Explore what goes into the makings of a great family-themed Easter photo with these helpful tips and tricks.
Easter is a special—and photogenic—time of year, offering countless opportunities to capture the magic of the springtime holiday from behind the lens.
Kids enjoying an Easter egg hunt on a beautiful spring day. Chocolate fingers after indulging in a chocolate Easter bunny for breakfast. These are moments that instantly transport many of us back to our childhood.
They’re also the types of images that sell. Why? Because the key to a heartwarming—and highly salable—Easter photo is authenticity.
So, how do you evoke authenticity in your family-themed Easter photos? We’ll discuss some useful tips and techniques for capturing the true spirit of the holiday that will appeal to image buyers on the hunt.
Keep Your Subjects Occupied with an Activity
Any awkwardness in front of the camera will reflect the outcome of your shot. Occupy your subjects’ hands with an activity.
You’ll find when your subjects are preoccupied with the task at hand, they’re less aware of the camera, resulting in more natural, candid, authentic shots.
An Easter egg hunt is a fun way to loosen everyone up. Also, planting spring flowers can serve as a cool activity to shed those front-of-camera inhibitions.
Since your subjects will be engaged in an Easter-themed activity of some sort, chances are, they’ll be in motion much of the time. Therefore, you’ll want to use a fast shutter speed—around 1/500 of a second—to make sure you freeze their movements.
Distract your subjects from the lens by giving them an Easter-themed activity to achieve more authentic, natural shots. Images via EvgeniiAnd and Yuganov Konstantin.
Lighten the Mood with Easter Bunny Ears
No Easter day is complete without Easter bunny ears. A simple accessory that can make a world of difference by setting a fun and lively mood for your Easter-themed shoot.
You can’t help but smile when wearing Easter bunny ears—which is exactly the energy you want to evoke in your photos. Genuine smiles all-round for more authentic shots.
Easter bunny ears will put a smile on everyone’s face—including the photographer’s. Images via Sorapop Udomsri, Evgeny Atamanenko, Pixel Prose Images, and FREEPIK2.
Incorporate Themes of Birth and Renewal
Spring represents the coming-back-to-life of many plants and trees that have been dormant over winter. It also represents the birth of new life in the animal world—presumably a nod to Christianity’s belief in the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.
Incorporating these visuals into your family-themed Easter photos subtlety acknowledges Easter and spring’s themes of birth and renewal, which adds visual interest to your photography.
Blooming daffodils are synonymous with spring and Easter. Bunnies, ducklings, and eggs—symbolic of fertility—are also synonymous with the holiday.
All of which serve as lovely props in your photography.
Focus on Interesting Details
Sometimes it’s the little details that trigger those fond memories of Easter. Perhaps a close-up of a toddler’s Easter egg dye-stained hands sends you on a trip down memory lane? Or maybe it’s the image of a woven basket filled to the brim with chocolate Easter eggs.
The benefit of the close-up is that it gives us a detailed and intimate look we might normally miss. While many of us might be inclined to shoot wide shots to capture the entire scene, don’t forget to zoom in for tighter images to assist with storytelling.
Turn your focus to the little details to offer an alternative, close-up perspective. Images via LightField Studios, KinoMasterskaya, and Kasperskaya Viktoriya.
Capture Faceless Family Portraits
An absence of facial features leaves more room for the viewer to place themselves in the story or image. Essentially, the photo could be of anyone. The subjects are completely unidentifiable, making it easier for your audience to imagine themselves—or their loved ones—in the shoes of your subjects.
There are several ways you can obscure the identity of your subjects. Perhaps your subjects’ faces are out of focus, turned away, or maybe completely cropped out. In any case, the focus of faceless shots is redirected to your subject’s body language or surroundings.
Subtly omit facial features to make it easier for your audience to envision themselves in your photo. Images via Natalia Deriabina, Standret, PV productions, and Mikhaylovskiy.
Brighten the Mood with Spring Light
Easter coincides with the start of spring, which means our days are much brighter, and happier, according to findings.
Bright Easter photos can evoke the excitement of the changing seasons and the joy of a brighter, longer, more colorful day.
Utilize as much natural light as possible and avoid shooting dark and moody Easter shots.
Utilize as much natural light as possible to evoke the brightness of a spring day. Images via oliveromg, Serenko Natalia, Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB, leolintang, Natalia Kirichenko, and wavebreakmedia.
Adopt a Modern Pastel Color Scheme
Buttercup yellows, cotton-candy pinks, duck-egg blues, Easter egg-hued pastels are synonymous with springtime.
Pastel colors are found in flowers that bloom each spring, i.e., cherry blossoms. Pastels, therefore, serve as a perfect color scheme for your family-themed Easter photos.
Pastel colors are synonymous with spring, making the color scheme a popular choice in stock photography. Images via 4 PM production, Monkey Business Images, Bangkok Click Studio, Maples Images, and Yuganov Konstantin.
As the holiday fast approaches and stock sites, including Shutterstock and Offset, see an influx of image buyers hunting for family-themed Easter pics, there’s perhaps no better time to explore what goes into the makings of an Easter photo that sells.
Refer to these tips whenever you’re in need of some inspiration, and be sure to check out which family-themed Easter photos are getting noticed on Shutterstock by sorting the results by most popular.
Cover image via Photographee.eu.
