The advent of digital cameras had made it somewhat easy for creating high quality family, events and portrait photographs. However, you have to remember that cameras cannot take great photos, only the person behind it can. There are several crucial points in getting terrific family and portrait photos. Right from fitting all the members in a single frame to proper focusing to using a flash, you have to understand and apply lot of items in family photographs and pictures of special events. Here are a few points that you can keep in your mind for family photos, events photography and portrait photos.

• Remember that the persons posing or participating in family, events and portrait photos are not professionals. They do not know anything about proper pose, grooming, looking at the camera, blinking, etc. Children are even more difficult to coach or control.

• Select the location and background carefully and consider the number of persons that are going to be present on that occasion. It will be easy to control lot of things in a studio but the same is not possible in outdoor or indoor shooting. Use the background to maximum advantage, whenever possible. This will require lot of imagination and some planning.

• Correct lighting is a major problem in getting good photos. There are many technical terms such as main lights, background lights, kicker lights, fill lights, etc. The most basic is main light, which is generally placed at about 45 degrees to the right or left of the person or the group. The lighting can be at normal height or from above or below. However, lighting from above for family and portrait photos can cast shadows below the eyes and spoil the photo completely. Professional photographers use filler lights to soften the effect of main light and kicker lights to provide depth to the photos. If the background is not attractive, then background lights can be used to make the photos more pleasing.

• Pose is another important point in getting good photos. Try to get natural poses as far as possible. Let the dress be colourful but not too much gaudy or glaring. The makeup must be simple and minimal, if you can have your way. Make sure that the persons in the photo remain in a casual pose. Rigid postures will make the photos appear very boring and unappealing.

• If you have a skyline or similar defining item in the background, keep that item either slightly above the bottom or marginally below the top. Skyline should never be in the middle of the photo. This is known as the rule of thirds.

• If the group is a large one, try to keep the faces of the people at slightly different levels to avoid monotony. You will definitely remember the classroom and sorority photos that look drab.

• Study the portrait photographs of eminent personalities like Winston Churchill, Laurence Olivier, Marylyn Monroe and John Kennedy or photos by expert portrait photographers like Bryan Adams, Tina Barney, Margaret Bourke-White and Harry Callahan. You can learn a lot about portrait photography techniques by analysing the methods adopted in these photos.

These are only some of the main points in family and portrait photography and event photo sessions. You can either go through the specialised books on these subjects to get a better idea on all aspects of excellent photo taking techniques. You can also talk to our experts and we will guide you as much as possible.