Now I know I don’t just press a button and beautiful photographs magically appear… but when I created this comprehensive family photography checklist of all the things I need to consider before taking a photograph it even shocked me!

Things to check at least 2-3 hours before you leave the house (ideally the night before).

Are the batteries charged on your camera and flashes? What about the spares?
Are your memory cards cleared and the photos backed up?
Are there memory cards in the cameras?
Do you have the shot list and mood board to refer to?
Do you have/need the tripod, flashes, flash stands, soft box, reflectors, filters etc?
Do you know where you’re going – do you have the map?
Have you scouted the location or got a good idea of what’s there?
Have you memorised everyone’s name - even if there’s a large group?
Have you memorised their different personalities, ages, things they like to do, how they would interact normally (not fakely!) as a family etc.etc.

Camera settings

What aperture do you want to ensure people everyone is sharp and in focus and the background / foreground still has the required blurriness?
Is my shutter speed fast enough to avoid a blurred photograph?
Is your exposure compensation set to the middle or does it need to be higher or lower to give a correct exposure?
Is the ISO as low as possible for the conditions to avoid grainy images, but high enough to give me a fast enough shutter speed to avoid blurred photographs?
Is the self-timer turned off?
Are you using the best lens for the situation?
Are you shooting RAW or jpeg?
Is the white balance set correctly (this doesn’t matter if you shoot RAW as you can adjust later without any loss of quality)
Are you on manual or auto focus?
Is the tripod secure?
Do you need to use single focus or a tracking focus?
Are you focusing on the right part of the scene so that’s sharper than everything else?

Analysing the light

What’s the light like? Is it harsh, soft, cool, warm…?
Are there any locations with ‘open shade’ which is often the best light for portraits?
Which direction will use the light to best effect?
Do you want backlighting so they’re not squinting and they’ll get nice highlights on their hair and a dreamy background - but risk not having nice catchlights in their eyes unless you use a flash?
Do you need to use flash and if so how many flashes and what sort of diffusion do you want to use?
How much flash power do you need?
Can you / should you move the subject into or out of the shade?
What’s your message? What are you trying to capture from the scene / person?
Are there any really bright areas that may distract from the main subject?
Do you need to use exposure compensation to allow for extremely bright or dark light, or to create a specific look?
Would a filter help?

Composition

What’s your message? What are you trying to capture from the scene / person?
Should you fill the frame with the subject or do you want to give it a ‘sense of place’?
Should you compose portrait or landscape?
Do you want to follow the ‘rule of thirds’
Are there any lead-in lines to draw the viewer’s eye into the photo?
Are there any patterns, shapes or textures?
Can the subject be framed by anything else in the scene to prevent the viewer’s eyes wandering off the edge of the photo?
Is there anything you can put in the foreground to help add depth to the photo?
Is the background cluttered? Does it add or detract to the photo.
Are there any colours that add or detract to the photo?
Are there any other distractions in the photo? Scan all around the scene before pressing the shutter

The people in the photograph

Are they relaxed and have a natural expression
If they’re not relaxed then what can I say to help without making them feel self conscious?
Are they smiling (if you want them to be)
If they’re not smiling what can I do or say to get a natural smile?
Are they laughing (if you want them to be)
If they’re not laughing what can I do or say to get a genuine laugh
Are they holding themselves in a way that looks awkward or unnatural
Is their pose flattering (even if its not a posed shot - it still needs to look flattering)
Are they looking at the camera or not / do I want them to or not?
Are there any little details that may detract from the photograph such as hair sticking out, the lapel of a jacket covering part of the face, one person blocking another person etc.

The lists could go on and on, but writing everything down like this shocked me. Especially because most of the things in this list all have to be considered within the split second of taking the photograph.

I guess the speed, confidence and expertise with which a photographer can make these decisions is what separates the different skill levels.

Oh and then there’s Photoshop… and then professional printing and framing…

…maybe another day!

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