Most parents take photos of their children and may have filled computer files, desk drawers and photo albums with candid snaps of their little ones on holiday, at the beach or birthday parties or just playing at home. There may even be a few photos in there of you and your child, or of your child and their other parent – but how many do you have of all of you together? It is important for children to have a record of their childhood, to process events and remember happy times as they get older. Psychologists say it helps them to understand where they have come from and to develop a sense of ‘self’. But when they get older, they are actually often more interested in seeing pictures of you – their parents, or their wider family – to remember how those important to them looked when they were little.
Whilst snaps of all of you taken on a mobile with one person’s arm outstretched can look fun and certainly capture everyone’s features if angled properly, there is something rather special about getting a professional family portrait done by a company like www.venturephotography.com
If you do decide to get a professional portrait, decide which members of the family or other loved ones you would like to feature in the photo and arrange a time to visit the studio that is convenient to all of you. Be sure to tell the photographer how many people to expect as this can affect the length of the photo shoot.
To really make your photograph extra-special, carefully consider the clothes that you will all be wearing. You could all get dressed up, or you could all wear whatever you would normally wear at home. Try if you can to all wear a key colour, such as blue – don’t make it look as though you are all wearing a uniform, but try to use different shades of blue for different pieces of clothing to create a coordinated look. For example, you could wear blue trousers, whilst your other half wore a blue shirt and your children wear blue jumpers or shoes.
Then take care to choose the style of photography you would like to capture your family portrait. Of course, probably in your own childhood family portraits were formal affairs with everyone dressed in their Sunday best and sitting stiffly in careful poses arranged by the photographer. Yes, they captured everyone’s faces and everyone’s eyes were open but they failed to capture the essence of the family. After all, how often as a child do you remember everyone perching on closely-arranged chairs and smile stiffly whilst facing in one direction?
The best types of photographs are those that capture something about the personalities and relationships of the subjects. A mother smiling joyfully into the eyes of her cooing baby; a father play-fighting or racing with his young child; siblings laughing at some shared secret. These are the sorts of expressions that give an insight into the workings of the family and these are what you would want to capture on film to keep forever.
Venture photographers aim to capture natural expressions and poses by snapping away whilst your family has some fun together, or cuddles up together. With only a white background, all the focus is on you and your family and this makes it even easier to capture the essence of how your family works together. These photos make great keepsakes and could also be given as gifts to grandparents (if you can bear to part with them). Best of all, you will all feature in the photographs and none of you has to be responsible for setting timers or getting the composition and lighting right - it is all done for you by experts.