How To Prepare Your Family For Your Photo Session

You’ve scheduled the date for your family photo session, and have an amazing photographer booked (if you’re in Chicago, hopefully it’s me!). Now what? How do you prepare for your photo shoot?

Here are some things to consider and ways to prepare…

Clothing

You will want to plan your outfits in advance. Don't match, coordinate. Matching outfits can look really cheesy and dated. And in my opinion they can make the photos look boring. Go for some variation in colors and textures. Patterns like plaid, stripes, and florals are good. However, you don't want too many different patterns...that can look too busy, so make sure to have some family members in solids too. Neutrals and earth tones always look nice…but a pop of color can really go a long way in photos.

You can read more about what I recommend for clothing HERE.

Location

Hopefully you have your location picked out…if you are in Chicago, there are so many amazing spots. I have many recommendations in and around the city, and I’m always open to suggestions as well. There are great parks, forest preserves, lakefront spots, as well as urban areas downtown that can be fun.

Click HERE to read about my location recommendations.

Preparing The Kids

I would start preparing your kids for the photo session a few days in advance. Tell them you will be meeting a friend to play outside, or a friend will be coming over to play. Explain the purpose of the meeting…tell them the friend will be taking pictures of your family, and later you will be hanging the pictures up in your house (you can even tell them they can help decide where to put them in your house to get them more involved). Tell them that we will have fun taking photos and can play a little bit…but they also need to listen to your friend who will be telling them where to go and how to pose.

You can show them my website, show them my family photos…and explain that your photos will look like those. You can also show them my picture on my website so they are a little familiar with me before they meet me.

It helps to have another activity planned after pictures…like lunch or dinner at their favorite restaurant, or going somewhere for ice cream. That will also help when you need to negotiate if they are misbehaving during the shoot!

Build it up to your kids as something creative and fun…You can even tell them that if they are good, at the end we can do one or two “funny face” pictures. Kids love that and it’s usually a fun shot! And it’s something they can practice leading up to the session to get them excited.

Make sure the kids have been fed and are well rested. Bring clean snacks and something to drink just in case. Wet wipes always come in handy, so make sure to have some on hand.

Preparing Your Partner

Believe it or not, partners aren’t always willing participants in family photo shoots! But preparing them ahead of time could help a little.

Tell them they won’t need to look at the camera and smile the whole time…I prefer to have my families play and will give prompts as to what to do…tickle the kids, walk or run with the kids, hold them upside down, throw them in the air, etc. They will be given instruction and don’t need to give cheesy smiles. As long as they come dressed for photos and can play with the kids, they are good to go.

I find that men tend to get annoyed more often then women when their kids aren’t being perfect during photo sessions…if you are doing a shoot with me, know that I am not looking for perfect. I don’t want your kids looking at me and saying cheese and smiling perfectly. I like imperfect, authentic emotion. So tell your partner to let go of the idea that all the pictures need to be everyone looking at the camera and saying cheese…that is not how our session will go, and I think they will find it much easier and less stressful if they know that ahead of time.