Taking Portraits at Home

The kids are back in school and the weather is beginning to change. As the days and months fly by, it’s easy to miss the little changes that take place in each of the members of your family. From the baby of the family suddenly being ready for school to your teenager turning into an independent adult, it’s important to capture the changes that take place. Family or individual portraits are a great way to keep record of the transformations within your family as time passes. You’ll cherish the photos you take every year or two, scrapbooking them or framing them and sharing with other close friends and family, through Christmas cards or as gifts.

Portraits don’t have to be done in a stuffy portrait studio or with an expensive professional photographer. You can take family portraits at home and get great photos without searching for the right studio or paying a lot for prints.

By taking the photos at home—even with a point and shoot camera—you can save money and minimize stress. Here are a few tips to help you set up your own at-home portraits, either with film or a digital camera:

1. Give yourselves plenty of time. Photos will go much smoother if everyone is patient and not on a tight time schedule.
2. Find a good backdrop. Many of us take a photo that looks great in the viewfinder but later we discover a cord or chair leg sticking out from behind someone. Use a sheet or blanket hung on a wall and a matching one on the floor. Be sure to remove the folding creases by ironing or putting the sheet in the dryer first. A white or light pastel works great. For a more dramatic effect, use black.
3. Use soft lighting. Direct sunlight is appealing, but it will give too much contrast in the photo. Instead, try somewhere near a large window or door.
4. Find a reflector. Use a piece of white posterboard or even a white sheet to reflect some of your natural lighting onto the subject to help eliminate shadows. Move the reflector around until you get the desired lighting effect on your subject.
5. Check the clothing of your subjects. Solid or neutral colors are best and easiest to work with. If you’re shooting the whole family in color, be sure colors don’t clash and avoid patterns (stripes, plaids, dots) that will draw the eye to one family member over another.
6. Position the subjects. Place your subjects a couple of feet in front of the hanging backdrop.
7. Position the camera. Ideally your subjects will fill 75 percent of the camera’s frame. Set the camera on a tripod and set the automatic timer (your manual will tell you how) if you’re planning on being in the photo as well.
8. Take a test shot if you’re shooting digitally. You can double-check the lighting and the positioning of your subjects.
9. Shoot away! Take many photographs—you’ll be grateful for the opportunity to choose the best ones later. Take shots from various angles and capturing a variety of expressions—your subjects don’t have to look directly at the camera all of the time. It can be particularly meaningful to take shots of your kids in their favorite clothes, or with something that truly depicts them like a soccer ball or ballet outfit or even sitting in a chair with a concentrated expression on your face. Don’t be afraid to have photos where your children are crying or just not smiling—it’s all about being as natural as possible.