This family portrait has to be one of my all time favorites!  The Adventure Family riding a bamboo raft into the deep jungles of Thailand!  LOVE IT!

Photo Tip: For an engaging, favorite family portrait you want to not only stagger each family member so we can see everyone, but you also want to have each person do something different with their hands.   If the family isn’t going to look at the camera and be purposefully facing another direction, this is especially important for story telling.  Hands communicate so much and can accentuate your story even more!  Notice how Blaze is pointing, I’m blocking the sun from my eyes, Pascaline is simple in her stance, and dad is holding a stick and hand on hip.  Even though Pascaline is doing a simple stance it works because the rest of us are doing something different with our hands.  I’d love to say this photo naturally happened, but nope!  I set it up!  If I didn’t set it up, Blaze would have been slouching, Pascaline may have been biting her nails, and I’m not even going to say what Brian would have been doing! 🙂

Camera Settings:  ISO 250, Aperture was f/9 (You want a higher f-stop if you want family members in the background in focus too.  If we used a low f-stop like f/2.8 or f/3.5, we would have risked Blaze and I being to blurred versus all of us in tact.)  Shutter Speed was 1/160th of a sec.

Camera Body: SONY a7R   The a7R is one of SONY’s new, innovative camera bodies, and I’m loving how rich the photos are!  Look at the sky.  See all the detail in cloud texture and colors?  It’s easy to blow the sky out when it’s noon and the sun is overpowering.  But instead of anything being blown out, there is depth.  More photo examples to come!

Lens: SONY 24-70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss My all time favorite, work-horse lens!

Do you have a family portrait you’d like to share with me?  If so, I’d love to see!  Post it on my Facebook page today, and I’ll comment on them when I wake (since you and I are on different time zones :))

xo,

m

We are The Adventure Family! We’ve put our sweet home on the market, our belongings in storage, and left the familiar behind to build a dream: a family travel show that takes you abroad and off the beaten path! Follow our journey!

(posts in chronological order)

Dream Linking: Time Share Our Next Chapter of Adventure

My Family’s Dream is Finally Coming True, But I’m Still Grieving for Our Old Life

One Way Tickets to New Zealand: Determined to Move Mountains!

The SHORTEST Kickstarter Campaign that Helped Us Launch Our Dream (with video)

17 Reasons to Campervan New Zealand with the Family

15 Must Do Family Activities in New Zealand

When a Boy Turns Ten: Birthday Photo Essay to Blaze

Overcoming Your Greatest Challenge in Dream Building

When Following Your Dreams Means Letting Go of Your Back-Up Plans

See Extra Sneak Peaks on Instagram! Click @merakoh and see #AdventureFamily!