When I am designing an album for my clients, I love to include a really good variety of different shot types. Ocean Beach in Whangarei is a fantastic location to have your family photos because it offers such a variety of places to get five of the most popular shots I include in albums. They are almost all, not the kind of shots people choose to print for the family photo wall. But they are the ones that tell the real story of your family and are a beautiful way to remember the relaxed time you all spent together at the beach having them taken.
Here’s my five favourite shot types for family albums:
1. Shooting from behind
Shots taken from behind you might not be the ones you want to print big on the wall, but I love them for helping to set the scene for your family session. This one for example, is a beautiful way to introduce us to a moody Ocean Beach where this session took place for the Carlier family. I’ll let you in on a little secret though, these shots usually have a double purpose. As well as introducing the scene for your album, they also give me a chance to get the settings right on my camera for the light without wasting your precious smiles!
2. Sequence shots
What I love about shooting with a really fast shutter speed, is that we often capture a beautiful a series of shots. You might not want to show the whole sequence off on your wall, but albums give you plenty of scope to print several of them on one layout.
They are perfect for something like this family set up where you might print a big one for the wall where everyone is smiling at the camera. But the series where everyone is laughing and looking at each other is perfect for an album because you really get a sense of the laughter and connection between all of you.
Sequence shots are also perfect for capturing twirls, cartwheels, dancing, racing and jumping shots which are super popular with the kids!
3. The funny ones that are “typical” of your crew
Again, these are not the kind of ones you might print big for the wall, but they are the ones that when you look at them, they give you the “that’s just so us” vibes. You definitely don’t want to hide these away on your computer!!
4. All the feels
These are the shots that show you really connected with your kids or your partner. They are the kind that I think we all love, but if you are usally the photographer in the family, they are the ones you just can’t take yourself. To be honest, they are the ones I wish I had of me and our kids!
I love to engineer a few of these moments on every shoot I do. Often it’s just a fleeting moment where your eyes connect or you share a joke. Whichever way we manage to create them, they are definitely one for the album.
5. Epic scenery shots
Depending on where you choose to have your session, we almost always should be able to get some cool wide angle, scenic shots which showcase the beauty of our Northland beaches or the rural views from your backyard. These look great as a double page spread in your album. Sometimes they might have your family still as the centre of the shot like the first one below. But other times you might be just a small feature while the location shines through like in the second one below.
Bonus black & white
And as a bonus idea, I always love to include some back and white shots in your album. Black and white can give you a whole different perspective on a few key shots. They look especially amazing if it happened to be a moody Northland evening but they are equally as stunning if the sun is quite bright because they really make the contrast in light look amazing.
So there you have it, five great shot types (plus a bonus) that I love creating for families who have photo sessions with me. If you are the photographer in your family, then next time you take the family to the beach for the day, have a go at intentionally trying to shoot these different shot types. They’ll make your family albums a whole lot more interesting.
