Wondering what the best camera settings for family photos are? Then you’re in the perfect place!

In this video, I walk you through which aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings will give you the best results in your family portraits, along with some bonus tips and tricks to help you take them to the next level.

As always, use these suggested settings as a starting point to get you going, and then tweak as need be!

This is a question I get asked all the time: “How do I get smiles from the kids, or stop people from looking awkward during a photo session?”

Let’s face it, most people just simply aren’t a fan of getting their photo taken, and find the situation uncomfortable, and kids often find the whole thing one big bore (and they’ve probably already been told to be on their best behaviour so they are already expecting the worst!) The result can be images that look stiff and awkward.

To help you get those relaxed happy family photos you’ve been looking for (and get those all important smiles from the kids) I’ve invited professional photographer Melissa Gibson to give me her tips on how she manages a session to make sure she gets the shots that people will love!

If you want to take your own family photos this year, either due to practicalities or budget constraints, then this is the post for you! I’m going to walk you through how to take your own family photos, step by step.

This is such a handy thing to know how to do, because it means you can take your own family portraits for things like holiday cards, or to hang on your wall, but also for other occasions, for example if you are holiday, or birthdays, when it might be too costly to hire a professional photographer each time.

Now, I’m not going to lie, it is easier to have a professional come in and take your photos, because they are able to simply focus on getting the best shot and making sure everyone is posed at they should be (after taking a set of family photos where my then-young son had his finger up his nose and I didn’t notice, you begin to appreciate these things ) rather than also having to worry about what they look like too :)

But of course, it is entirely doable to take your own family photos, so let’s get cracking on how to approach this!

October is almost upon us, so it’s time to share some Halloween Photography Ideas!

This mix of fun and spooky Halloween photography ideas will give you some great prompts for photos you can try to capture, image examples you can look at for inspiration, and kickstart some ideas for Halloween photoshoots too!