When you meet your Hampton Roads Family Photographer for your session, your first thought might be how you should stand or how to get started taking photos. There are so many poses and styles of family photography, it helps to go into your photoshoot with an idea of what you want to achieve in your family photos. Here are some of my personal favorite family photo pose ideas ideas to help you get the family photos of your dreams!
Traditional Family Photos
Traditionally, family photos feel more formal and posed. This is a great option to get everyone smiling at the camera at the same time to really capture everyone’s face. These are some of the best ways to take more traditional family photos, while mixing things up!
Family Photo Pose Ideas While Standing
Most of my families love to have at least one photo from their Hampton Roads family session of everyone standing together and smiling. Standing poses are a great way to get everyone in one photo, and works well for larger and smaller families.
When standing for your family photos do not stand in a straight line. Instead, stagger the different heights of the members of your family to add interest to the photo. This family (below) gives two great ideas for using their different heights to add to their photos.
Arms Around The Shoulders
I love this pose, especially for children and siblings. It is so simple and gives such a fun and loving vibe to your family photos! It’s always fun for me, as a Hampton Roads family photographer, to see how this pose can lighten the mood and bring out each member of the family’s personality!
Individual Portraits
In every Hampton Roads family photoshoot that I do I like to take individual portraits. These photos are great to hang around your home, or keep in a scrapbook to remind you of your children at this time in their lives. I also take headshots for the parents that you can use for business profiles or other professional ventures.
Family Photo Pose Ideas While Sitting
Another great way to mix up your family photos and get more variety in your Hampton Roads family photo session is to have a few photos sitting. This can be done in so many ways, whether you have chairs, a bench or just the ground. But no matter where you end up sitting, keep in mind these tips!
Vary the heights that you sit at. Much like posing while standing up, you want to add interest to the photo while playing with height. You will also want to add layers to the family photo by having some individuals in front of and behind others. This will create a more cohesive photo, having everyone compliment each other.
Candid Family Photos
Taking photos of candid moments is one of the best ways that you can preserve this stage of your life. Getting those in the moment laughs and smiles will evoke emotion for years to come! With candid photos it is more about prompts than family photo pose ideas. So I am going to give you my favorite prompts for candid family photos.
Hold Hands & Walk
To create one of the most tender family photos you will ever have, do this! Hold hands with your child and walk or slightly run to the camera. Then look at each other and just let the magic happen! This prompt for a candid family photo gives you the opportunity to capture joy and movement in a perfect image.
Run!
This prompt is my absolute favorite for little children and siblings. And it is beyond easy for anyone! Your kids will just run towards me, racing each other. This always leads to lots of giggle and happy smiles. It is playful and natural, giving you the perfect capture of your children as they play with one another.
These family photo pose ideas are some of my favorites and are so easy to apply. So when you go into your Hampton Roads family photo session, think about what kind of photos you want to walk away with. And of course, talk with me on how I can best capture your family to get the photos that you will cherish for a life time! Reach out, I can’t wait to meet you!
And for more ideas on how to have fun and get amazing family photos with small children, check out my tips here!
