• Raising Boys

  • In The Kitchen

  • Family Travels

5 Tips For Taking Amazing Family Pictures At Home

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by OxiClean™ through their partnership with POPSUGAR. While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a post about OxiClean™ all opinions are my own.

I recently wanted to take some portraits of my sons, because I create photo canvas prints to decorate my home with images of those I love most. It can be challenging to be a parent who takes photos of her own kids, so I’m sharing some tips that work for me and may help you capture awesome images that you can use for photo gifts, to share with family, or even for annual Christmas cards. It’s empowering to be able to take great shots of your family yourself!

I usually like to dress my boys in their school or Sunday clothes, and ask them to sit and smile. Finding clothes (even dressy clothes) that aren’t grass-stained, getting them to sit still for five minutes straight, and creating images that you’d be proud to put over the mantle can take a lot of patience and perseverance, but it can be done, with results that are often nicer than many high volume photography centers.

Ready to take some great family pictures? Let’s go!

take pictures of kids at home

Five tips for amazing family portraits at home

1. Find a spot with a neutral background that isn’t distracting, and good light from a window. Direct sunlight or lowlight won’t result in optimal images, so taking pictures next to a window with a white or light shade to block glaring light, especially sometime in the afternoon, is usually your best bet. Move your subjects around a bit to find where the light is most flattering (at an angle that falls on them between the front and side is usually best).

2. If more than one person is in the picture, coordinate colors and try to stick to classics and neutrals like navy, brown, cream, forest green. Choose clothes that are timeless and neutral- no funny jokes, cartoons, or logos. You’ll feel proud to hang it up if your children look well dressed and classic, but probably won’t rush to blow up an image where your kids are wearing a neon tee promoting a local hardware store.

3. Talk to the subjects and engage them for natural expressions and smiles. Tell a joke to make them laugh, be silly so their posture is natural and friendly, and ask them to do something funny that allows them to feel happy and relaxed. If you have a few children and they just won’t pay attention, give them an assignment such as “Touch the tips of your nose together and don’t laugh!”, and when they inevitably laugh, snap away!

how to photography children portraits at home

4. Make sure everyone is well groomed, hair is brushed, and clothes are clean. If you have a perfect outfit picked out and discover they decided to slide into home base during a neighborhood pickup softball game while wearing their church clothes, use OxiClean™ HD™ Laundry Detergent to revive those pants to be picture perfect. My boys are messy and active, and I never want to discourage that (even when they are dressed up). So instead, I use a detergent that can handle it … OxiClean™ HD™ Laundry Detergent is great for everyone, but especially parents with active kids.

It’s happened more times than I can count that my boys return home with pants covered in dirt and grass stains, including one time in particular when we wanted to take photos for our annual family holiday card before the day was over. I had to quickly throw their clothes in the wash and dry them before the sunlight was gone for the day, and luckily everything came out great.

5. Allow space around the frame so you can crop the image later however you like. You may decide to add some text and need a blank wall in the background for this. You may decide you want a full body shot, or to crop in close, and it’s nice to have the option when you are editing the images to go either way, so back up for the shot and crop later.

oxiclean HD laundry detergent

After you’re done, reward those good sports by letting them run out and play (and if they run out still wearing their school clothes instead of their play clothes, just make sure you have OxiClean™ HD™ Laundry Detergent on hand- all parents should upgrade to it). OxiClean™ is America’s #1 stain fighter brand, and recently they have extended into new stain fighting areas, like bleach/whitening with White Revive products, and laundry detergent. OxiClean™ is powerful enough for kids’ clothes, yet safe enough to make sure those clothes last many seasons of play and family fun.

I personally use both a mirrorless camera, and a DSLR, so whatever you use, have fun photographing your family!

In partnership with Oxiclean™.