Certain tips you can implement to motivate your subjects for a better family portrait photo is to make them laugh. Tell them a joke to get them laughing! Make the children giggle when you show them your silly face and make a noisy squawk.
Students studying photography often will do this for you for free or low cost if you allow them to use the shots for their portfolio. If there is a college in your area with that offers photography classes, call and ask if any students would be willing to assist you.
As Kauai photographers we know the best light is either early morning or late afternoon or evening. This is when richness and depth of light is available so if possible try to get your family together for a group shot at these times of day. This is of course not always possible due to the event they are attending itself such as a christening or wedding. But, the principle still stands. If this is not possible then try to get them all into bright open shade or light just inside a doorway or a window. You may need to think about ‘fill in flash’ to avoid unsightly shadows.
Get together with another family. Have the other family take pictures of you and then you take pictures of them… have you ever noticed that a lot of the pictures you have, there’s always one person who’s the photographer and never in the shot… doing this with another family gives you a different perspective (pardon the pun) and the freedom to actually be in the shot.
A biography is an essential part to any successful press kit. You may find this hard to do if you have never done it before, but give a shot anyway. If you are really stumped hire a writer to family photographers put it together for you. Try to keep it short, but informative, and fit it on one typed page if possible.
Do you love taking photos? Have you always wanted to photograph the world’s most famous vistas? Photo Explorer Tours is a company that will make it happen for you. These are world tours, led by photographers known around the world. The company plans tours of destinations all over the world. It is okay if you are still unsure of where you want to travel. You can join a group, after making travel plans that are convenient for your time schedule. Photo World Tours plans site-specific tours, with specific places and dates. Just go wherever the tour is going when you have time to take a vacation. Engulf yourself in spontaneity!
If you want to sell your photographs, then sell some of the photographs in your set. Take your full-time to put them together, but make sure that you need to complete your project on time. Don’t let your photographs sit around in boxes, just take out the best one and show them off.