I do not work out of a studio; so all my family shoots are either done at the client’s home or a chosen outdoor location like the Botanic Gardens or Fort Canning. My preference is to use the natural light available at shoot locations. For my own family, once in a while, I will get everyone to sit on the sofa and take a family photo. It is usually done on a special occasion (e.g. birthdays, Christmas, Chinese New Year, school concerts, etc). This is a quick shoot that usually takes about a minute. I set up the camera on a box or a pile of books on the coffee table, and control it from my mobile phone. The trickiest part is getting my son to look at the camera and snap a few shots. No flash or studio lighting is used. The following are a few of our sofa shots. The earliest photo was taken in November 2015, a month after Daniel was born; and the latest was taken a week ago on his 2nd birthday.
Occasionally for indoor family shoots, if there is sufficient space available, I will set up simple lighting. This is due to the client’s home being too dark or if the client requests for some formal portraits. Here are some examples from a family I photographed last month who asked for a couple of formal shots in addition to the lifestyle shots I usually take.
