My parents will be celebrating their 42nd wedding anniversary this fall. According to those traditional wedding gift charts, my mom and dad should be on the receiving end of “developed real estate” to commemorate their milestone.
Sadly, my brothers and I don’t have the funds to gift wrap Manhattan for our dearly beloved parents, so we’ve decided on the next best thing: a professional family portrait.
Oh yeah, we’re real go-getters in the gift department.
To prove that we aren’t slouches when it comes to gift giving, we’ve decided to meet with the photographer in advance of the shoot to come up with unique poses instead of sticking with traditional ones.
My oldest brother suggested we create a human pyramid, while brother number two recommended that we pose in a “family tree.” He wants each family member to sit on a different branch in a real tree to create the Cheplic Family Tree. Fortunately, my sister-in-law nixed the tree idea.
Personally, I think a nice oval pose would work well with our size group. We have 14 people in our immediate family, and while posing us in an oval is conventional, there are ways to spice it up as long as all the subjects are cooperative. The oval pose works well if you have a group of people of differing heights (which we do). To make it frame worthy, we need to divide all of our family members by height into several even numbered groups. The tallest member of the clan is then placed at a 45-degree angle to the camera and becomes the center subject in the back row of the photo. The next tallest subjects are then arranged to the left and right of the center subject to form a “C” shape. To make an oval shape, simply repeat this process with each successive row of subjects until the portrait is full. To even out the height differences between subjects use chairs or stools in strategic spots so they don’t become the focal point of the shot. In the end you should have an oval shape with character and pizzazz.
Hopefully it will work out as well in person as it does on paper.
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