Get the most out of your family photo session.
Planning a family photo session is an exciting way to capture the love, connection, and personality of your family. You probably know that preparing for your session—whether you’re in Rockhampton, Yeppoon, or the surrounding areas—can feel a little overwhelming.
That’s why we’ve created this simple guide to help you feel confident, relaxed, and ready to enjoy the experience.
From choosing outfits to knowing what to expect on the day, we’re here to make sure your session is smooth, fun, and full of genuine moments! Here is some pointers you can expect to find covered here
- How I will work with your kids and what you can do to help.
- How to make this an enjoyable experience for the whole family.
- Outfit tips and styling guide – getting the look you want for your images.
Working with children.
The seemingly impossible?
Photographing kids can get tricky. But with the right workflow and some ideas on pivoting when we need. That’s when the seemingly impossible can be made possible.
While I always aim for that posed shot that everyone needs, I don’t focus on that for too long. So to help you feel more confident and comfortable for any future sessions, here are some tips to help prepare for a more seamless family photo session!
Stay calm and relaxed….we can do this!
Please don’t worry about your child’s behaviour. As a mum, I know this is hard to do. You’re going to want them to be on their best behaviour and that is understandable. However, if they seem to be in a bad mood, irritable or fussy, being firm and frustrated with them because of you are stressed about the shoot being perfect is only going to make it worse. Toddlers, kids and even babies can sense stress from their parents. If you don’t feel relaxed and calm, they won’t either. If they are acting crazy or grumpy, we’ll work with the crazy! There is beauty in the chaos.
Treat this as an adventure, not a job.
Don’t treat this as a job your child is required to do. Lets treat it as an adventure and a treat!! This is where I step in and make this whole session one big fun time! We will play games that will create images that will the family interacting with each other, as well as showing connecting and the family bond. And I even take pics of them and then show them the image on the back of the camera, like it’s a fun game!!
I have plenty of options up my sleeve.
Some of the games we play – red light green light, run around dad and mum while the smile and watch, wiggle wiggle freeze, throw some kids in air and laugh, tickle Dad to see if he’s ticklish, let’s swing someone and so many other exciting things we can do together!
Leave it up to me…..
Try to remember that it’s not up to you to make yourself look good and make them smile! That’s my job! Some of my all time favourite portraits of my own family are the ones when I let go and didn’t worry so much! I’m a mum of 5 boys after all, so believe me, nothing can shock me and you don’t need to prove to me that you have great kids that listen and follow directions. I know family portraits can be challenging and the challenge isn’t a reflection of your child’s normal behaviour or how well you’re parenting them!
Avoid messy snacks.
Let’s try to avoid snacks and treats as much as possible (save for a last resort!) because we’ll have to wait for them to finish chewing before we can try again! It’s best to just constantly try to find ways to be silly and make this process fun for them!
Just keep smiling!
Please keep smiling! Even if you’re trying to get one child to giggle and engage, do it with a smile! So often, parents are worried about getting their child to smile that when the child does smile, the parent has forgotten to smile themselves. This is why genuinely having fun together is vital to the success of the shoot!
Have the mindset before you leave home that this can be fun and enjoyable – look at it as a family outing and let me do the work for you when we meet up. Lets have a crazy fun time together!!
Family Photography Session Outfit Tips
a guide to what photographs well…..
My style is bright and airy, so here are my recommendations to get that gorgeous look! If you desire to have images that reflect what you see most often from me, these tips will help create the look you’re hoping for!
Neutral vs. Bold
Neutral colours create light and bright images. Dark and heavy colours will create darker and heavier images. For example, having one or two pieces of denim is fine, but if everyone in the family is wearing dark blue jeans, the bottom half of all of the portraits will seem very dark and heavy! I recommend only having 1-2 dark pieces of clothing. The more light and neutral tones the better! In the images below, you’ll see a variety of heavy and dark outfit choices, patterned choices and a more light and neutral choice.
More Family Photo Session Outfit Tips
When you’re considering what you desire for your portraits, it may help to see an example of two different approaches to colour and outfits! It may seem like I’m harping on this decision quite a bit. That’s because the colours and tones of your outfits will dramatically impact what your overall gallery looks like. Below you’ll see the same family in two different outfits. The first outfit has more of a neutral colour palette in a few different shades. The outfit on the right hand side has several tones in bolder darker colours (the denim jeans + the bright pop of pink flowers). Notice the difference in location too!! That deserves much consideration as well.
How to decide
TIPS FOR SELECTING YOUR STYLE:
1. Consider your space: What colour palette is within your home? Does your home has a lot of neutrals and earthy colours? I recommend leaning towards those colour choices when selecting family outfits for portraits. Imagine if just one of the kids had on a bright pink or purple shirt in your family portraits. Then put that in your living room and everything else had neutral or soft tones! It would look very distracting.
Consider your space in your home and how you can coordinate your portraits with it.
2. Consider your location: If you’re shooting in a park with a lot of trees and more of a darker background, I would suggest keeping your outfits very light and neutral. If you’re shooting with a neutral white wall or on a light coloured beach, neutrals are great but having a tad of colour may serve you well!
MORE OUTFIT SELECTION TIPS CONTINUED:
Avoid Black
Mums, if you’re like me, I am love living in my black leggings and even my uniform is black! As much as I adore my comfy clothes and the safety of my trusty black leggings, black is something I try to steer clear of for portrait sessions. Black will instantly make portraits look heavier and darker.
Avoid Bright, Warm Colours
Super bright reds, oranges, yellows and hot pinks can be so vibrant that they will reflect their colour on to necks and faces. This can be incredibly hard to edit out and in some cases, impossible. I would work hard to avoid any type of neon colours as well for this same reason! This is not true of pastel colours, only super bright and vibrant colours create this effect.
Avoid super tiny patterns
There is nothing wrong with wearing a pattern! However, if you’re going to wear a pattern, make sure the design isn’t smaller than a dime! It can create some weird effects with digital cameras! Here are two examples of patterns that work really well and aren’t too tiny.
Coordination instead of matching
In this family photo, Yvonne colour coordinated beautifully her family outfits – soft tones. Earthy blues, greens and soft browns. Not everyone is matching. All of the colours are bright enough and neutral enough to coordinate well together! This is a medium toned colour palette with an pop of occasional dark tones and some more subtle neutrals to compliment.
A PHOTOGENIC FAMILY PHOTO SESSION
Coordinating Colour Palettes
Did you know that there are literally “Family Portrait Stylists” that help parents plan and coordinate their family outfit choices before a portrait session? This job exists because it takes so much work to make these selections and get the overall look you’re hoping for. My hope is that this image below will give you some fun inspiration and a starting place for your outfit selections! Remember, these are just ideas for inspiration and aren’t strict patterns to follow!
Colour Coordination
Use this colour palette example to colour coordinate your family session.
Get Creative!!
The ultimate decision is yours – but if your struggling with preparing for a family session, taking these tips to heart will help. It’s a big thing getting a family set up and out the door for photos – believe me, I know! When you book your session with me and take these great tips and use them, you will come away with the best outcome! You will get these great results –
- A family photography session that is a great and enjoyable experience.
- The results of enjoying your session results in beautiful documented moments of family connection!
- A well styled session which will make the difference to the end result of your well thought out and curated images.
Trying to book for a family photo session near Rockhampton or the surrounding areas? Have a look at my portfolio and lets start the conversation about updating your family photos today!
