5 Poses and Prompts for “Candid” Family Portraits

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5 Poses and Prompts for “Candid” Family Portraits

Create candid family portraits that are emotive and connected using poses and prompts that encourage connection.

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Have Parents Touch Heads

The fastest way to create connection in a photograph is through touching heads. Even if it feels awkward for parents to touch heads and keep them touching amidst kids climbing on them or tickling each other, it looks connected.  I often tell parents, “Keep your heads glued together no matter what!” Be mindful of the stories you tell with posing. 

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Have Parents Touch Heads

For me, parents—not children—are the center of the family unit, so I keep their heads touching and don’t let kids come between them.

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Turn Someone Upside Down

Younger kids love to be turned upside down, so I’ll often have dads do this while mom holds another child. You can do it with parents as well, and have them lie in each other’s laps or on a bed. Being upside down elicits excitement and energy for everyone to loosen up and play, and also creates a more interesting composition as opposed to everyone sitting or standing in a straight line.

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Turn Someone Upside Down

You don’t have to come up with all new poses and prompts at every photo session either, so feel free to riff on the idea of someone being upside down as often as you like.  I keep it fresh by playing with composition, groupings and lighting.

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Turn Someone Upside Down

Some of my photos may have someone upside down, but variations in how many family members are in the photo, the cropping and the lighting make it feel new to me and to clients even if the prompt is the same. This isn’t lazy—it actually conserves my creative energy so when it’s time to try something completely new, I haven’t expended all my energy trying to reinvent the wheel with all new poses and prompts.

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Don’t Forget to Flatter Mothers With Small Posing Tweaks

Often when photographers try to create candid images, they throw all thoughts of flattering posing out the window. My mantra: if mom looks like garbage, the photo goes in the garbage—no matter how cute or funny a child looks.  Moms are the ones who have to walk by the image in the hall every day, the ones who often bear the brunt of the invisible work of raising the next generation, 

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Don’t Forget to Flatter Mothers With Small Posing Tweaks

and they don’t have much tangible proof of the depth of their contribution. They certainly don’t get enough recognition and acknowledgement, but photographers can honor mothers and the magnitude of the work they by taking a moment to see them. Notice when mom’s face needs to be turned slightly to be in more beautiful light; 

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Don’t Forget to Flatter Mothers With Small Posing Tweaks

spread her hair out to flow underneath her when she’s lying down on the bed; have her smell her child’s forehead from the side instead of the top, so the camera sees a beautiful profile instead of the top of her head. Flattering doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Small tweaks go a long way.

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Create a “Parenthood” Portrait

Even if the goal of your sessions is candid, a portrait with a child looking at a parent and the parent engaging the camera is a beautiful way to blend both candid imagery and portraiture. The easiest way to do this is to pre-focus, then say the parent’s name while they’re engaging with their child.

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Create a “Parenthood” Portrait

This elicits a look to the camera that is natural and unguarded, which always takes my breath away as a photographer looking to capture the unmasked, real version of a parent when they’ve stopped putting on the front all of us assume at times. Even if you want to adjust something like the tilt of their head, offering a genuine compliment will keep the relaxed feeling and 

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Create a “Parenthood” Portrait

they will sink into the moment of holding your gaze—or, it might also make them “crack” with a giggle, which is just as delightful. And so continues the dance of directing your clients and being open to their reactions, variable from person to person and moment to moment.

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Let Dads be Playful

Family photographers often feel at a loss as to how to pose dads, because dads get a bad rap for sometimes resisting a photographer’s direction during a photo session or wishing they could opt out of the photo shoot all together. Dads have a special aversion to anything that feels awkward or posed, so try having him wrestle with a child

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Let Dads be Playful

on the floor if you’re indoors, or encourage him to surprise another family member with a hug outdoors. Motion will lend emotion to your images; using dads as the source of this energy will infuse your candid family portraits with life and the authenticity we’re all craving with the rising popularity of candid family imagery.

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Let Dads be Playful

Orchestrating candid family photos takes posing and prompting, but little tweaks go a long way in making a photo emotive and loving. Use these guideposts at your next family session to draw the best out of family members, allow their authenticity to shine through and document the ups and downs of family life in a way they want to remember it for generations to come.

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