20 family photo poses for families of every size

Three rules make almost any family pose work: everyone touches someone, heads sit at different heights, and nobody stands square to the camera. Follow those and even a simple line-up looks warm instead of stiff. Here are 20 poses grouped by family size.

The rules first

• Touch. Hands on shoulders, arms around waists, kids on laps or hips.
• Vary heights. Sit, kneel, stand and lift so heads form a triangle or a wave, not a straight line. The Triangle 1 guide shows the shape.
• Angle the body. Turn shoulders slightly towards the centre of the group.
• Give an action. Walk, talk, tickle, look at the baby.
• Camera at chest height, at 1.5x or 2x.

Families of three

1. The baby in the middle. Parents face each other, baby held between them.

2. Child on shoulders. One parent carries, the other leans in.

3. Swing. Parents swing the child between them.

4. Lying down, heads together. Shot from above.

Families of four

5. Two on two. Each parent holds one child on their hip.

6. The bench. Parents sitting, kids standing on the bench behind them, arms around their necks.

7. The walk. Holding hands in a line, walking towards the camera.

8. Piggybacks. Each parent gives a child a piggyback.

Families of five and more

9. The staggered row. Parents standing in the middle, older kids at the sides, youngest in front.

10. The stairs. One person per step.

11. The blanket circle. Everyone sitting around a picnic blanket, shot from above.

12. The huddle. Arms around each other, foreheads close, eyes closed.

For bigger groups, read large family photo ideas.

Sitting poses

13. On the porch steps. Parents on the top step, kids below.

14. On the sofa. Everyone squeezed on, kids on laps.

15. In a field. Sitting in tall grass at golden hour.

Candid poses

16. Looking at the youngest. Everyone looks at the baby, nobody at the lens.

17. The tickle. Parents tickle the kids. Real laughs.

18. The whisper. A child whispers in a parent's ear.

19. Walking away. From behind, holding hands, down a path.

20. The jump. Everyone jumps on three. Burst mode.

Getting the shot yourself

Put the iPhone on a tripod at chest height, frame the group with a space for you, and use the 10-second timer. Take several rounds. slay overlays guides on the live camera, and the Portrait 1 guide frames full bodies at 1.5x.

See also 30 family photo ideas.

Frame every pose

slay overlays composition guides on your live iPhone camera, so the family lands in the right place before you set the timer.

Get slay on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6807513456?utm_source=slaycamera&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=family-photo-poses