Photographing Families: Tips for Capturing Timeless Images

I have been in Michele's fantastic workshop and the book is more of the same great stuff. Michele is one of the best in the world at posing families. Which, I believe, is the most difficult part of family photography. She is also very good at explaining how to pose these groups. Michele does have a way of teaching that could turn some off. She tells you exactly what she does and tells you that's what you should do too. But, as with most things in life, there are often multiple ways of doing things. So try everything in the book and see what works for you and what doesn't. The best part about this book is that it is valuable for people that have been shooting for a long time. You may know your way around the camera and know the technical aspect. But this goes way beyond that. You'll learn better ways to interact with your subjects and how to make them look great. Which should be every family photographer's ultimate goal.

I have learned so much from Michele, She has years of experience and her techniques just make sense! The book is easy to understand and filled with beautiful images. I am just beginning to learn photography as a hobby but if I were to start a business, I could easily adapt Michele's information she provides in each chapter. Who better to learn from than a professional who has already paved the way... I have watched her on Creative Live and she is an amazing teacher. (love CreativeLive.com) There are techniques she touches on that I now use and when I see the results I notice a positive difference. Wow, did I take that image!!! This is a great tool I would highly recommend. Even if your style is a little more photo-journalistic, you can gain useful information that will no doubt better your skills.

Nice book on posing families, it goes into the importance of choosing good backdrops, setting up the group, talking to the subjects etc. I especially like all the parts on how to actually set up marketing materials, setting prices, display tips etc. My only gripes would be that the poses could use more exploration of light sources; all-natural lighting presented is ok but for example modern off-camera flash units can be carefully controlled and can add to photos without looking harsh. Another point is that posture is important, and many of the shots (including the cover shot) have at least one person hunched over in order to set up a particular group arrangement. Most of the shots end up look obviously posed.

Michele is an amazing photographer and has taken photos of my family for the past 5 years. She has literally watched our children grow up through the lens of her camera and year after year has worked her magic to get incredible photos that we have shared with our friends and family. My wife and I are always awe-struck at her photography abilities and having this book to learn her tips and tricks directly is great! I am a very amateur photographer and have dabled in more than point and shoot after buying my first DSLR a couple years ago. Michele's book is chock full of information that will be very helpful for me in taking my skills up to the next several levels. The flow of the content in the book is great and is very easy to follow. The material builds on itself as you go through the book and gives you a lot of hands on stuff that you can put into practice immediately. Thank you Michele for sharing your gift and for passing on your expertise!

I bought this book, to get tips on how to pose my family for family portraits. I got sick of paying photographers hundreds of dollars for something that I can do myself with help from another family member. This book is really good for explaining some of the basics of group poses. It also covers directional lighting and reflectors. There is one section in the book where it goes over suggestions for equipment to use, which was beyond helpful to me. For the amatuer, it explains what some of the equipment is and how it works. It also gives a good suggestion for scouting locations. The author really breaks down some of the material that a beginner would find helpful. I wouldn't trade my copy for anything.

After I saw Michele Celentano on CreativeLive, a workshop online. I was complete blow away about her family portraits. She not only take beautiful pictures, she is amazing instructor. After 3 days workshop, I did order her book. you will find a lot of value information, how to pose, how to choose locations and tricks to connect with kids of all ages, et et et. Thank you Michele for sharing all your experience in this book. Hope you do a workshop in SF :)

This is an excellent book. I highly recommend it. I bought this book to understand how to pose groups of people and I certainly got more that I bargained for. Everything else is just a bonus!

I have a very simple way to judge if a book was money well spent: Did I learn at least one think that I did not know prior to reading the book? In my opinion, not only was Michele Celentano's book money well spent, it was money very well spent. I learned so much in the book. For example, Michele likes to place children in front of their mother in a way that part of the mother's body is masked. This is a great piece of advice for almost every woman on earth has something she does not like about her body. I was able to apply this knowledge during a photo shoot. The mother did not want to sit on the floor because she did not like the way her body looks when she is in a sitting position. I was able to create a photo that she likes even if she is in a sitting position.

J'ai acheté le cours vidéo de Michele Celentano qui m'a permis de progresser dans le posing et la direction des groupes, mais j'aime bien me poser dans un fauteuil pour feuilleter un ouvrage papier....donc pour les personnes appréciant les livres je recommande

Though the author did not describe the aperture, focal length and type of equipment used to obtain her shots, the book provided very useful information on how to pose and deal with her clients. I would recommend this book for persons starting out in family portrait photography. Pity the front cover evoke a dated feel. I would not have buy this book if I was going on by the front cover.

Really enjoying this book. Lots of good tips.