What do you struggle with the most when it comes to family photos? Camera settings or posing? Comment below. Make sure to check out this video for a more in-depth look on camera settings - ua-cam.com/video/hNvINz66xDQ/v-deo.html
Hello! Thank you for this video, it was very helpful. I have a question? Do you use ONE SHOT, AI FOCUS of AI SERVO when shooting a family with children?
I’d love to see behind the scenes of shoots with you being mic’ed so we can hear how you interact with families and pose them! Of all ages and amounts of people!
I'm new and learning, so I've been learning focus areas. My question is, if there's a group of 4+, why is it better to use center area instead of wide? Because wide will place the green focus dots on several faces right?
I watched & studied this video over the weekend for my FIRST family session of 12 people! I was so so nervous. I only had a 50mm, which you two mention a 55mm so I’m like eh gotta work with what I have! Lol but with following all your steps and using the accurate camera setting, I had such an AMAZING shoot today!!! Everyone LOVED their photos. I am so proud and thankful for this video! Helped a lot
Having trouble with posing tips for mom, dad, and two teenage daughters. Please help!!! Shoot is coming up this weekend! :) You're both AMAZING- thank you soooo much!! You SAVED my senior photo shoot yesterday with your posing tips! 🥰🙏
Okay I am not joking, I have watched hundreds of videos about shooting in manual and I never understood when to change my f-stop when people gave ranges.... you guys are incredible for explaining the plane of field!! Something that be seem super simple to most photographers can go right over others heads!
I’ve watched thousands upon thousands of videos to brush up with new tips and tricks, but I’ve got to say something about this particular video: leave it to two amazing moms to perfectly explain manual settings to a new photographer! Fantastic video, simply beautiful!
I have a d750 just shooting pics for my child. Well ive been struggling with focusing both my husband and my baby and now I understand why.. thank you!!!
I'm a flower/plant photographer who typically only takes macro shots. Today I have a request to take my friends family photos! (Which they were just going to take on their phones). I've taken good single portraits before, never a whole group so that made me nervous 🥲 I got my notes from this video and now I'm excited!!! Thank you so much for sharing these recommendations ❤️
This video was so helpful! I am a videographer wanting to expand my knowledge in photography. This was a perfect exploration when addressing manual settings!! Thanks so much!! 👍🏾 👍🏾 ❤
Thanks a ton. I retired from aerospace last August and want to revive/renew my portrait photography business. Even the background images on the wall helped me realize I want my portrait images to be light and bright, not so contrasty. You also reminded me of something I learned many years ago...aperture depends on number of people and where they're placed. Same plane or with front & back rows. Regardless, gotta keep the shutter speed fast enough to remove any motion blur. Yea, people move! 🙂 And they Talk and Laugh too with family, so I usually use a tripod just in case you have to swap a head. Just found you two. BTW, slight accent depicts upper midwest, like Wisconsin or so.
This by far has been the most informative video for what I needed! I struggle with trying to shoot wide open and then forgetting to change my f stop when subjects start moving around for more candid photos
I have been trying to find a photography video that actually pinpoints where the actual camera focal point would go directly on the subject in the photo! Thank you! I would love to still see a visual of the pinpoint focal spot on the subject as well.
It seems like at least one thing has to be sacrificed in an "action" shot... or a shot with some movement. If subjects are moving, gotta increase shutter speed. Increasing shutter speed will reduce how much light is captured. If you compensate that with lower aperture, focus might be incorrect. Etc etc. How do you prioritize settings? Do you prioritize F stop and shutter speed, just to correctly capture the subjects, then deal with exposure and other things in post? Thanks!! Great videos.
Great video. Thank you for all the tips 🙌🏼. I think it can also help to purchase a reflector especially if the subject is back lit. This can help avoid having to increase iso and risking noise in the picture.
Nice crispy presentation. it has resolve basic problems regarding family photos which I was thinking how to solve .hope I will do better next time. stay blessed
I am really enjoying and learning a lot from your videos. Using a mirrorless with a crop sensor, when doubling the lens to set the shutter speed should I double the lens size i.e.56mm or the equivalent 90mm?
What is your reasons for not shooting on a say 70 to 200mm? I have had instances where the children are a little nervous about me being in their face and so take some of the candids on the longer lense so not to be too close? Great info on the video.
Hey! Thanks. We couldn’t read the rest of your other message and can’t find it. I hope the download is in your hands. If not, email us and we will get that to you ASAP.
