How I Shoot: What to Expect During Your Family Session

As a parent, I know that setting up a family session for your family can feel a little overwhelming. Finding something to wear for everyone, getting to the location on time, trying to make sure all the kids will be in a good mood… It can be work to get ready and can be enough to just put off doing a session indefinitely. But, beautifully preserving this moment in time for you, your children, and all the future generations to look back on in the future is such an amazing thing to be able to do, and it’s worth the effort that it takes.

This post is all about sharing with you my process during a shoot so that you know what to expect, can get comfortable, and have fun in front of my camera.

Six things I want you to know prior to our session together:

Timing is important because it’s all about light. When I book a session, I always book based on how the light will be at that time of day. Sessions in a client’s home can be done at almost anytime during the day. Sessions in outdoor locations are best in the early morning and later evening for the prettiest light. So, lighting will always dictate when and where I schedule a session. If you have very young kids (toddlers and babies) I do find that they generally do better with morning shoots, so keep that in mind when planning your session.

The day of the session, before I even take out my camera I’ll do a quick scout of the location (whether that’s your home or elsewhere) to determine a plan for the shoot. For example, in a client’s home, we may plan to start with images inside (the rooms with the biggest windows work best) and then head outside, or vice versa depending on the light at that time of day.
Let’s get comfortable. Once I have my simple plan for the shoot, I take a few minutes to get to know my clients, or to catch up with them if I’ve photographed them before. The reason why I love this career is that it allows me to connect with people, so talking to my clients at the start of the session not only makes them more comfortable with me, but it also feeds my soul to ask questions about my client’s story and get to know them as people. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, I believe that establishing a bit of a rapport with clients (especially if I’ve never photographed them before) is very important to making sure people feel comfortable. If people feel comfortable, they look comfortable, and that is KEY to getting great portraits.
Smile for the camera! My goal for any family session is to get beautiful, life-filled candid images along with a collection of images where all family members are smiling beautifully for the camera. The images of you all playing, laughing, and loving each other are what make family sessions the most special, but I also know that everyone wants at least a few images of everyone smiling for the camera, so I strive to get both.
Keep it Moving. It’s important to me that I keep the session moving along so that nobody (especially the kids) get bored or restless. So, we quickly move onto to something else once I do that posed portrait. If it’s an outdoor session, I’ll have the kids lead the way to “explore” around the area. If it’s an in-home session, I might ask the kids to jump on the parents bed or show me some of their favorite toys. I’m trying to get them to have a little fun and continue to get comfortable all while giving them direction that will lead to images with connection and great expressions in good light.
Take a Break. I have two kids so I know that kids can lose interest in photo sessions or just get overwhelmed with too much going on. If the kids start to lose interest (especially toddlers) I find it helps them to get re-engaged with the shoot if I take a break from being the photographer and instead sit on the floor with them, play, have them show me something, or even and have them take some photos of you parents. A little break time usually gets them back on track and will allow me a little more time to photograph them.
Yes, it’s about the photos. But, it’s also about the experience. My full family sessions are typically about 1.5 hours long. However, I know that I usually only have about the first 45 minutes to an hour to get all of the important shots before people lose interest (and that’s not always just the kids). My goal is to get all the important shots in that first hour. That way, if the kids or the parents, are getting tired, we can end the session a little early and it doesn’t sacrifice the quality of images I’ll deliver to them.

The client experience is very important to me so I want you to leave feeling great and like you had FUN, not exhausted. If I’m feeling like the clients are ready to be done after an hour, I take the hint and we wrap the session. By then I know that I’ve got all the important images and that the clients will be happy with the collection of images I deliver having also loved the experience of creating those images with me. 🙂

Having your family beautifully documented is not just a nice thing to do for a holiday card… I believe it’s a gift for your children and all the generations that follow so that they can see a glimpse into this moment, right now, and have it preserved forever. I hope that these insights make it that much easier for you to schedule your session and make you more confident and comfortable as your session date approaches!