My beautiful publicist, Katie-Rose Watson
Today I got to chat with the lovely Meghan Jones on The Broadcast TV about how to take your very own family photo this Christmas season! I had so much fun and all the ladies were so warm, friendly, and inviting.
I absolutely could NOT have done it without my amazing publicist Katie-Rose Watson. What a joy she is to work with.
Tune back into The Broadcast TV in January for a chance to win a photo shoot with me! The lucky winner will be on the show with me again and I will be revealing her photos LIVE to her! How fun!!
It’s that time of year again when family has traveled long and far to be together and what better way to celebrate that than with a family photo!
It sounds like a good idea until you realize you’ve got to find the perfect spot, you’ve got to get the kids to sit still, make sure no one is blinking, and then find a way to run from the camera and pose yourself before that 10 second timer goes off.
Luckily I'm here to help!
Follow my 5 tips below to take your best family photo!
Tip #1: Find a shady spot and use your camera’s 10 second self-timer
o The two mistakes people usually make in their photos is either facing the family toward the sun so everyone is squinting or facing everyone away from the sun so the picture turns out super dark. The best way to get a clear picture is to find a nice spot of indirect light, or shade. Set up your camera on a tripod or on the counter and use the self-timer tool so that everyone can get into the photo. This means that the person taking the photo will have to push the button and then run to their spot! To make sure you know how to pose, see tips #4 and #5.
Tip #2: Pose the adults first
o When posing adults, arrange everyone according to their relationship with each other. Husbands and wives together or brothers and sisters together. It’s always nice to have mom and dad in the center too! If you have a big family, you will want to create three different levels by having some people standing, some seated, and the kids on the ground or on laps.
Tip #3: Connect everyone through hand and body language
o Now that you’ve got your pose down, it’s time to polish off the picture by connecting everyone. You can do this by having people connect hands, or wrap hands around each other. Just having someone’s hand on the shoulder or arm of the person in front of them makes a huge difference!
Tip #4: Posing: pull your hips away from the camera and define your waist
o Ladies, let’s address how to bring out the best shape in your body! In order to slim your bodyline, I want you to angle your body away from the camera and put your bodyweight on your back foot. This will automatically pull your hips away from the camera which will result in a naturally slimmer bodyline. Next put your hand on your waist to define your hourglass and point your toe to give a slight bend in your knee. Men should face straight on to the camera to create that strong manly feeling!
Tip #5: Bring in the children and get them to look at the camera
o We all know that kids don’t have much patience for sitting down, especially with the energy of Christmas all around. Once you’ve found your shady spot and arranged all the adults according to couples, you can then wrangle the kiddos, when you’re about ready to push that button. It can also be helpful to cut a shape (a star for example) out of piece of colorful construction paper and tape it to the top of the camera. Now, while the self-timer is counting down you can keep telling the kids, “Everyone look at the star, look at the star everyone! Smile!”
I took this photo with a 10 second timer on my camera and just ran into the photo. Yes, we did this about six times!!