How to Photograph Family Portraits

Want to take professional photos of your family? Learn how to elevate your photos from snapshots to portraits with this introductory photography lesson.

In this beginner photography lesson, jump start family portrait projects with a guide to buying a DSLR camera. Cover essential terms, shopping tips, and more!

Take your portraits to the next level with this beginner-friendly photography lesson! Learn how to adjust the basic settings on your DSLR camera.

Boost your family photography skills by taking photos with a shallow depth of field. Learn how to achieve the effect on a DSLR with this quick lesson.

Develop a basic understanding of exposure with this beginner-friendly photography lesson. Covered are tips for adjusting shutter speed, aperture, and ISO.

In this photography lesson, learn how to adjust the focus on a DSLR camera. Covered are tips for using auto focus, and manually setting a focal point.

The lens you choose for your DSLR camera has a big impact on portrait photos. Learn how to pick the right one for your shots in this photography lesson.

Take better family photos by switching out your DSLR camera lens! Learn what lens and camera settings are best for portraits with this quick photography lesson.

You don't need expensive camera equipment to get gorgeous family photos! In this lesson, learn how to use natural soft lighting in your portrait photography.

The ideal time to photograph portraits is during the golden hour. Learn how to position your subjects and adjust camera settings to get the perfect shot!

Bad lighting can make young, lively subjects look old and tired. Avoid this beginner's mistake by learning how to adjust your DSLR camera for sub-par weather.

Adjusting the light when you're photographing indoors can be a challenge! Learn how to achieve perfect lighting by using the right camera settings.

The one thing you can't correct with editing software is a blurry photo! In this photography lesson, review a few expert tips that help prevent blurry photos.

In this lesson, learn how to frame your DSLR photographs and position your subjects. You'll also get several tips on cropping full-body and half-body shots.

Getting kids to pose and sit quietly for pictures can be a real challenge! Learn how to navigate the process with this portrait photography lesson.

Learn how to pose women and girls with this DSLR photography lesson. You'll review several fun posing examples that can help your subject look fabulous!

Improve your portrait photography with the creative posing tips in this lesson! You'll learn several flattering sitting portrait poses for women and girls.

In this lesson, learn several natural looking sitting and standing poses that are perfect when you're photographing portraits of men and teenage boys.

Learn how to capture memories that will last a lifetime with this photography lesson! You'll review tips for posing people in group portraits and family photos.

In this DSLR photography lesson, learn how to control the depth of field in a photograph so that all members of a family or large group appear in focus.

Take your portraits to the next level with this lesson on selecting photography backgrounds. You'll also learn how to enhance backgrounds using camera settings.

Want your portraits to look like they were produced by a pro? Valerie Goettsch introduces Adobe Lightroom, a popular photo-editing program, in this lesson.

Before you can start editing with Lightroom, you have import your photos into the program. Valerie Goettsch walks you through the process in this lesson.

Valerie Goettsch introduces some of Adobe Lightroom's basic features to bring out your family's faces, change an image's tone, and export the edited photo.

Valerie Goettsch demonstrates how to give a picture a warm tone, improve exposure to bring out facial features, and use the vibrance setting in Lightroom.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has a number of options for correcting blemishes and marks, and Valerie Goettsch shows you how to use these features in this lesson.

Valerie Goettsch demonstrates how to use Adobe Lightroom editing tools to soften the skin's appearance without creating a "photoshopped" effect, step by step.

Eyes are the window to the soul—so make sure your portrait subjects' eyes come across in all their beauty! Learn to edit eyes with Lightroom in this lesson.

Under-eye darkness may be hard to remove cosmetically, but it's an easy fix in Lightroom! Learn how to use editing tools to remove eye circles in this lesson.

Darkening eyebrows and lashes in a portrait can help bring a portrait subject's eyes into focus. Learn how apply this technique with Lightroom in this lesson.

Valerie Goettsch shows how to use the Adjustment Brush and Teeth Whitening preset in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom in this lesson to whiten a subject's smile.

You've come a long way! In this final lesson, Valerie provides tips for honing your photography skills and arranging outings for family portrait sessions.