The Annual Family Photo

by Stanley LearyPhotography

Leary Family Photo 2020 at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. [NIKON Z 6, Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/1000, ƒ/8, (35mm = 24)]

Every year when my family gets together for our family reunion at the beach we do a family photo.

I always go out a few minutes early and setup my strobes. This year I am using the Flashpoint XPlor 600 HSS TTL with Nikon Z6.

Flashes setup more for fill flash to help with deep set eyes and to get rid of hot spots. [NIKON D5, Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/1600, ƒ/4, (35mm = 35)]

While this isn’t my favorite time of day to shoot photos you quickly learn through the years that you are needing to pick the friction free time of the day.

Up till now i was always trying to do late afternoon near sunset. That tended to complicate dinner time.

This year 1:00 pm. Probably the worst time as far as lighting to shoot the photo.

Strobes actually are a little brighter than the sun with high speed sync. [NIKON D5, Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/2000, ƒ/4, (35mm = 35)]

I usually get my wife to stand in for some test shots before I have everyone show up.

Leary Family Photo Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. Leary Family Vacation [NIKON Z 6, Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/1600, ƒ/8, (35mm = 38)]

Not a flattering photo, but works to balance the TTL flash to the sunlight. Here I have them set at 0 and the camera -0.3 underexposed for the photos.

Everyone gathering [NIKON D5, Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/8000, ƒ/1.4, (35mm = 35)]

We figured the far left and far right and a line in the sand for them to stand on. We were done in 20 minutes. I tried to keep it short for my mother and a couple others who had some difficulty with the sand and the heat.

Manzi’s & the Kramers’ [NIKON Z 6, Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/500, ƒ/8, (35mm = 52)]

It was easy to just switch folks out. Again we were celebrating my mother’s birthday today as well.

Manzi Family [NIKON Z 6, Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/500, ƒ/8, (35mm = 62)]

Had I been planning a photo shoot with a couple and just their children I would have done a completely different approach.

Grand kids and grand parents [NIKON Z 6, Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/640, ƒ/8, (35mm = 62)]
The “Outlaws” [NIKON Z 6, Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 100, 1/500, ƒ/8, (35mm = 58)]

Hope these tips help you with your “family photo”.