Thank you, thank you, I found this video tremendously helpful. Now that I have found your channel, I will be watching your previous videos and hope to understand more. I also have to find a channel that helps me understand the workings of my camera. I have been given a Nikon d7100 and am a bit intimidated by all the different selections it offers. I am excited to learn more and am happy to have found you.
You guys are awesome! Thank you for sharing both process and technical settings. My question. Is how to do find that perfect balance between crisp in focus groups and bokeh in the background. Also what if you have to shoot indoors and space and light is limited. Thanks so much!
Group photos are harder to get the focus in the background and will have less focus. The lower F stop you can go without getting blurry people is the way to go but you still won't see a super blurry background. The closer you stand to your subject the more blur that will happen behind them and the further they are from their background. Shooting indoors is not our strong suit :) We always find window light when we need to shoot indoors. We have free training right now on manual mode if were we dive deep into the things if you are interested in learning more. It's happening next week. e-squared.mykajabi.com/manualmodetraining
Oh wow guys. This video was so easy to understand. Thank you so much. I am a very new photographer, soon will do my first photo shoot. I don't have expensive lenses yet. Will 18-55mm 3.5-5.6G good to start family photography. Can you please give me some tips. Thank you
IshikaSusy absolutely!! That will work just fine. Feel free to shoot us an email or a DM on Instagram @esquared.photography with any specific questions! Thanks for watching.
great video! My struggle is my colors, they are vibrant and not light airey. I want it the color you use for the skin tones in the Camera. Is that even possible?
This was so helpful! 😭 I struggle with setting ISO the most and making sure every person is in focus! I use a canon but use a 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8! I love those lenses but I struggle getting everyone in bigger families in focus. Y’all made this so easy to understand!
My biggest problem in portraiture is portraits of families of color. I've done some reading on this and it is apparently a common challenge. Can you tell me the most standard adjustments?
I've watched a few videos thus far and will continue to overload on your expertise! VERY helpful and easy to understand...I have holiday mini sessions scheduled for tomorrow - 10AM-1:30PM so hopefully I do alright since I literally just heard you say 2 hrs before sunset is best. (sigh)
Thanks for the helpful tips. I like to shoot portraits with my Canon RF 50 mm f/1.2L, but am still having trouble when taking group photos because the focus is soft on some family members if they’re not exactly in the same plane. I’ve even bumped my f-stop up to 5.6 or 6.3 but still can’t get everyone in focus. I could take 2 or 3 shots and focus stack them in post, but that just takes too much time! I don’t have that much trouble getting everyone in focus with my 24-105 f/4 zoom lens, but the image quality is far inferior to the 50 mm prime. However, the prime lens seems to have a shallower depth of field than my other lens-even when shooting at the same focal length and aperture. Do you have any other suggestions?
Hello! Wonderfully helpful content! My confusion is with focus mode and area. With family photography, do you use flexible spot lock auto focus? Or others? Thanks!
Hi this was extremely helpful, sometimes focus keeps looking on the floor instead on people o have to move manuallly on my d3500 but it makes me lose the shot,
New to photography. I get flustered when I have to switch the settings on the back of the camera. How do you get over that? Practice is probably your answer.
You guys are SO helpful! I've watched so many of your videos the last few weeks after stumbling upon you and I just love your content. I've just now getting started out in family photography and so glad to find yall. Any tips for group photos with tall adults and children? Do you almost have to get them in rows?
What do you struggle with the most when it comes to family photos? Camera settings or posing? Comment below. Make sure to check out this video for a more in-depth look on camera settings - ua-cam.com/video/hNvINz66xDQ/v-deo.html
Hello! Thank you for this video, it was very helpful. I have a question? Do you use ONE SHOT, AI FOCUS of AI SERVO when shooting a family with children?
I’d love to see behind the scenes of shoots with you being mic’ed so we can hear how you interact with families and pose them! Of all ages and amounts of people!
Claudia Goodwin love this idea!!!
Stefie Vanleeuwen same question @e- squared
I'm new and learning, so I've been learning focus areas. My question is, if there's a group of 4+, why is it better to use center area instead of wide? Because wide will place the green focus dots on several faces right?
I watched & studied this video over the weekend for my FIRST family session of 12 people! I was so so nervous. I only had a 50mm, which you two mention a 55mm so I’m like eh gotta work with what I have! Lol but with following all your steps and using the accurate camera setting, I had such an AMAZING shoot today!!! Everyone LOVED their photos. I am so proud and thankful for this video! Helped a lot
Yes yes yessssssss
Out of all the darn videos on UA-cam showing us how to keep everyone focus. Your video was the best explained and easy to Follow. thank you!!!
Aw!! Yay. Thanks much
Great info for a refresher!
