Dissappointed in photos

[Mad Aussie]

Now going through poses..although they are hard to find for four people..which now brings on my next question.. a good posing book?

You're the expert Kat

My advice is to think in two categories ... Formal ... and Informal. Get a few serious shots ... these are your safety shots ... then go for it ... fun, sexy, playful, props, unique angles ... whatever.

[kat]

Ha ha.. I know I know. Just going through ideas in my head..just having a slightly hard time with this one. The kids aren't kids but a teen and university student..so my kid ones I usually do are a bit of a no.

Going to be an interesting one for sure though.. outdoors in snow. :P Bring on the blow outs! Bwahahahhahaha.

[Mad Aussie]

You might be surprized how young those kids are when you get them out there and in the snow in front of a camera!

[Bambi]

A friend of mine had some family photos made that were stunning. I guess the photographer put on some music and told the parents to just have fun with the kids. these kids are likely too old for that but I always thought that it was good idea.

[Greg_Nuspel]

One thing that works many times is to talk with them and tell them you just want to check your camera settings. Pop off a shot, look at your back, play with with the camera, take a few more, then say OK lets do it and watch them tense up. The test shots are the keepers :-) Harder to pull off with a group than a single person, but worth a try.

[adenough]

Hi All
This is my first posting here. Now a born again amateur but spent 15 years as a pro.
I think those pictures will be fine. It's not as if they paid [although I take your point about your image] and if they had, they are still fine. Plus you have a second chance using all the good advice you have on here. When I did studio shots I always had the camera on a tripod and focus preset with enough depth of field to cover the group. An older 35mm or 50mm on a digi slr would be ideal as you can actually set the lens up using the marked distance against apeture. Once this is done use a remote if poss and stand behind the camera ensuring that you keep eye contact with the group and you are more likely to see if anybody moved. Keep a bounced flash to one side of the camera and any kind of relector on the other side should give you very presentable results. If you are not lighting the background you should be syncing a shutter speed above at least 90th of a second using flash which should freeze any movement anyway. Enjoy.

Jim