You’ve made the brilliant decision to invest in professional photos of your family, ones that you’ll treasure and pore over for years to come. But as it draws near, you’re worried about your toddler wreaking havoc during the session, refusing to smile for the camera, not standing still for pictures, and what if they throw a tantrum during the shoot?
Fear not, dear reader, for this handy guide will help you to prepare for a stress-free family photoshoot, meaning that you can relax and look forward to your session with me. I'm a newborn, family and wedding photographer based in Cheshire, and have plenty of experience of photographing all ages and group sizes. In this article, I’ll guide you through the following tips for a drama-free session:
· Pick the best time of day for your children
· Plan your outfits for family photos
· How to prepare your children for the session
· Relaxed parents = relaxed children
· Fill in my questionnaire
Pick the best time of day for your children
Your children’s routines can help to determine the best time of day for family portraits, and which type of session will suit you best. For in-home newborn family shoots, I recommend starting at around 10am for the best light. This time usually works well for young sibling routines too. If you’d love an outdoor family photoshoot, golden hour (just before the sun sets) provides warm, dreamy light for magical shots. However, in the height of summer, that might be too late for little ones, in which case, we can look at spring or autumn. If you’d prefer a daytime outdoor session, we’ll discuss the best location to suit your family’s routine and the best light options for photography.
Plan your outfits for family photos
Clothes can have a big impact on the final images, so taking the time to put your outfits together in advance will help the day run smoothly. This topic deserves (and will get) its own article, but to summarise: outfits that complement rather than match work best, and avoid anything too distracting (think character clothing – you don’t want Olaf from Frozen’s face to be the key element you’re drawn to in an image, as lovable as he is!).
Once you've booked your session, I’ll send you an outfit guide for inspiration, and I'm always here to answer questions. Having everything ready a day or so before the shoot means you can relax and get everyone ready, stress-free.
How to prepare your children for the session
Talk to your children about the photoshoot (and me!). Often, kids don’t like surprises (unless they involve a party and cake!). So chat to them in the week leading up to the session to let them know that they’ll be spending some special, quality time with you, while a nice lady takes some photos. Keep the explanation simple and fun – it’s basically a playdate. You can show them photos of me on my website here, and look at other family photographs together so that they understand the reason I’ll be there. When they meet me, they can look at my camera and help me take some photos – sometimes their teddies get involved, too!
Relaxed parents = relaxed children
I know that inviting outsiders into your family bubble can feel stressful, and you might worry about how the kids will behave and cooperate. But before you even think about apologising for them not sitting still, remember this: my sessions are about capturing personalities and relationships, and your family’s daily life together. So there will only be a handful of moments where the kids need to look at the camera (and I’ll get them out of the way at the start!). For most of the photoshoot, they can go a little wild, cuddle, tickle, and just wholly be themselves. After all, that’s what you’ll want to see and remember in 10 years’ time when they’re grumpy teenagers who frown at the mere mention of a camera. So let them giggle and be sassy, silly, and care-free.
Little ones feed off our energy, so if you're relaxed and having fun, then they’ll do the same. I’ll capture the best moments of the session. If there are meltdowns in between, that’s fine.
Fill in my questionnaire
Finally, for the ultimate stress-free photoshoot experience, take the time to fill in my questionnaire that I send before every session. Here, I’ll ask the basic questions like names and ages, but I’ll also delve deeper to get to know you and your family – the kids’ interests and personalities, and what you want most from your session. It’s also a chance for you to tell me any extra information I might need to know.
This all helps me to tailor the experience to you and your family as much as possible, and you can rest easy knowing that I have it all in hand. All you all need to do is turn up to your photo session on time, and be yourselves.
If you’d love to make some memories, and have unique, professional, love-filled photographs to display on your walls, get in touch and let's chat. I'm based in Nantwich and cover Cheshire, Shropshire, and the north west.
Here are some examples of a lifestyle in-home newborn session and an outdoor family photoshoot in Cheshire.
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