Our son just started 1st grade.
It kind of freaked us out.
Somehow, in what seemed like in the same amount of time we spend waiting in line for our Dutch Bros fix (we’ll talk about that later – why have the lines gotten so dang long!?) our little guy is grown up and reading, doing math and tying his own shoes!
We learned that our parents weren’t joking when they said we needed to soak it all up while they are young, because it goes by quickly.
Far.
Too.
Fast.
Now we are wishing we could slow down time.
And that’s really what we love about family portraits. For a short moment we get to freeze time. We get to forever remember the baby in the womb. The toddler learning to take her first steps. The son getting ready to leave for college. These major milestones are part of why you are having your photos taken as a family, and a big part of the why that drives our business and what we do.
So if we have any advice for your upcoming family session, it is:
1. Don’t be afraid to go all out for your session and have fun!
2. Don’t forget #1.
3. Read through this entire blog series before your session, especially this one on how to prepare your entire family 🙂
How to Coordinate the Entire Family
If you are anything like us, we used to spend hours trying to put outfits together for our family photos! Coordinating the entire family can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be! The problem most of us run into is trying to create outfits that ‘match’. Instead of trying to match, we’d encourage you to make it ‘flow’.
You see, matching can often create a more bland color palette in which everyone in the family has similar color tops and bottoms and it lacks depth and intrigue. If you focus instead on creating a common flow for your outfits you will find you absolutely love the results!
Creating a common flow between the outfits is simply choosing a dominant color for each individual that compliments the rest. Then add in accents and details throughout the other outfits that tie them to each other.
For example, if you have picked out a muted pink, flowy dress with nude heels and a rose gold bracelet (with pink being your primary color), you can dress him in soft green chinos, a white button down shirt, leather brown shoes and a muted pink bowtie (soft green being his primary color). Your daughter could be dressed in a cream tulle skirt with a fresh flower crown with greenery and soft pink roses (cream being her primary color) and your son can wear a light blue button down with light tan chinos and and soft brown suspenders (light blue being his primary color).
See how in that example, no one is wearing the same primary colors, yet they all flow together cohesively and still relate to each other? Throwing in those accent colors that bring in parts of each other’s outfits helps to add that additional ‘pop’ and layer of detail to your photos! We strongly suggest sticking to more muted colors as you choose the flow of your family ensemble. Muted colors will compliment natural features and allow the eye to focus on the emotion in your faces, whereas bold colors tend to distract the eye and steal some of the attention.
Preparing the Kids (Bribery Approved!)
These pictures may mean the world to you – but to your kids, well, we’ve had our own experience of “This is not what I want to be doing right now, mom” moments during our own photo sessions! While you can’t always guarantee perfect success, we do have some tips on how to prepare your kiddos for the most enjoyable and stress free experience.
First though, we want to point out that no matter how much preparation you put into this for your kids, sometimes it’s just one of those days! And that’s totally ok! If you follow our preparation tips and they still have a rough day come photo time – give them grace (and a little extra to yourself) 🙂 As parents ourselves, we understand that those days happen, and we promise to still get you great images, regardless of their moods on that day! This is supposed to be a fun, stress free experience, so if they lose it – don’t worry – we’ve got you!!
Before your session, it’s always a good idea to prepare a bag with favorite snacks, drinks and hey – candy! Anything that we might be able to use to grab their attention when it’s time for them to look at the camera. It’s also important to make sure they show up to the session well rested and with full tummies! Nothing throws our kids off like grumbling bellies and lack of sleep, so be sure that they get good rest before and have a filling meal or snack before the session.
Even if your kids are young, we still recommend talking with them in advance of your session. Explaining to them how important these photos are to you and how important their attention during the session is can go a long way to preparing them for what is to come. Even at 2 years old, our daughter still understands the importance of things. If we take the time to explain to her that something means a lot to us or someone else, it still resonates with her to a degree that she shows some care for the situation.
Lastly, there is always room for some good, old fashioned bribery! We will be the first to raise our hands and admit that we have bribed our way in and out of a few photo sessions with our kiddos! (Our son’s lego collection grows overtime we take photos!) But really, having something to look forward to after the session can do wonders to motivate your children during our time together. Some families plan to do something fun afterwards like go to a favorite restaurant or a fun dessert! Use whatever gets your kids excited to your advantage to make the time easier for you and them 🙂
One More Thing Before You Go…
We hope this three-part blog series has been beneficial for you! We love nothing more than seeing our clients arrive for their photo session feeling confident and prepared for our time together! We know this has been a lot of information, but we encourage you to take what works for you and apply it to your next session with us. At the end of our time together though, none of the preparation will matter as much as the fun you had in creating memories together as a family. We encourage you to arrive to your session relaxed, ready to be yourselves, and ready to laugh! We’ll take care of everything else!!
If you missed the other parts of our series on Getting the Most out of Your Photo Session, click here for Part 1: Style Tips for Her and Part 2: Style Tips for Him!
[…] Getting the Most out of Your Session – Part 3: Prepping Your Family » […]