Doorstep photography or ‘Doortraits’ have become the latest photography trend during lockdown. You may have seen on social media photos of families sitting on their front porch and posing outside their front door. During the first lockdown, doorstep photography became a way for neighbours to connect and support each other, fostering a sense of community spirit.

This is a great way to capture some informal family snapshots during this time when we can’t get out and about. These photographs help document the unique moments of this year and preserve memories of everyday life, showing how life continues despite the challenges. I feel lucky to be able to capture these moments, even in difficult circumstances. It is important to document this time to allow us to reflect in later years, but not everyone can afford to hire a professional photographer at this time. You may have been on a reduced salary due to being furloughed or (if you are like me) you might also want to wait until the hairdressers reopen before you spend money on a portrait. In this blog I will share my tips on how to produce your own doorstep portraits.

Step 1 - Equipment

You will need your phone camera (or digital camera if you have one). For this example we used an iPhone. Using a digital camera can help you achieve high resolution photographs suitable for printing.

You will also need something for your phone to rest on. We have used a flexible phone holder clamped to a step ladder.You could use a stack of boxes and something to prop up the phone instead.

Step 2 - Framing up your doorstep photo

Frame up your doorstep photo in the screen. Most phones have guides to help you line up your images. You want to make sure that all your vertical and horizontal lines are straight. From the image on the left you can see that the guide lines do not match up with the door. The image on the right they do match up and everything appears straight.

For added creativity, try including a window in your frame. Photographing people near or through a window can add visual interest, capture reflections, or evoke a sense of connection.

Step 3 - Getting your equipment setup

Activate your camera.There are a few ways you can do this.

You can use the 10 second count down timer on your phone. One person will have to press the shutter button and then you have 10 seconds to get into the photo.

You can activate your phones voice controls.

If you have an Apple Watch you can use this to trigger your camera. Which is how we did it in this example.

Step 4 - Start Shooting

Get everyone involved. Capturing moments with all family members, including children, parents, and even pets, makes the photos more meaningful. If you have kids, interact with them, tickle them, or tell jokes to make them laugh. Including your mother, son, or daughter in the family doorstep photo helps preserve special memories. Keep snapping, take loads of photos so that you can select the best ones later. These little bits of everyday life and the people you love are what make doorstep portraits so special. This might mean running back and forth to activate the self timer but that’s part of the fun.

We don’t have children, so we got our fur baby involved.

Step 5 - Change Your Angle for Families

You don’t have to shoot your doorstep photo straight on. You might find a more interesting angle by moving the camera. Try creative angles, such as shooting from above or including background elements like roses to add visual interest.

Step 6 - Get Low

If you don’t have anything to balance your phone on then try simply putting it low to the ground. For this shot I used a mug to sit my phone in and used the self timer to take the shots. You could use a couple of books to prop up your phone instead. If you want to capture outdoor activities or family hobbies, consider including props like a bike in the shot. This angle worked out great and the driveway created some great leading lines in the photograph.

Step 7 - Editing

There are loads of photo editing apps that you can use. The ones I use for editing my phone snaps are Snapseed and Afterlight. If you don’t want to spend money on apps, the iPhone has some pretty cool filters that you can use. See how I edited this photo below using the iPhone. Once you’ve finished editing, you can easily share the images so your family members can receive their own copies.

I hope you enjoyed this blog on how to do DIY doorstep portraits.If you give it a go yourself I would love to send them to me on and please give my facebook page a like and if you would like to book a reunion family studio photograph please visit my contact page. Also, don’t forget to send a thank you note to anyone who helped you with your DIY doorstep portrait session.