Amy is a mom of 3 and a photographer with 15 years of experience and she’s coming to the podcast today to share her chaotic birth story as well as super useful tips to help you conquer the chaos of a family photo session.
Amy’s tips for a successful family photo session are:
Don’t look at Pinterest
- The photos on Pinterest often depict the very best of the photographer's work over many sessions and hundreds, possibly thousands of photos taken. Allow the photographer's creativity and you or your family's natural personality to show through. Pigeonholing your family into an ideal you found on the internet can lead to disappointment, frustrations, and missed shots of your family and their natural personalities.
If you have kids under 5 years old, consider booking a mini session with your photographer. 15-20 minutes is sometimes all that little kids can handle.
- Most adults feel more relaxed after 15-20 minutes in front of the camera as we are self conscious and need to warn up a little.
- Kids attention span won't typically last past the first 20 minutes of a photo session. If you can enlist a helper (a friend, grandparent, nanny/babysitter) to bring the kids towards the end of the session or take them away after the first 20 minutes, you can get great photos of you and your partner without the kiddos feeling overwhelmed or tired.
When picking out your clothes for the session, think: simple and comfortable.
- Pick clothes that your kids will be comfortable in. Enlist their help in picking out items they love or want to wear for the photos. Don't worry about being too "matchy"
CHAOS QUEEN BONUS TIP: If absolutely NONE of your family is wearing matching clothes, try all black and white prints! This may not work every single time, but work with your photographer to make sure you get photos you're both in love with! Also, don't try to control the session. You hired a photographer for a reason. Do your research on their style and once you hire them, allow them to do their job and trust their creativity.
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