Having trouble with posing tips for mom, dad, and two teenage daughters. Please help!!! Shoot is coming up this weekend! :) You're both AMAZING- thank you soooo much!! You SAVED my senior photo shoot yesterday with your posing tips!
🥰🙏
Okay I am not joking, I have watched hundreds of videos about shooting in manual and I never understood when to change my f-stop when people gave ranges.... you guys are incredible for explaining the plane of field!! Something that be seem super simple to most photographers can go right over others heads!
Claudia Goodwin yay!! I’m glad you got it! It can be so overwhelming for sure!
I’ve watched thousands upon thousands of videos to brush up with new tips and tricks, but I’ve got to say something about this particular video: leave it to two amazing moms to perfectly explain manual settings to a new photographer! Fantastic video, simply beautiful!
Thank you so much
I have a d750 just shooting pics for my child. Well ive been struggling with focusing both my husband and my baby and now I understand why.. thank you!!!
Omg .this was so helpful since all of the other videos are just so confusing ..thank you
May Claudine Estoy oh we are so glad it was helpful!!! Thank you.
I'm a flower/plant photographer who typically only takes macro shots. Today I have a request to take my friends family photos! (Which they were just going to take on their phones). I've taken good single portraits before, never a whole group so that made me nervous 🥲 I got my notes from this video and now I'm excited!!! Thank you so much for sharing these recommendations ❤️
I always had problem with nice clear crisp images until i started watching you ladies thank you so much my Christmas pictures are great thanks so much
Double the lens length omg that’s brilliant. Thank you
I've struggled with focus for a long time, this is good information
This video was so helpful! I am a videographer wanting to expand my knowledge in photography. This was a perfect exploration when addressing manual settings!! Thanks so much!! 👍🏾 👍🏾 ❤
Seen like 5 videos about this topic, and this is the only best, most simple and we'll explained video out there
Good tip about increasing the aperture with the increase in number of people, need to remember the depth of field!
Litterally the best video on UA-cam on how to get everyone in focus, direct to the point! Thank you so much!
❤️❤️🙌
This was such an informative and helpful video. Have my first family shoot today and I am so thankful for this video helping me to prepare 🫶🏻
Thanks a ton. I retired from aerospace last August and want to revive/renew my portrait photography business. Even the background images on the wall helped me realize I want my portrait images to be light and bright, not so contrasty. You also reminded me of something I learned many years ago...aperture depends on number of people and where they're placed. Same plane or with front & back rows. Regardless, gotta keep the shutter speed fast enough to remove any motion blur. Yea, people move! 🙂 And they Talk and Laugh too with family, so I usually use a tripod just in case you have to swap a head.
Just found you two. BTW, slight accent depicts upper midwest, like Wisconsin or so.
This is the best I’ve seen so far! The f-stop makes so much sense!
Awesome!!! Thank you :)
This by far has been the most informative video for what I needed! I struggle with trying to shoot wide open and then forgetting to change my f stop when subjects start moving around for more candid photos
Can you go over the actual camera settings for metering, focus mode, and area mode? I’m stuck on that
Great idea!
I agree 👍
This is for real , the best video with VERY VERY useful tips!!! Thank you ❤
thank you so much for that extra! my question was going to be about where to focus!
Why doesn’t your channel have more followers ???? This was amazing! Thank you for the help.
Thank you so much!!
Great information and to the point, may have been taken 3 years ago however still valuable content. Thank you for simplifying everything.
Love you guys. As an event and Senior / individual portrait , o appreciate your family candid videos ! Thank you
I meant *as an event and senior /individual portrait photographer, I appreciate your BTS family videos !
You guys awsm in short time you give us a lot info without jumping here and there. Wounderful job thank you .
Thank you for the information,I’ll be doing my first large family session in a couple weeks. I really enjoy your videos
Best video I have ever seen. Thank you so much! You ladies are rock! 💚💚
I didn't know about the expodisc, but i just ordered one.
Thank you
Yay!!! Awesome. Let us know if you ever have questions. You can always DM us on IG. Thanks!!
@@esquared.photography dropped a follow. If i have any questions, I'll be sure to ask! ❤️👍 Thank you so much
Thank you for sharing these videos they are very helpful.
I have been trying to find a photography video that actually pinpoints where the actual camera focal point would go directly on the subject in the photo! Thank you! I would love to still see a visual of the pinpoint focal spot on the subject as well.
Thank you for the settings and step by step. Do a posing video and 'How to interact with kids who are hard to shoot'.
Eri Bear we just shot a behind the scenes of one tonight!!
Your video was perfect with not too much blabber to the point and perfect. Loved it. Keep going.
