Any tips for this upcoming kids/family shoot?

Coworker/friend asked me to shoot a family portrait for them soon and looking for some tips on how best to do it. Couple details I know about the shoot:

- 2pm, Hawaiian sun, will have some large trees for shade nearby. Time is firm unfortunately.
- 7 kids/people ranging from 10 - 18 years old
- Mom said 2 of the kids have very bad posed camera smiles, meaning it will probably ruin the picture if I just tell them to smile. Need some age appropriate jokes stat haha!
- Have flash with off-camera triggers. I'm tempted to use these for fill only, but on or off-camera is the question
- Will have an assistant

Alright I know this is a pretty straightforward shoot, I guess I'm just looking for some tips to help ease some of the anxiety I'm having as I really want to do a good job for them even though this isn't a paid gig. I'm finding the technical aspects of the shoot I can manage, but how do you keep kids that age engaged and looking natural/having fun spontaneously? Also any posing techniques you find that work? Any inspiration/ideas will be much appreciated!

-Jeremy

Off camera since you have the gear, even for fill its better off axis. Make sure the shade you get them in is solid, and not mottled shade with patchy light.

Thanks Gonzogolf, I'm going to give that a shot! Probably have my assistant stand a little off axis and point towards the middle of the group with a wide enough zoom setting. And yeah, the foliage on these trees is pretty sparse, so I'll probably have to contend with some dappled overhead light. I'm sure I can find a solid patch of shade, though.

j-mar wrote in post #15919025
Thanks Gonzogolf, I'm going to give that a shot! Probably have my assistant stand a little off axis and point towards the middle of the group with a wide enough zoom setting. And yeah, the foliage on these trees is pretty sparse, so I'll probably have to contend with some dappled overhead light. I'm sure I can find a solid patch of shade, though.

I should have read more closely. I was thinking two flashes. With a single flash I would still go off camera, but up high near the camera. You dont want to cast shadows from one subject onto another.

Ah, good tip! I'm all about having as simple a light setup as possible for location shoots, so yeah 1 light only would be preferred. I was planning on shooting at a lower level to the ground so I can see how having that flash up high will really help add some dimensionality, fill shadows, and avoid hitting parts of the foreground I don't want lit. I have a painter's pole with Kacey adapter I can attach the flash to. Thanks again!