Family Photography Prompts, Plus Couples, Kids and Practice Tasks

One line to say to the people in front of your lens, or one practice task, to copy or print.

Family Photography Prompts, Plus Couples, Kids and Practice Tasks

Show all 31
  1. Close your eyes, and on three open them and look at each other, not at meResets stiff faces. The half second after the eyes open is soft and unposed.

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All 150 prompts

Families 31

  • All hands stacked in the middle, smallest on top A detail frame. Shoot straight down, fill the frame with hands and leave faces out.
  • Bump hips as you walk toward me and try to knock each other off course Works for two adults or a whole row. Loose limbs read better than a march.
  • Carry one of them like a sack of potatoes and walk straight past me Side on, fast shutter. Upside-down children laugh with their whole face.
  • Close your eyes, and on three open them and look at each other, not at me Resets stiff faces. The half second after the eyes open is soft and unposed.
  • Dad, tell the worst joke you know, and everyone else groan as loudly as you can Frames arrive in two waves: the groan, then the real laugh just behind it.
  • Everyone look at the person who takes longest to get out of the house The pointing and protesting is the picture. Stay wide enough to hold all of it.
  • Everyone tickle the person on your left Four seconds of chaos. Go wide, fast shutter, and keep shooting until it dies down.
  • Everyone whisper your favourite pizza topping in mum's ear at the same time Five voices in one ear. Aim at her face, not at the whisperers.
  • Foreheads together, everyone, and look down at the baby Makes a tight ring of faces. Shoot from slightly above so the baby still shows.
  • Get everyone under one blanket with only your faces showing Good for cold days and shy teenagers. The blanket does the posing for you.
  • Grandma, tell us what their dad was like at this age Wait for the grandchild's sideways look at the parent. That is the frame.
  • Hold hands in a circle and spin, slowly at first, then faster One frame from inside the ring, the next from outside. Flying hair shows the speed.
  • Hug the person next to you, and the last pair still hugging wins After ten seconds a hug stops being posed. Work round the pairs with a long lens.
  • Hum the first song that comes into your head, and everyone else guess it Guessers lean in and stare at the hummer. Frame the guessers.
  • Kids up on shoulders, and everybody else look up at them Looking up lifts chins and opens faces to the sky, which suits everyone in the frame.
  • Kids, on three, run in and tackle your parents with a hug Parents kneel first so nobody goes over. Fast shutter, focus on the parents.
  • Kids, whisper a secret plan to each other, then carry it out on your parents You never know what is coming, so stay wide and keep both eyes open.
  • Lie on the blanket, heads together, and tell me what shape that cloud is Stand over them on a step if you have one. Heads in the middle, feet out like a star.
  • Line up tallest to shortest, then, without talking, by who is the most ticklish The silent shuffle makes them look at each other. Shoot the shuffle, not the line.
  • Mum, tell them about the day the first one was born A slow prompt for late in the session. Long lens, step back, let them forget you.
  • Parents stand back to back, and kids try to pull them apart Gives small children a job and gives you grips, grimaces and braced legs.
  • Parents, kiss, and kids, show me exactly what you think of that Put the children in front and in focus. The kiss stays soft behind them.
  • Pass a hand squeeze down the line and shout when it reaches the end Everyone watches along the line, waiting. A quiet build, then one loud frame.
  • Race to the tree and back, and parents get no head start Shoot the return leg coming at you. Continuous focus, around 1/1000 second.
  • Say your pet's name in your best monster voice, all at once Better than any cheese word: mouths open differently and nobody holds a fixed grin.
  • Squeeze in for a group hug and squash the smallest person in the middle Count to three, then call squeeze. The laugh lands on the squeeze, so fire then.
  • Swing the little one between you: one, two, three, up Fire at the top of the swing from the child's eye level, with room above for feet.
  • Teenagers, show your parents the pose you think I should be asking for Hands the reluctant one the director's job. Shoot the directing, then the pose.
  • Tell the person next to you one thing you love about them, youngest first Turn the listener toward the speaker. The listener's face is the picture.
  • Walk away from me, and when I shout, look back over your shoulder Shout a name, not a command. Whoever is named turns first and the rest follow.
  • Walk toward me holding hands, and the two on the ends swing out wide Shoot a burst from low down. Steps four to eight are usually the loosest.