Very helpful, thank you! As soon as you said "so" I said these girls are from MN or WI. I was right, I'm just down the road from you in Clear Lake.
Haha that is awesome!!
I have most trouble with Shutter speed but this video was so helpful. Thank you both!
This is soooo helpful thank u. Im doing my first family photoshoot this Saturday. Thank u
Great video and thank you for putting the information on the screen, it was really helpful
This was so helpful as I start to do family photography. Can't wait to watch more of your videos!
So helpful!! Thank you!! I struggle most with the focal point and making sure my f-stop is high enough to not blur the subjects!!
You are welcome!!!
I absolutely love these videos! Thank you so much
Hi there. Thank you so much. This is going to help me sooo much. Absolutely love you guys!
Thank YOU!!
Your family session videos are GREAT!! How do you tell a family what to wear? Especially, on cooler fall days? Thank you!!
I’m doing my first family session soon and this video was SOO helpful! Thank you so much for sharing this information!
So good to hear!!!! Good luck!
Thank you! Great teaching and explaining!
Great video, love the step by step walk through.
Great video. Short and sweet but a lot of information. Thanks!
Best thing about your presentation is that you give work sheet to make things more understandable and easy
Wahoo!!
This was so helpful, especially about what f-stop to use for family size.
We are so glad!!
i am new to the whole family portrait photoshoot scenario and I learned a great deal of information with this video.. Thank you for both of you!
Thank you so much this was great information
Thank you for this, especially the focus tip 🤝
You guys are amazing! Its the bonuses and activity sheets for me
Thanks!!
It seems like at least one thing has to be sacrificed in an "action" shot... or a shot with some movement. If subjects are moving, gotta increase shutter speed. Increasing shutter speed will reduce how much light is captured. If you compensate that with lower aperture, focus might be incorrect. Etc etc. How do you prioritize settings? Do you prioritize F stop and shutter speed, just to correctly capture the subjects, then deal with exposure and other things in post? Thanks!! Great videos.
Great video. Thank you for all the tips 🙌🏼. I think it can also help to purchase a reflector especially if the subject is back lit. This can help avoid having to increase iso and risking noise in the picture.
Nice crispy presentation. it has resolve basic problems regarding family photos which I was thinking how to solve .hope I will do better next time. stay blessed
I am really enjoying and learning a lot from your videos. Using a mirrorless with a crop sensor, when doubling the lens to set the shutter speed should I double the lens size i.e.56mm or the equivalent 90mm?
This was incredibly helpful! Thank you! If I am shooting earlier in the day...2:30pm to be exact, would I just go below 200 ISO?
You definitely could but probably wouldn’t need to.
This was so helpful thank you both. I just got my camera for Christmas and am really excited to start learning how to use it.
Amazing!!!
Very useful information thanks
What is your reasons for not shooting on a say 70 to 200mm? I have had instances where the children are a little nervous about me being in their face and so take some of the candids on the longer lense so not to be too close? Great info on the video.
That’s a great reason to use a zoom lens. We are just so used to the prime lenses that the zoom lens is not for us. We move a lot :)
I use a Canon 80D with an EF-S 18-135mm Kit Lens and an EF-S 60mm USM - Most of the time I just do Automatic SCN Portrait mode.
Great practical tips. Thank you.
Hey! Thanks. We couldn’t read the rest of your other message and can’t find it. I hope the download is in your hands. If not, email us and we will get that to you ASAP.
Got it. Thank you very much. I deleted my first comment once I figured out how to find the download etc. you girls are great.
Thank you, thank you, I found this video tremendously helpful. Now that I have found your channel, I will be watching your previous videos and hope to understand more. I also have to find a channel that helps me understand the workings of my camera. I have been given a Nikon d7100 and am a bit intimidated by all the different selections it offers. I am excited to learn more and am happy to have found you.
Great!! We are nikon shooters. Hopefully we have some tips that will help you
You use Nikon also, yes!! I may be asking elemental questions, I really want to learn my camera and be proficient with it.
Loved this video! So easy to understand!
Lupe Arroyo thank you!! So glad
You guys are awesome! Thank you for sharing both process and technical settings. My question. Is how to do find that perfect balance between crisp in focus groups and bokeh in the background. Also what if you have to shoot indoors and space and light is limited. Thanks so much!
Group photos are harder to get the focus in the background and will have less focus. The lower F stop you can go without getting blurry people is the way to go but you still won't see a super blurry background. The closer you stand to your subject the more blur that will happen behind them and the further they are from their background. Shooting indoors is not our strong suit :) We always find window light when we need to shoot indoors. We have free training right now on manual mode if were we dive deep into the things if you are interested in learning more. It's happening next week. e-squared.mykajabi.com/manualmodetraining
The best video for newbie
👍
This video was great! Thanks so much
Very helpful ! Thank you so much.
