Family pictures

Probably the greatest use made of the average camera is in photographing family members and family activities. We take pictures of new family members from the moment of their arrival in this world, sometimes as they are actually arriving. We record milestone events - birthdays, graduations, enlistments, achievements, weddings, anniversaries and so on - and bring out the camera when relatives visit or when we travel to see them. We take pictures of family vacations, our children’s participation in school plays and sports events, their Halloween costumes, their first dates and their first cars.

Why do we do it?

Because the camera allows us to capture and preserve family memories. For most of us, the family photo album is among our most important possessions, and it increases in value as time goes on.

PICTURE QUALITY

Strangely, for something that has so much importance in our lives, the family album is often filled with poor quality images. We treasure them nonetheless, overlooking their lack of technical and artistic merit in favor of their content. An underexposed, fuzzy image of a newborn baby can trigger the same memories years later as would a sharp, well-composed image.

But, think of how much more enjoyable our recollection of events would be if our family images were all good photographs. There is no reason why they can’t be.

IMPROVE YOUR FAMILY PICTURES

This section of photographytips.com is concerned with making good family pictures in general.

We also encourage you to visit other sections of our site that address related topics, such as photographing children, wedding photography, and so on.

If you take the time to improve your photography by observing our picture-taking tips and pointers, you will never regret it. Your family album will have less rejects and many more meaningful pictures.

There is no substitute for quality, and when it comes to your family, their pictures don’t deserve anything less.

SEND US YOUR FAMILY PICTURES AND TIPS

We always love to see a good family picture, whether it’s the first photograph taken of a tiny newborn or a huge group photo at a family reunion. If you have a family picture of which you are especially proud, or if you employ a special technique that we may not have mentioned, send us your picture or your tip so we can share them with other viewers. We’ll be sure to credit you with the photography and/or the information if we use it.