Family photo ideas

The family photos that last are the ones where everyone is doing something together: walking, piling on, laughing at a game. Here are 20 ideas, half poses that work for every age and half everyday moments at home, all easy to take with an iPhone and the timer.

Poses for the whole family

1. The one-two-three swing Walk away down a path holding hands, and lift the smallest kid between two adults on every third step. Shoot from behind in burst.
2. The pile on the bed Everyone lies on the bed, heads together, and the photographer shoots straight down from a sturdy step stool.
3. The whisper game Have a kid whisper a secret in a parent’s ear. Tell the kid in advance to whisper something silly; the parent’s laugh is the shot.
4. Squeeze the middle Everyone hugs, and on three the whole family squeezes whoever is in the middle. Shoot the second after.
5. Heads in a circle on the grass Lie on your backs in a star, heads touching in the center. Shoot from above, then ask everyone to make a face.
6. Forehead to forehead One parent and one child, foreheads touching, eyes closed or giggling. Do it for each child so everyone gets one.
7. The tallest-to-smallest stack Stand in a tight line by height and lean your heads in, faces stacked. Add the grandparents and it becomes a generations photo.
8. The spin A parent spins a child by the hands on soft grass. Burst catches the frame where their feet fly out.
9. Piggyback race Kids on parents’ backs, racing toward the camera. Expect a lot of blur and one great frame.
10. Hands of three generations A grandparent’s hand, a parent’s and a child’s, stacked on a table or the arm of a chair. Shoot close.

Everyday moments at home and outside

1. Saturday pancakes Shoot the mess: flour on hands, a kid on the counter stool, someone flipping. Kitchens look best with the window light on.
2. Matching pajamas on the couch Everyone under one blanket with popcorn and a movie on. Shoot from the side so the faces glow a little from the screen.
3. The bedtime story A parent reading, kids tucked in on either side, only the bedside lamp on. Hold the phone very still.
4. The blanket fort Build it together, then shoot from the doorway of the fort with a flashlight lighting the faces inside.
5. The driveway car wash Sponges, a hose and a lot of foam on a hot afternoon. Burst for the moment the water hits someone.
6. The picnic blanket A park, a blanket, a basket. Shoot from above as everyone reaches for the food at once.
7. Everyone’s shoes in a row Line up the shoes by the door, from the biggest boots to the smallest sneakers. A small photo that says a lot.
8. Your shadows at sunset Stand in a row with the low sun behind you and shoot your long shadows on the pavement. Wave and see who copies.
9. The dog in the middle Sit on the porch steps with the dog in the center. Someone holds a treat over the phone so all eyes go the same way.
10. Recreate an old family photo Find a photo from years ago, go back to the same spot and copy every pose. Hold the old print in the new shot.

Make your family photos move

Lively in Make it Live suits the busy shots: people laugh, turn their heads and wave, and hair and clothes swing. It uses AI on Tada’s servers with OpenAI and xAI, Tada asks first, and you get 3 AI tadas free (privacy).

Puff is free and made on your phone in about a second: it puffs up one part of the photo, by default the head, then bounces back. Tap the smallest kid or the dog to puff that spot instead. And for a photo of the family dog, the Storybook Twin look draws it a small character twin in the empty space beside it, in picture-book gouache. For more ways to bring a still to life, see how to animate a photo.

iPhone tips for family photos

• To get everyone in, tap the Camera Controls button, tap Timer and choose 10. Stand the phone on a stack of books at the kids’ eye level.
• Leave Live Photo on. If one person blinked, open the photo, tap Edit, tap the Live Photo button and drag to a frame where every eye is open, then tap Make Key Photo.
• For the swing, the spin and the race, swipe the Shutter button left to shoot a burst.
• Crouch to the youngest child’s height. Photos from adult height make kids look small and far away.

Questions

Sources: Apple Support: Take and edit Live Photos · Apple Support: Take Burst mode shots · Apple Support: Use iPhone camera tools

More you can do

• Engagement photo ideas
• Christmas photo ideas
• Animate a photo
• Add stickers that move
• All guides