How to pose people

[photofinish]

I've been asked to do some family portraits for someone I work with. He will be there with his wife and 6 month old daughter. How do I pose them? Seated? Standing? Combination? How do I make the pose look easy and natural? Any tips for babies? I assume I should use a tripod and remote cable...This is my first formal so I'm nervous about doing a quality job. I'm not a pro by ANY stretch of the imagination but the guy saw my desk prints of my daughter's prom portraits I took and he liked what he saw. I have those pics on my website below. I just don't know if this is something I want to do often...

[OceanRider]

we need a small hand book with hundreds of diff poses in it that you can carry around with ya.

[robertwgross]

A standard pose is this.

The mother is seated, with the infant held up about chest-high to one side. The father is on the same side as the infant, but standing so that his head is above the infant's and the mother's heads. Kind of a lopsided triangle.

The baby is staring somewhat unpredicably toward the camera. The mother is smiling and facing toward the center of the frame, and the father is smiling and facing toward the center of the frame.

---Bob Gross---

[kjonnnn]

Don't forget to make the environment comfortable for your subjects ... Got any music they'd like, play it in the background... The more relaxed they are, they better the photos will be. Watch for them to fall into natural poses and relationships on they're own... looks, touchn.. hands ...

[mgbeach]

we need a small hand book with hundreds of diff poses in it that you can carry around with ya.
Have you ever seen this?
http://shop.onemodelplace.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=73
a little pricey but it might be what you're looking for.

[MTalley]

I saw a good portrait that I liked a lot. It was a mother/father/baby about 3-6 months old. Mom was holding baby cradled in her arms, dad was looking over her shoulder. Both were looking down at baby and smiling, baby was looking up at Mom and Dad. Tight crop to mainly get the baby's body and Mom and Dad's faces.

Hard to describe, but a touching photo showing Mom and Dad's love for their child. It also begged for being softened instead of sharp (I think the sample I saw was). It would probably also look good in B/W.

From what I remember, lighting came from typical main/fill lights to get a well lit face of the baby, and probably a reflector to make sure Mom and Dad's faces weren't in shadows.

[OceanRider]

Have you ever seen this?
http://shop.onemodelplace.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=73
a little pricey but it might be what you're looking for.

Ya I am planning on buying this, but one with groups, couples etc would be great too! Perfect for all occasions not just the fems!

Thanks

[photofinish]

Thanks, everybody. I appreciate the feedback!