Making Families Comfortable

MrDishington

MrDishington

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Nicholas
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I'm set to have a trail period at a family portrait photography studio this weekend with the hope of working there full-time but I've not actually done many family portraits before. Most of my portfolio has been done with models or bands so I'm not used to working with the possibility of grumpy dads, controlling mums and hyperactive children...

How do you relax and welcome families you've shot? I want them to look as natural and happy as possible.

I've read a lot about making terrible jokes to ease them in, any examples would be fantastic.
 
Nicholas I don't have a joke book handy at the moment I am afraid, so can't give you any, you should have saved them from the Christmas crackers.

The majority of my clients are young families and it is important to have a little chat with them about what they want to achieve from the session or style of editing the like. I have portfolio coffee table books for this reason, it also helps to break down a barrier.

During the session I keep the lighthearted chat going, if the Dad's are grumpy get the kids to tickle him or jump on him. When working with young kids it is important to stay down low, don't tower over them and show them an image or two on the camera, they normally respond better. Controlling parents make me cringe that is the worst they can do as it generally upsets the children being manhandled. If the kids wont settle let them have a break for a couple of minutes. The most relaxed images I find are when everyone is sitting on the floor, then arrange them how you want them.

Most importantly is to have fun during the process, they will remember the experience and are likely to recommend to others. Plus it will make your job even more enjoyable, occasionally you will get tricky customers but that is all part of the job, you never know what you are going to get.

Good luck
 
I will often let a child take a pic on the camera of mum and dad, really make them feel part of it. Also, get them to help, just simple stuff like move this or move that, makes them feel part of it then you can get them to help with younger kids.
 
Thanks both of you! I guess I'm so caught up in what could go wrong I'm forgetting that it should all be fun. I'm pretty tall so I scare some children, I'll come down to their level and yeah, involve them more. I guess if I can get the kids in a good mood it'll change the feeling in the whole room. Thanks!

It'll be an adventure if nothing else!
 
Nicholas any update on how things went and if you enjoyed the experience enough to join the ranks of being a family tog or did it put you off?
 
Well, it was alright... I stumbled a bit on the first family but got some okay pics for a first attempt. I had decided not to take the job by the time the second family came in and as a result really loosened up. This helped a lot although I had a baby who was being really difficult and I wasn't sure how to deal with it. The rest of the were a pleasure to photograph though!

I didn't take the job because the studio was horribly unprofessional and had completely the wrong equipment. They told me I'd need an infra red trigger (which I bought) to set off the flash but when I got there they didn't even have flash, just two weak tungsten lights with which they expected me to shoot high key. When I told them they'd need to be edited to get the effect they wanted they told me I'd need to edit EVERY picture like that (minimum 15 pics per outfit change, per person. Approx 4 outfit changes) from the shoot within an hour before the next shoot.

I had to shoot at ISO 1600 to get a correct exposure... that's how weak the lights were.

I could honestly go on and on about what was wrong with that place but the list is too long to read. Put simply, nothing worked.
 
That sounds like a barrel of laughs, a family portrait studio with just tungsten lights. I hope you didn't spend to much time trying to trigger them lol. Sounds a little like Poundland with pictures. My guess is that it wasn't Venture then.

If they only had that gear I don't really think there was a job to be had at the studio in the first place! Or were they trying to see how creative a tog you are.

Go on do a list just so we can have a giggle.
 
Haha you asked for it...

* Only one backdrop actually reached the floor.
* That backdrop had a crease down the middle.
* Since the floor was carpeted people's high heels had gone through that backdrop.
* They tried to remedy that with a piece of wood underneath which kept sliding about as it wasn't fixed down.
* Prop umbrella was broken in two places and had no handle.
* Laptop I had to edit on had splash marks and dirt on the screen and had barely any RAM (had to close everything else to use Levels in Photoshop)
* As the photos were presented to the clients with the laptop hooked up to a big TV that was tinted slightly yellow I had to edit whilst it was hooked up to that and change the hue to make it look natural on the big screen. I knew that was wrong since they'd turn out badly when printed but I was fed up by this point.
* As a result of the above I had to sit on the floor to edit as there was no desk.
* They told me my first shoot would be a mother and some babies so I set up for that only to end up shooting a woman and her 10 year old son.
* They had to cancel another appointment with someone because they'd double booked.
* The photos on the walls had clearly not been done in their studio, they didn't have the coloured backdrops in most of the pics and they had no noise (like I said, I had to shoot ISO 1600 for some of it).
* I spent so much time editing that I didn't get a lunch break.
* I was interviewed for the position by the receptionist, in the reception whilst people were coming in. She clearly knew nothing about photography and asked me the same question 3 times.
* The job was advertised as "Fashion Photographer" and throughout my time there they kept calling it fashion photography even though it was normal family portraiture.
* The second family I shot had been in make-up for 4 hours... there were only 5 of them and 3 of them didn't have any obvious make-up.
* The mother and son who came in first had also been in make-up, the mother had splodges of liquid eyeliner down her cheek.
* A girl that worked there stopped me halfway through a shoot to take my card to apparently edit my pics... in hindsight she couldn't have done any editing since my card reader was in my bag and they didn't have any means of transferring images to a computer (that's why I had to bring it)

Phew!
 
Nice, sounds a little like Fawlty Towers.

What were they offering salary wise or did you have to include the pc, flashlights, backdrops etc. 4 hours for make up well saves on the pp I guess. What do they want to charge for prints? I am amazed that any studio would let anyone come in and start shooting with clients. What a shower.

To me it sounds like the dream job, how could you turn it down lol
 
I have no idea about prints. In fact to add to the list they told one of the families I'd run through the pricing scheme with them during the shoot but they hadn't even told me it yet!

All I knew was that for that weekend I was getting £6 an hour, they said we could negotiate a salary after the trial weekend. All rather odd!
 
Negotiate the salary, £4 per hour and we get you some decent studio lights, is that what they had in mind. At least you got some pennies in your pocket and an insight, even if a poor one.

If the place is run as badly as you say it can only go one way PETE TONG, they must have a very good marketing policy.
 
I do my family portrait photography at their own house with portable studio lighting and a white backdrop. I find that they are far more relaxed like this and this is where I get the most natural shots.

This is particularly true if young children or babies are involved!
 
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