanced subject detection and tracking autofocus will make your job easier and give you more keepers. If you want to offer large prints, a full-frame, higher-resolution camera would be beneficial. Still, you don’t need the latest and greatest camera to produce high-quality portraits. Even a crop sensor camera would be fine for most situations (especially if you’re just getting started) as long as you adjust your lens selection accordingly.

Speaking of lenses, a wide-angle lens will be necessary if you photograph groups of people, especially large groups. A telephoto lens would require you to stand far away from the group, creating an odd shooting situation. Wide-angle lenses, though, allow you to stay relatively close so that you can communicate with the group and stay connected. While wide-angle lenses introduce distortion, as long as you keep faces away from the edges of the frame, you won’t have too many issues. Wide-angle lenses can also be useful for photographing kids, helping you get on their level and close enough to interact with them, resulting in more playful, natural images. Plus, it will include more of the scene, helping you tell a story in the images.

A normal or relatively short telephoto lens is your best friend when it comes to taking individual or small group portraits. Somewhere between 50mm to 85mm for most situations, or up to 135mm for pairs and individuals, will be beneficial in a few ways. First, those lenses allow for a shallower depth of field than wide-angle lenses, helping you keep the focus on your subjects and not the background. They also allow you to stand back a little, as opposed to getting uncomfortably close as you would need to with a wide-angle lens. Finally, telephoto lenses produce distortion that’s more flattering to faces.

If you’re taking your own family photos, you will also need a sturdy tripod to hold the camera while you dash into the frame. Be sure to get something robust, especially if your camera and lens combo is heavy. There’s nothing more sickening than posing for a photo only to watch in slow motion as the tripod falls over. Also, although not required, a remote will make your life easier than relying on the camera’s timer.

Don’t forget the small stuff, either. Be sure to have a few extra memory cards on hand so that you aren’t running out of space midway through the shoot. Plus, if you haven’t replaced your memory cards in years, it may not be a bad idea to pick up some new (to you) cards to prevent any failures. Extra batteries are also a smart idea so you don’t run out of battery before you finish the session.

While you could go out and buy all new gear, that would be extravagantly expensive. Even if you only need to expand your kit with a new lens, buying brand new is a pricey endeavor. Instead, it’s worth considering purchasing used gear that will offer all the same features and quality but at a lower price. The key, though, is buying used equipment from a trusted source. You don’t want to get burned buying something off Facebook Marketplace. Plus, dealing with individual sellers can be a pain and a big time suck, and time is something you likely don’t have extra of during the holidays.

MPB is a fantastic alternative. It is the largest global platform for buying, selling, and trading used photography and videography gear. MPB recirculates more than 570,000 cameras, lenses, and accessories each year, so there’s a good chance you’ll find what you are looking for. There’s no back and forth with sellers, freeing you up to spend time with your family. Best of all, though, is that MPB’s trained specialists inspect every item that comes through its doors to verify its condition. You can trust that the gear you buy from MPB will work and is in the condition listed. As a bonus, each item comes with a six-month warranty for even more peace of mind.

Location, Location, Location

The location you choose can have a significant impact on the final images, but the best location depends on what you are going for in your images. Do you want simplicity or something more lavish? How big of a group are you working with? Do you want to make it clear that these are holiday photos, or should they be more year-round-friendly?

When choosing a location, it’s important to think about what the background will look like in your images. Something overly busy could distract from the subjects, which is not ideal. Depending on your goals for the images, choosing a location that is important or relevant to the family could be beneficial. You’ll also want to consider if you’ll use props. If you want to use a bunch of props, especially large ones, a location that requires a hike in may not be the best idea. You could choose an indoor set with plenty of holiday-themed props, but be sure to consider lighting when shooting indoors. Christmas tree farms are a popular location choice for holiday photos, but you’ll need permission to host sessions there. Spending the time to scout and, ideally, do some tests will help ensure that you are confident in the setting and background when you have clients or subjects there for a shoot.

Sometimes, you have to make do with whatever location you happen to be at for family photos. You may have limited time, or it could be a spontaneous thing. Even when that is the case, there are ways to make the best of a situation. The main thing is to try to have your subjects step away from the background. For example, if you’re photographing against the side of a building, instead of having everyone right up against it, have them step forward and away from the wall. That separation will provide more depth and help you blur out any unsightly or uninteresting features. You could also get creative with angles to hide distracting elements or use them to your advantage.

Don’t Forget Time of Day

When choosing a location, it’s also critical to plan ahead for the time of day you’ll be there shooting. After all, a location could look phenomenal with early morning light but be a challenging situation in afternoon or evening light. That’s especially true if you’re shooting indoors and relying on natural light.

Morning and evening will provide the best light, with golden tones, soft light, and long shadows. Morning may even provide the addition of sparkly dew or frost, provided you’re willing to brave some cooler temperatures. If you’re in a pinch, mid-day during late fall and winter is more forgiving than during the summer, so it is possible to make that work.

You don’t necessarily need to rely on natural light, either. Artificial light adds a layer of complexity but can also help you produce dramatic images. Or, when balanced well, artificial light can be a way to simply help ease harsh lighting conditions with a more subtle, natural look. If you don’t currently have any lights, MPB sells a range of used lights and lighting accessories to help you pick up gear without spending a fortune.

Research Poses and Prompts

Before the day of the shoot, it’s always a good idea to spend time looking at other family portraits to get ideas for poses. That way, you can identify things you like and don’t like so that you can go into the session with more confidence and specific directions for the families. Having specific poses in mind ahead of time will help everything run smoothly and put your subjects more at ease, resulting in better photos.

Outside of staged portraits, it could be helpful to research prompts for candid photos. That’s especially true if you’re working with children who may be a little shy. One thing I like to do to warm kids up to me and the camera is to set them free and let them run circles around the parents. Allowing the kids to move and be silly loosens everyone up and produces more natural smiles and interactions, even when you get into posed shots. There are also easy prompts that elicit fun reactions, like telling someone to whisper a secret into another person’s ear. Having a catalog of such prompts in your back pocket (figuratively or literally) can be hugely beneficial for producing a smooth, enjoyable portrait session.

Image licensed via Depositphotos.

Pay Attention to the Details

Finally, on the day of the shoot, remember to pay attention to all the details. Watch out for untied shoes, phones in pockets, oddly tucked shirts, or stray hairs. Everyone wants to look their best in photos, so keeping an eye on details like these can make the difference between someone loving the photos or hating them. Plus, the more you catch those things in the moment, the less retouching you have to do in editing, saving you time at the computer.

Don’t Forget to Have Fun

There’s a general expectation that family photos are dull and unpleasant. But they certainly don’t have to be. Good photographers ensure their clients and subjects are able to have fun and enjoy the shoot, making them want to come back next year and the year after. Finding ways to loosen people up while creating meaningful, impactful images will help elevate your work, ensuring the best for your clients. At the end of the day, a quality portrait session comes down to successful planning, the right gear, and the ability to think on your feet.

While getting the right gear for family and portrait photography can be stressful, especially with all the typical expenses associated with the holidays, buying used equipment can save you a significant amount of money. Plus, opting for a trusted source like MPB will give you greater peace of mind and save you loads of time, so you aren’t adding stress to an already stressful time of year.

Full disclosure: This article is brought to you by MPB.

Image credits: Featured image and select other photos licensed via Depositphotos. All other images are by Abby Ferguson.