Professional Critiques of Family Photos

Don’t be a photo fool—take these professional photographers’ tips for shooting family photos that will make treasured memories. Andy King’s pictures have appeared in publications including Time, Rolling Stone, USA Today and Sports Illustrated. Al Parrish is the staff photographer for F+W Publications, which publishes Family Tree Magazine as well as many other magazines and books.

From the kids’ perspective: This photo was taken at kids’-eye level, instead of from a grown-up height. Taking good pictures means you sometimes have to get down on the sand or suffer a grass stain on your pants. (That’s a good thing!)—Andy King

Classic moments: Capturing goofy, spur-of-the-moment poses such as this come from keeping your camera at-the-ready. Think of how much fun you’ll have showing this photo when the child becomes a sullen teen-ager!—Andy King

Motion report: Sometimes it’s OK to have motion in a photo. Just don’t overuse the technique. Try swinging your camera a bit as your little speed demon races by you.—Andy King
Pan with the action, and try a higher shutter speed for less blur.—Al Parrish

Distance yourself: The lovely moment captured in this photo may not have happened if you were close enough to the baby to attract attention to yourself. A telephoto lens allows you to take photos from across a room without becoming a part of the action.—Andy King

This photo’s orange tint is caused by using natural-light film in an artificially lit setting. Be sure to use flash when shooting indoors.—Al Parrish