Ow do you adjust your settings when photographing black skin?
This channel is very helpful. love y all❤️
Great tips, thank you!
You guys are awesome! such a helpful video! Thank you :)
You guys rock! Thanks for the tips and the cheeky bonus ones at the end too🤙🏻
Thank you so soooooo so much for this, today is my first family portrait session 🤗 and this video helped a lot
Yasssss!!!! So glad
Oh wow guys. This video was so easy to understand. Thank you so much. I am a very new photographer, soon will do my first photo shoot. I don't have expensive lenses yet. Will 18-55mm 3.5-5.6G good to start family photography. Can you please give me some tips. Thank you
IshikaSusy absolutely!! That will work just fine. Feel free to shoot us an email or a DM on Instagram @esquared.photography with any specific questions! Thanks for watching.
great video! My struggle is my colors, they are vibrant and not light airey. I want it the color you use for the skin tones in the Camera. Is that even possible?
We use an expodisc to get good white balance and skin tones right. :)
Thanks for this. Focusing on a shorter child in front was not always certain for me !
Good video! Just starting to try ping manual mode instead of presets.
This was so helpful! 😭 I struggle with setting ISO the most and making sure every person is in focus! I use a canon but use a 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8! I love those lenses but I struggle getting everyone in bigger families in focus. Y’all made this so easy to understand!
Awesome!! I would say an ISO of 200 is great and an f stop of 4 or so for those larger families would be best. :)
My biggest problem in portraiture is portraits of families of color. I've done some reading on this and it is apparently a common challenge. Can you tell me the most standard adjustments?
I've watched a few videos thus far and will continue to overload on your expertise! VERY helpful and easy to understand...I have holiday mini sessions scheduled for tomorrow - 10AM-1:30PM so hopefully I do alright since I literally just heard you say 2 hrs before sunset is best. (sigh)
Best of luck!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Hi ladies, love watching your videos. Can you please define the metering modes in a grad photoshoot.
We always use matrix :)
Thanks for the helpful tips. I like to shoot portraits with my Canon RF 50 mm f/1.2L, but am still having trouble when taking group photos because the focus is soft on some family members if they’re not exactly in the same plane. I’ve even bumped my f-stop up to 5.6 or 6.3 but still can’t get everyone in focus. I could take 2 or 3 shots and focus stack them in post, but that just takes too much time! I don’t have that much trouble getting everyone in focus with my 24-105 f/4 zoom lens, but the image quality is far inferior to the 50 mm prime. However, the prime lens seems to have a shallower depth of field than my other lens-even when shooting at the same focal length and aperture. Do you have any other suggestions?
Thank you, awesome video very informative 🙌🏽
Thank you for watching!!!
How do you get smooth creamy blurred background when shooting a group where you need wider lens and higher f stop?
Great info.
Can you give the link here for your cheet sheet?
Thank you for the helpful information! I have a Nikkor 50 mm 1:1.8 lens I haven’t even tried yet. Is that as good as the 1.4?
We have only ever used the 1.8 and love it
Okie dokie! Lol love the videos!! ❤️
Needed this! Thank you!!
Hello! Wonderfully helpful content! My confusion is with focus mode and area. With family photography, do you use flexible spot lock auto focus? Or others? Thanks!
Hi this was extremely helpful, sometimes focus keeps looking on the floor instead on people o have to move manuallly on my d3500 but it makes me lose the shot,
Thank you. If there’re two individuals in different heights ( 2 kids) where should i focus?
Could you guys make another video 📹 about the same matter but out in the field showing everyone how to do in the real world 🌎please 🙏
Hey!! Sure! We do have a posing family behind the scenes video! Check that one out too.
New to photography. I get flustered when I have to switch the settings on the back of the camera. How do you get over that? Practice is probably your answer.
I like to use multi focal lenses ... so I can zoom in on individual close ups, after I get the family shots.
You guys are SO helpful! I've watched so many of your videos the last few weeks after stumbling upon you and I just love your content. I've just now getting started out in family photography and so glad to find yall. Any tips for group photos with tall adults and children? Do you almost have to get them in rows?
Aw!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Rows or a bench press sitting poses are great!
Outstanding info
Thank you!!
Thank you!! I have a question about directing/posing do you have any tips or “Go-to” arrangements
Check out our family posing video ;)
Great video!
Thank you so much