Couples 27

  • Come in for a kiss, stop just short and stay there, and first to laugh loses The almost is better than the kiss: there is tension and both faces still show.
  • Foreheads together, eyes closed, and breathe out slowly The calm frame. Use it straight after a laughing prompt so the set has two moods.
  • Hands in each other's coat pockets and come in close A cold-weather prompt. It closes the gap between two people without any posing.
  • Hold both hands, lean away from each other and trust the grip Makes a V with real tension in the arms. Full length, side on.
  • Kiss them on the cheek, then the forehead, then the tip of the nose Three frames in a row, and the nose nearly always gets a scrunch.
  • Look at each other, now at me, now back at whoever you would rather look at Three expressions in five seconds. The last look usually comes with a smile.
  • Look into their eyes and tell me what colour they really are A long look that is about something. Go tight, with a wide aperture.
  • One of you lead the other away by the hand, and look back at them, not at me Shoot from behind and slightly to the side so the turned face is visible.
  • Pick them up and turn one slow circle Only if both are happy to. Shoot as the lifted face comes round toward you.
  • Piggyback, and the rider gives the directions Pointing and steering gives the rider something to do. Shoot as they come past.
  • Rest your head on their shoulder and look past me at the horizon Looking off camera reads as calm. Give the frame space on the side they look toward.
  • Run away from me holding hands, and look at each other as you go Expect them to run too fast the first time. Ask for a second go at half speed.
  • Sit shoulder to shoulder and tell me how you met, both at the same time Two versions of one story means interruptions, corrections and eye contact.
  • Slow dance right here with no music, and one of you hum Swaying stops a hug turning into a statue. Circle them while they turn.
  • Spin them out like a dance move and pull them back in The pull back in is the frame. 1/500 second holds the hair and the hem.
  • Stand back to back, and on three turn round and pull a face at each other Fire on three and again a second later, when the faces collapse into laughing.
  • Tell them the exact moment you knew Shoot the listener. This one can bring tears, so give it time and back off.
  • Tell them what you would cook tonight if you could make anything at all An easy opener for nervous couples. It is about food, so nobody freezes.
  • Tell them where you want the two of you to be in ten years, and be specific Slows everything down. A good last prompt while the light is going.
  • Tell them your favourite thing they do when they think nobody is watching Shoot the listener's surprise, then swap roles and shoot it again.
  • Thumb war, best of three Gives fidgety hands a job. Faces first, then the locked hands as a detail.
  • Trace a word on their back with one finger and let them guess it A quiet prompt: concentration first, then a grin at the reveal.
  • Walk toward me hand in hand and keep bumping shoulders as you go Tell them to look at each other, not at the ground. Shoot a burst and keep the loose ones.
  • Whisper a word you have just made up and ask them what it means The answer is always nonsense, and nonsense gets a real laugh.
  • Whisper this week's shopping list in your most romantic voice The duller the list, the bigger the laugh. Focus on the listener.
  • Without a word, try to make the other one laugh first Thirty seconds of held eye contact, which is hard to get any other way.
  • Wrap your arms round from behind and rock slowly from side to side Ask the one in front to hold the arms. Hands that hold something look at home.

Weddings 23

  • All of you fix his tie at once, badly Six hands on one collar. Shoot his face in the middle of it.
  • Everyone at this table lean into the middle and shout the couple's names Table shots without the stiff row behind chairs. Stand on something and shoot down.
  • Everyone cheer as if they have just scored the winning goal The couple kiss in the middle and the cheer frames them. Any group size.
  • Everyone huddle in and tell the bride your favourite memory of her, one at a time For the getting-ready room. Stay on the listener and let the speakers go soft.
  • Everyone look at me, now at the couple, and now the couple look at each other Three frames from one formal line-up. The third is usually the warmest.
  • Fasten the last button, slowly, then stop and look at each other Hands first as a detail, then lift to the two faces for the look.
  • Grandparents, show them how you danced at your own wedding Keep the couple in the background, watching. Two generations in one frame.
  • Hold the bouquet down at your hip and breathe out through your mouth Flowers creep up to the chest when nerves hit. Low hands drop the shoulders.
  • Look at your ring, then look at the person who put it there Two frames: the downward glance, then the look up. The second carries the smile.
  • Make a tunnel with your arms, and you two run through it Stand at the exit of the tunnel and shoot them coming at you, heads ducked.
  • Parents, tell them the one piece of advice you were given on your own wedding day Four parents, two listeners. Work the listeners and then the parent who wells up.
  • Reach round the corner, hold hands and do not peek The first touch before the ceremony. Shoot along the wall so both faces show.
  • Read their note quietly by the window, and take your time Window light, long lens, no talking. The second read is calmer than the first.
  • Show me again how you threw the petals For flower children after the ceremony, when the pressure is off and they want a replay.
  • Show me the first eight counts of your first dance, right here on the grass Rehearsed steps give nervous couples something known to do. Shoot the turn.
  • Stand in the doorway, foreheads touching, and ignore me completely A doorway is a frame within a frame, and it lights them softly from one side.
  • Twirl so the dress opens out, and keep your eyes on them, not the floor 1/500 second holds the hem. Eyes up keeps the chin and the neckline clean.
  • Veil over both your heads, noses touching Backlight the veil if you can. It turns into a soft, glowing tent round two faces.
  • Walk away from me for one minute and talk about what has just happened Their first minute alone. Long lens from behind, then catch them as they turn back.
  • Walk through the confetti slowly, stop halfway and kiss Ask guests to throw high, not at faces. Back away as you shoot, around 1/500 second.
  • Walk toward me in a line and tease the groom about his dancing A moving group looks looser than a standing one. Shoot wide, then pick out faces.
  • Wedding party, look at the person most likely to cry during the speeches Everyone points, the accused protests. Works on any group over five.
  • Whisper the first line of your vows again, only to each other For the portraits after the ceremony. The words are still fresh and the faces show it.

