Anyone NOT having family/group pictures taken?

FI's family yes yes I can lol I still have a pic that I was made to have taken at Buckingham Palace that haunts me lol I couldn't even smile and I was honestly trying v hard lol

I don't like the posed shots, but as somebody else mentioned, there is a way to do them so they look more natural rather than posed.

 

I shoot with a documentary/pj style, but I don't think I've ever had a client that didn't want any family portraits. If you limit it to just a few groupings, you can get it done very quickly so you don't take time away from capturing the real moments, which to me is really what it's all about!

 

Tod

LMAO its his family not mine lol I soo won't ever want one unless its for my dartboard but I'm not sure i'll get away with it lmao

FWIW,

Group family photos don't HAVE to be forced and unnatural.

 

 

The vast majority of my clients prefer to have a selection of these done. As much as a photographer tries to get candids of all the key family and friends during the day, group photos are the surest way to make sure that there is a record of all who were there and how they looked.

 

The big time-eater is not doing large groups: its doing tons of permutations. If you're wanting to streamline the process, ask your photographer to do a few large groups rather than every imaginable combination of people.

 

Good luck and congrats!

If you don't have a lot of family pictures, you may want to consider doing them. I have NO pictures of my family together- maybe a few candids from Christmas but never professional photos. I love the ones we have and I know I will cherish them even more years from now. You def don't have to look uncomfortable in the pics.

 

Plus it didn't take long either- maybe 15 mins?

I hear this a LOT from brides and grooms - they like the candid and photojournalistic style and don't like the line-ups, and I'm always happy to do whatever the couple wants.

 

That being said, the parents and family members can be more traditional and want that posed photo - so what I usually do with my clients is shoot candids all day and have a few posed pics scheduled here and there throughout the day. That way, the parents get what they want and the couple don't need to use any of those posed shots in their album :-)

 

Also, group pics can be more fun than all standing in a row - it's just usually with the older guests (i.e. parents and grandparents) it's easier for them to pose them nicely in a small group and then do the more fun groupings with the wedding party instead.

Oh, and the biggest time-sucker of all is "Where did Aunt May go? Let's send someone to go find her..."

 

So my advice to you is if you do need to do family groupings, make sure you have someone who knows the family to round them up quickly and efficiently and the experience will be a LOT less time consuming :-)

i agree! you can see whos there and what everyone looks like in the photojournalism part of it all but with REAL emotion and fun interactions of everyone. a ton of posed group shots only take away from the little time you have to enjoy your guests and someone usually ends up with closed eyes from blinking or not lookin so hot because they dont like to pose for pics and a wedding day doesnt offer much time to spend taking so many pics until everyone looks cute in at least one pic. i hope that made sense without being rude. i understand some group shots are a must for the most part, but ive gotten quite the list from a few clients, whew! and because of it, their romantic pictures of the two of them were cut short! isnt that what you want to focus on and frame most? since i do have to do them in one way or another, i try to make it fun by having the group be walking and looking at eachother or something, which tends to make them laugh...or if they are posed standing in a group, sometimes i tell them to look at eachother like the brady bunch which makes for cute natural profiles and faces. whatever the case though, to do them REALLY well, it takes a lot of time. for instance my family portrait sessions outside of a wedding day, take 2 hours for one immediate family...but im REALLY into getting things right and people looking good. another example, sports illistrated shoots last all day or days and they only get one cover shot...and they are super models:) not sure if that was a good example, but i hope that helps:) and oh yeah! definately have someone be in charge of rounding people up...someone that knows faces and names. i never hold the list, im too busy capturing real moments and setting up all the people into a good enough looking group for the shot.