With Christmas just around the corner (already!) it’s a perfect time to add fresh ideas to your repertoire for family events. Whether it’s for a client or documenting your own Christmas morning, this week’s prompt will help you tell the full story around every magic moment of the season.
Capture invisible moments: documentary photography ideas for family events and shoots
This is a documentary-style prompt, in that you’re looking for what you can see, without guiding the action. It works for families, couples, wedding, events: any time you want to enrich the story of what you’re capturing.
How to use this photo pose prompt
As well as capturing the obvious action, pay attention to what happens around the action, and capture something for your families that they have no way of seeing without you.
Whatever the obvious action is, shoot that, then look for what you can add. Use the surrounds to tell the full story of the moment.
Prompt: Capture invisible moments
- Try to capture something your clients have never seen before, or that they could never see.
- Look for expressions around the main action: smiles, shock, surprise, laughter.
- Find emotions of those watching: the love Dad looks at Mom with when she nurses their newborn, the joy of grandparents watching Mr Three blow out his birthday candles.
- Seek the reactions we can never see for ourselves: how Mom’s eyes crinkle when her toddler kisses her cheek, what Dad’s scary face looks like as he chases his laughing sons.
- Shoot what’s obvious, then shoot what’s happening around.
Creative extension
- You know I love details, and family events are resplendent with details to enhance the story. Food, decorations, gifts: what is chosen to help celebrate the moment is important, and should be treated as such in fully illustrating it. Seek out details, and have someone interact with them for your photo.
Tag @promptographerguide and use the hashtag #promptographerguide to share your favorite photos captured with this prompt.
Want this prompt in your Field Cards set?
All the info in this prompt post is summarized onto a single card in the Promptographer Guide Field Cards, with the details given in the accompanying Guidebook. All the ideas are given on the one card so you have a rich, comprehensive tool for sparking ideas. I’ve designed it this way so you only need five to ten cards to build a whole photoshoot.
If you want this prompt in your set, make sure you include Set 6: Family Essentials in your Field Cards.
