how to prepare for your family photos
I often get questions about how best to get ready for having your family photos taken. What do I wear, what should I bring, do I need to clean up anything special? I wanted to write a guide to answer all of your questions, so that you can feel ready for your session. Here are the top 4 questions I get and my answers. Hope these are helpful for you as you get ready to have family photos taken!
What do I wear?
I get this question so often! Here are a few recommendations.
Wear something you feel comfortable in! I want to document you and your family feeling the most like yourselves. I always recommend wearing something you already have and know you love and feel good in. For your partner and kiddos, you want the experience of taking family photos to be a fun activity and the photos to show off your love for each other. Everyone will have a better time if they are wearing clothes they feel comfortable in. You don’t want scratchy tags or stiff collars getting in the way of being able to feel like yourselves.
Choose 2-3 colors and let everyone pick something in this color palette. I always recommend coordinating, but not matching. You’re going to look really good if you pick a couple of colors that go well together and then have everyone be wearing something in that color palette. Especially if you have several older or adult family members, this will help everyone have some autonomy in what they choose as well.
Not sure what colors to pick? Think about what colors you and your family look good in or naturally gravitate towards. If you’re a mom of littles, I often recommend choosing your outfit first based on what you feel your best in, and then dressing everyone else based on that. Another tip is to think about what colors you’ll want on your wall when you frame these!
2. My session is in my home, do I need to declutter?!
Our goal is to document who you are. While I would recommend cleaning anything that doesn’t usually belong, I wouldn’t do a massive declutter before your session. We want these photos to feel like you and to document this season of life. If you have a newborn, and there are baby bottles everywhere, that’s something you’ll one day want to remember. If you have 5 kids, and your home is filled with soccer balls, outdoor treasures, and barbie dolls, you’ll want to look back on that some day. We may even incorporate some of these things into your session! I try to capture your day to day life as best as I can.
3. What should I bring to my session?
Yourselves! There really isn’t anything special you need to bring to your session. If your kiddos struggle to relax in front of strangers or tend towards meltdowns, I would recommend bringing a couple of favorite toys or lovies (especially ones you wouldn’t mind having in your photos!). Our goal is for everyone to feel relaxed and at home, so if there are any props that help you feel that way, please feel free to bring them!
4. How do I prepare my kids? Do I bring a bribe?
I don’t recommend bribing your kids to take photos. Instead, I would tell them about the activities you’re going to do as a family. I try to incorporate something your kids will genuinely enjoy into our session, so that it doesn’t feel like a chore, and we can capture them doing something they love. Often, this looks like feeding the ducks, collecting special rocks or sticks, or picking flowers. We’ll go to a park or other favorite spot. (Cherokee Park is a good one for all my Louisville families!) You can also plan to do a favorite family activity, like riding bikes together or playing ball. Your session is all about you and your family, so each one will be unique based on what you guys enjoy! We’ll try to sneak in one or two photos of everyone smiling at the camera, but for the most part, we’ll focus on doing activities that naturally create some beautiful candid moments.
If I didn’t cover your question, send me a message here, and I would love to answer it for you! If you want to see a past family session, you can view one here. I’m excited to capture you and your family!
