Hi from Michael Turner

[Michael Turner]

Happy New Year everyone. As a first time speaker at the convention I'd just like to welcome you all to my masterclass on Sunday 20th at 12.00 noon. I'll be passing on twenty years experience of photographing children and familes in just two hours - hang on to your hats!

2008 is going to be a very interesting year, there are lots of new photographers starting up but at the same time (if the pessimists are to be believed) the public have decided that they don't need us any more. So how do you stand out from the crowd and make sure that your business isn't here today and gone tomorrow? Find out more on the 20th.............

See you there
Michael

[Laurence Jones]

Hello Michael,
I'm looking forward to your masterclass. I like your style of family & children's images. If you have time, I'd love to hear your best tactics for big family groups that include a few under-2 year olds who really only want to be there for 10 secs.... 

Cheers Laurence Jones

[Michael Turner]

Thanks Laurence, and good question. You've highlighted one of the hardest tasks in portrait photography. In fact, trying to line up a dozen kittens in a basket must be a doddle compared to big family groups with a handful of toddlers included! There are no easy answers to this one, other than :

Set up the adults and older children first, then slot the two year olds in at the last moment.
Ask the family not to make any fuss if the toddlers play up - they will respond to any attention by playing up even more.
Keep your lighting and posing simple - this is not the time to be arty.
Ask everyone in the group to resist looking at the toddlers to see if they are smiling.
Consider shooting outdoors, studios can become very claustrophobic when awkward toddlers are winding everyone up!
Work quickly - while your attention is on the toddlers, the 6 year olds will be getting bored (like the spinning plates act).
This is one of the rare occasions when I will use a tripod, puppets, squeaky toys - anything that will help to focus attention on me. Using a tripod to keep your camera position static is also benficial if you need to swap any heads in PS later on.
Take valium 30 minutes before.

Multi-generation portraits or portraits of 'all the grandchildren together' can be very profitable, but sometimes you can be caught out when they want just the one one picture "for granny's birthday". Oh, and she lives in a flat "so we only want it about A4"!!. So, allow yourself plenty of time to shoot the separate family groups (if you've not lost the will to live photographing the main group), in fact as many combinations as you can. This is usually the key to a good sale.

Personally I much prefer to photograph smaller family groups where I can shoot in a much more natural way and there is less pressure on the two year olds to conform. But...although I don't specialise in or promote big family groups as such, there is a steady demand (usually for special birthdays or anniversaries) so when they do come my way I just bite the bullet and think of the money.

I hope this helps. More on the 20th.

Michael   

[Bohemia]

And make a list of family names / groups so you can check them off as they are done, then you don't get left with egg on your face like I did at Xmas when I missed a group shot of the one family! Yeah, I know, what a muppet!

[Laurence Jones]

Michael,

Thanks for the very useful reply. I'm glad its not just me!  Any more hints on getting (smaller) family groups looking good but natural, probably outdoors, much appreciated. I can wait until your talk though...!

Cheers
Laurence