How to take family photos with an iPhone

Choose the light and the spot first

These tips work for family photos on any iPhone. Where a tip names a control, it is a control in AnyFront Camera. AnyFront Camera is coming to the App Store on 23 October.

Most of a good family photo is settled before you lift the phone. Soft light and a tidy background do more than any setting.

• Soft light. Window light or open shade is gentle on faces. Overhead midday sun makes people squint and puts dark shadows under their eyes.
• Face the light. Turn the group toward the window or open sky. A bright window behind them leaves faces dark.
• One clear background. Scan behind the heads for poles, lamps and door frames that will look like they grow out of someone.
• One kind of light. Warm lamps mixed with daylight tint skin in odd ways. Switch the lamps off and let the window do the work.

Set the phone

Put the phone at about the height of the middle of the group's faces. Lower looks up everyone's nose; higher shrinks the bodies. Wipe the lens first.

Step back and use 1x, or 3x on a model that has it, instead of crowding in with a wide lens. Wide lenses stretch faces near the edges of the frame, so keep 0.5x for a tight room and keep faces away from the edges.

Switch on the Grid and Level overlays in AnyFront's Camera Settings, so doorframes and horizons stay straight.

Get everyone in, including you

Prop the phone at that height on a shelf, a tripod or a stack of books. Then:

1. Arrange the group. Make a tight, shallow curve with everyone at about the same distance from the phone: small people in front, tall people behind, heads at different heights. One point of focus can then cover every face.
2. Use a stand-in. Put a chair, or a patient helper, where you will stand, so you can check your spot is inside the frame. Tap on a face in the middle of the group, then use AE/AF lock to hold focus and exposure.
3. Agree where to look. Tell everyone to look at the lens, not at the person running into the frame.
4. Set the timer long enough to walk back into place, press the shutter and step in.
5. Take many frames. Blinks and turned heads are normal. Do several rounds and keep the frame where every face works.

Check exposure for a group

A group mixes white shirts, dark sweaters and faces, so the camera's first guess is often off. Take a test frame and zoom in on the faces.

AnyFront's live histogram shows how dark and bright tones are spread across the frame, and a graph crammed against either edge means lost detail. Zebras mark the brightest areas. A few zebras on a white shirt are fine; stripes across a forehead are not. If faces look dark, raise EV (exposure compensation). If they glow, lower it.

Freeze the fidgety ones

Small children and dogs do not hold still for a timer. Choose SHUTTER in the control row for a faster speed; the toddlers guide gives starting speeds and the ISO trade-off. In a dim room, add light first: open the curtains or move toward the window before you raise ISO.

Kids and the dog

Photograph the smallest family members first, while they are fresh, and the full group after.

For a family photo with a dog, seat the dog at the front or on a lap, with an adult holding the leash low and out of frame. Give one person the job of making a sound just as the timer ends. The treat and toy routines are in the dog and cat guide; getting a baby or a toddler to look has a guide of its own.

On iPhone Duo: let the family see the frame

With an iPhone Duo open and AnyFront's camera running, the cover screen faces the people you are photographing. From the inner screen you choose what it shows: the live mirror, so the group can see themselves in the frame, or a photo or video from your library, or one of eight original animations for the smallest members and the dog. You switch without leaving the camera.

The manual camera is free on every compatible iPhone; the cover-screen extras are a one-time unlock on iPhone Duo, with no subscription. iOS decides when the cover screen is available: only while the phone is unfolded, the app is open in front of you and the camera is running. The cover-screen camera page has the details.

The holiday-card version

A card photo is a family photo with a plainer background and more frames. Pick one simple backdrop, such as a bare wall, and put everyone in the same soft light. Frame a little looser than you think, because a card is often cropped to a different shape than the phone's. Take far more frames than you need and choose later, on a bigger screen.

Quick checklist

• Soft light on faces, lamps off, one clear background.
• Phone steady at face height, lens wiped, Grid and Level on.
• 1x or 3x from further back; 0.5x only in tight rooms.
• Everyone at the same distance; a stand-in in your spot.
• Tap on a face in the middle, then AE/AF lock.
• Timer set, everyone looking at the lens.
• Test frame: zoom on faces, check the histogram and zebras, nudge EV.
• Faster SHUTTER for fidgety ones, and many frames.

Every control named here is on the features page.