Kids 21

  • Blow me the biggest kiss you can, all the way into the camera Hand to mouth, then the throw. Fire on the throw, when the arm opens out.
  • Can you wink? Show me your best one Many small children cannot wink yet, and the attempt scrunches up the whole face.
  • Close your eyes, and when I say your name, show me your most surprised face Eyes wide, brows up, mouth a round O. It breaks into a laugh within a second.
  • Find the tiniest thing you can see on the ground and bring it to me Buys two calm minutes and gives you hands, concentration and a proud face.
  • Give them the squashiest hug you can and do not let go until I say For siblings. The squashed one's face is the frame, so get round to that side.
  • Hide behind the tree and jump out when I get to three Pre-focus on the edge of the trunk. You know exactly where the face will appear.
  • How high can you jump if I count you in? Kneel so the jump clears the horizon. 1/1000 second or faster.
  • I think there is a frog inside my camera, can you see it? Brings eyes straight down the lens. Ask what colour the frog is to hold the look.
  • Run to that tree, touch it and run straight back to me Burns off energy between quiet frames. Shoot the run back, arms pumping.
  • Show me how you hug your favourite toy A still, soft frame in the middle of a loud session. Chin down, eyes often closed.
  • Show me your best sleeping face, and now wake up The fake snore gets a smile, and the waking up gets wide eyes and a stretch.
  • Show me your loudest dinosaur roar Roars open the whole face. The giggle straight afterwards is the one parents keep.
  • Simon says touch your ears, Simon says look at the sky, now look at me Whoever gets caught out laughs and whoever wins looks smug. Both are pictures.
  • Sing me the first line of your favourite song Shy children often sing sooner than they talk. Stay back and use the long end.
  • Smell this flower and tell me what it smells like A calm downward look for the quiet frame. A dandelion does the job as well as a rose.
  • Spin round until your coat flies out, then freeze like a statue Two frames: the blur of the spin and the wobbling, giggling statue.
  • Tell me a secret about your dad, and I promise to tell only everyone Get the conspirator's lean-in, then turn and catch dad's face too.
  • Walk like a penguin, now like a giant, now like a mouse Three walks, three sets of frames. The mouse brings them in small and close.
  • What noise does your teddy make when it is grumpy? Children will do for a toy what they will not do for a stranger with a camera.
  • Whatever you do, do not smile, not even a little bit Reverse psychology tends to work on the under-eights. Keep a straight face yourself.
  • Whisper the silliest word you know to your brother or sister The whisperer is already laughing before the word is out. Frame both heads.

