How to Get the Most Out of Your Family Session
Trust me, I get it—Family Sessions can be stressful. You are spending money to have your family documented and you want everything to be perfect. I’m going to be honest—they are NOT always perfect but we can make the best of it, have fun, and still get amazing photos to look back on! I am a pediatric nurse so I am great with kids of all ages and equipped to handle whatever our session throws at us. I have compiled my top 4 tips to help you prepare for your family session!
LOCATION
Choose a location that works for your family! If you have small children I don’t recommend having them sit in the car for over an hour to get to the picture perfect location, sometimes we can find spots with beautiful lighting right in your backyard or neighborhood. Sometimes the “best location” isn’t the best for your family and that’s totally fine! I also recommend maybe choosing a place where your kids have been before. If they LOVE the beach then let’s do a beach session but if the neighborhood park is their favorite place, let’s go there. Choosing a spot that your children have been to and love might help us get more smiles out of them and keep them happy for the time that we are together.
2. BRIBES
This one doesn’t work for all ages but it definitely helps for the school aged children. Have them bring their favorite toy with them to their session, this is comforting to them and lets them have some control. I usually let them even take a few photos with their favorite toy and then I’ll hold onto them for the rest of the session and it makes them feel included. It’s a great distraction for them to have something to do when we may want to break up and take individual photos. Also, bring snacks! It will keep the kids motivated and also they might get hungry and if they’re hungry/bored/tired/thirsty they will not want to take photos.
3. TIMING
This one is super important. Obviously my favorite time of the day to shoot is golden hour but in the summer time that can mean starting your session at 7:45/8:00 which is super late for small children and usually past their bedtime! I highly recommend adjusting our session time to fit what works best with your schedule. Even if that means we shoot in a shady park mid-day opposed to on the beach at sunset. We can capture beautiful memories no matter where we are/what time it is!
4. GO WITH THE FLOW
My favorite tip is GO WITH THE FLOW. We cannot control what happens during your family session but we can control our attitudes and that is what is most important. Children usually can sense if their parents are stressed so don’t panic if things go wrong. If your kids want to run around playing the entire time I will run around chasing them with my camera the entire time capturing beautiful candids. If we only get one picture perfect family photo where everyone is still and smiling, that’s honestly all you need. I truly believe the most imperfect moments make the most perfect photos, so have fun and let me take care of the rest.