Beginner practice 32

  • A day in the life of your pet, shot from its eye level Lie on the floor. Looking down on an animal makes a record, eye level makes a portrait.
  • A golden hour walk, just after sunrise or just before sunset The light is redder and softer then and shadows run long. Keep the sun to one side.
  • A portrait by one window with every other light turned off Turn the sitter three quarters to the glass and look for a catch light in each eye.
  • A self-portrait that leaves out your face Hands, shadow, shoes, desk, reflection in a kettle. Decide what stands in for you.
  • A silhouette against the evening sky Expose for the bright sky and the subject goes black. Pick a shape that reads in outline.
  • Backlight something thin: a leaf, a glass of water, someone's hair Put the light behind the subject and a dark background behind that. Edges glow.
  • Blue hour: street lamps and lit windows shortly after sunset The sky holds a deep blue for a short while. Brace the camera on a wall or a railing.
  • Every front door on your street, framed exactly the same way Same distance, same height, door centred. The set is the picture, not any one door.
  • Fill the frame until nothing but the subject is left If the edges hold anything that is not the subject, take another step in.
  • Find a frame within a frame: a doorway, an arch, a gap in a hedge A dark frame round a bright subject pulls the eye straight to the middle.
  • Find three photographs in the dullest room of your home When the subject gives you nothing, light and framing have to do all the work.
  • Follow one leading line until it ends: a fence, a kerb, a row of lamps Start the line in a bottom corner and let it carry the eye into the picture.
  • Hands at work: someone cooking, knitting, fixing or playing Ask first. Hands show the job without a face, and they repeat so you get second chances.
  • Hunt for the alphabet in shapes, not signs A swing frame is an A and a drainpipe bend is a J. Twenty-six finds is a long afternoon.
  • Leave three quarters of the frame empty Negative space practice. A small subject against plain sky, wall or water.
  • Look straight down: a flat lay of everything in your bag Plain background, soft window light, camera parallel to the floor.
  • One object, fifteen frames, no two from the same angle or distance The first five are obvious. The pictures start at about number nine.
  • Photograph the light from one window at breakfast, noon and dusk Same spot, same framing, three times of day. You are studying the light, not the room.
  • Pick one colour and photograph it twenty times By the tenth find you start seeing that colour before you see the thing itself.
  • Put the subject on a third, then shoot it again dead centre The rule of thirds cuts the frame with two lines each way. Compare the pair afterwards.
  • Rain on glass: focus on the drops, then on the street behind them Two pictures from one spot. It teaches you that where you focus is a choice.
  • Reflections only: puddles, windows, spoons, car bonnets Focus on the reflection, not the surface. They sit at different distances.
  • The same tree, bench or street corner once a week for a month Mark where you stood. Four matching frames show weather, light and season doing the work.
  • Shoot a whole day in black and white Without colour you are left with light, shape and tone. Set the camera to mono so you see it.
  • Shoot only shadows for ten minutes Forget the object and frame what it casts. A low sun gives the longest shadows.
  • Shoot through something: a fence, leaves, a wet window, a glass Keep the near layer close to the lens so it blurs into a soft wash of colour.
  • Spend a whole walk shooting from ankle height A new viewpoint is the cheapest way to make an ordinary place look unfamiliar.
  • Symmetry: stand dead centre and square everything up Corridors, bridges, building fronts. Half a step off centre shows, so check the edges.
  • Take ten steps from your front door and make ten photos without moving on Standing still forces you to look up, down, behind you and very close.
  • Tell a story in five frames: place, person, detail, action, ending Lay the five in a row afterwards. The weak one tells you what to shoot next time.
  • Texture hunt: bark, rust, knitwear, peeling paint Light from the side rakes across a surface and shows texture. Light from the front hides it.
  • Twenty-four frames for the whole day, like a roll of film, and no deleting A hard limit makes you wait for the picture before you press.

Camera settings practice 16

  • Aperture ladder: one subject at f/2.8, f/5.6, f/11 and f/16 A smaller f-number gives a shallower depth of field. Watch the background sharpen up.
  • As close as your lens will focus, at its widest aperture Depth of field shrinks fast as you move in. See how thin the sharp slice becomes.
  • Bracket a sunset: one frame at the meter reading, one under, one over The darker frame often keeps the sky colour that the metered one washes out.
  • Camera movement on purpose: sweep down a line of trees at 1/4 second Trunks smear into vertical streaks. Try ten sweeps, because no two come out alike.
  • Freeze a splash at 1/1000 second or faster A tap, a dropped strawberry, a dog in a puddle. Bright light makes the fast speed possible.
  • Hand-hold slower and slower until the picture blurs Rule of thumb: the speed closest to your focal length, 1/60 second at 50 mm. Find yours.
  • ISO ladder: the same dim room at ISO 100, 800, 3200 and 12800 Zoom into the shadows afterwards and find where the noise starts to bother you.
  • Manual focus only for a whole afternoon Slow subjects first. Magnify the live view if your camera has it and focus on the eyes.
  • One focal length all day: tape the zoom ring and move your feet A fixed view makes you walk for the framing, and you learn what that lens sees.
  • Pan with a passing cyclist at 1/30 second Hold the rider in the same spot in the frame as you swing. The background streaks.
  • Rembrandt lighting with one lamp and a patient sitter Lamp high and to one side, until a small triangle of light sits under the eye on the shadow side.
  • The same portrait twice: 24 mm from close, 85 mm from further back Match the head size. Up close the nose grows. The distance does that, not the lens.
  • Shutter ladder: running water at 1/500, 1/60, 1/8 and 1 second Fast speeds freeze drops. Past about half a second water turns to mist. Use a tripod.
  • Something white on white, corrected with exposure compensation Meters pull bright scenes toward grey, so white comes out dull. Dial in plus one or two.
  • Sunny 16: bright sun, f/16, shutter at one over your ISO, meter ignored At ISO 100 that means 1/100 or 1/125 second. Check the result, then trust the rule.
  • Traffic light trails at dusk from a tripod, 4 to 15 seconds The longer the shutter stays open, the longer the streaks from the headlamps.

How it works

These family photography prompts are lines to say out loud so that people move, talk and forget the camera. The list holds 150: 102 session prompts for families, couples, weddings and kids, and 48 practice tasks for your own eye. Press Pick another prompt, pick a group, read the hint underneath, which says where to stand or whose face to watch.

Read the full guide

A prompt is a small job, not a pose

Ask for a smile and you get the one people keep for passports. Ask everyone to whisper a pizza topping in mum's ear at the same moment and you get a real one, because they are busy. A session prompt is a task that produces an expression as a side effect. Each result is one line to say, with a hint on timing or position below it: kneel first, fire on the squeeze, stay on the listener. Press again for the next one.

Six groups: four kinds of session, two of practice

One group is chosen at a time. Families has 31 prompts for groups of three and up, grandparents and unwilling teenagers included. Couples has 27, and as couples photography prompts go they are clean and stop at a kiss. Weddings has 23, from the getting-ready room to the tables. Kids has 21 that work on one child alone. Beginner practice has 32 tasks that need no settings, so a phone will do. Camera settings practice has 16 that need control of aperture, shutter or ISO. Nothing repeats until a group runs out.

Timed tasks and a shot list

The practice tasks suit the timer: press Start a 10-minute timer. Before a session, read your group in the full list under the tool and pick six or seven lines as a shot list.

  • Stay on the listener. Most photography prompts for couples have a talker and a listener, and the one hearing it has the better face.
  • Give the line, then count two before you press. The real expression follows the instructed one.
  • Carry more photography prompts for families than you need. A few fall flat with any given family, so keep a spare.
  • Alternate loud and quiet. A tickle prompt followed by foreheads together gives the gallery two moods.
  • Stay with one practice task for the full ten minutes. The obvious frames come first, and the pictures start once those run out.

Questions and answers

How is a photography prompt different from a pose?

A pose is a position you put someone in: chin down, weight on the back foot. A prompt is something you ask them to do or say, such as whispering a shopping list in a romantic voice. Poses control the shape. Prompts bring movement and an expression nobody had to fake. Set a loose pose first, then use a prompt to wake it up.

Which prompts work on a stiff family or a reluctant teenager?

Start where nobody performs alone: the group squeeze, or everyone looking at whoever takes longest to leave the house. Give the teenager the director's job and ask them to show their parents the pose you ought to be asking for. Walking prompts help too, because people who are moving forget about their hands.

Are these photography prompts for beginners or for portrait sessions?

Both, under different groups. Families, Couples, Weddings and Kids are for anyone photographing people, paid or not. The photography prompts for beginners sit under Beginner practice: 32 tasks, such as shooting only shadows, and none needs a setting changed. Camera settings practice adds 16 that do, such as an aperture ladder from f/2.8 to f/16.

Can a teacher use these as photography prompts for students?

Yes. For a camera club or media class, press five times in Beginner practice and let each student choose one, or start the 10-minute timer and have the whole group work one task in the same corridor. The five-frame story and the alphabet hunt each fit a single lesson, and every task in that group works on a phone.

Do the wedding photography prompts cover the whole day?

They follow the usual order: a note read by the window and the last button in the getting-ready room, a first touch round a corner, the confetti walk, a minute alone after the ceremony, lines for the wedding party, a three-frame trick for formal line-ups and one for the tables. All 23 are fit to say in front of grandparents and flower children.

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