Family Photo Prep Guide

How to make the most of your family photo session.

It’s time for new family photos!

As a former camp counselor, nanny, and now the proud (and often overexcited) auntie to the sweetest 5-year-old you'll ever meet, family photos are one of my favorite things to capture. I know how challenging it can be to get everyone happy and smiling at the same time. Luckily, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to help make this a fun, stress-free experience for your kiddos, pets, and partners (in other words, I will make it my personal mission to get you all giggling).

Here’s everything you need to know to make the most of your session:

What to wear

Ultimately, this is up to you and your family — the most important thing, always, is that you feel confident and comfortable. That’ll end up shining through in photos more than you can imagine.

For colors, I recommend going for more muted, neutral colors. Earthy tones (think browns, maroons, dark greens, etc.) look great on camera. Folks don’t have to be wearing the exact same colors, but try to pair colors that complement each other if possible.

I am a pattern enthusiast, so it hurts me a bit to say this, but too many patterns can end up being distracting in pictures with a bunch of people. Usually one or two will be totally fine — I’d just recommend not having too many bold patterns at once.

Flowy clothing (ie dresses/skirts) can add really gorgeous movement to photos, and making sure you’re wearing clothing that’s comfortable to sit in is also helpful for some of the photo prompts.

If you’d like to gutcheck clothing, don’t hesitate to send me some photos beforehand! 

What to expect the day of

If you're doing a mini session, sessions last 20 minutes and each session starts right at the scheduled time. I recommend folks arrive 10 minutes early or so just to help things run smoothly. 

We’ll start off by going over a few tips & tricks to get everyone feeling ready and (more) comfortable, then go right into pictures!

One of the reasons I love family photos: it's basically just playing a bunch of goofy games together. We’ll do a few classic photos, and then go through a series of prompts/games to get us some really wonderful, authentic candids of your family together. I’ll be giving you some direction throughout, but my goal is for you all to focus more on each other than the camera. 

What to expect after

Two weeks after the shoot, your online gallery filled with professionally edited portraits of your loved ones will be in your inbox!

For minis, galleries usually consist of at least 30 images, with a variety of backgrounds and poses. You'll then choose your 10 favorites to download, with print release included for all of them (in other words, you can share and print them as much as you like!). If you end up loving more than 10, you can always choose to purchase some additional downloads. Your online gallery also has a full store that partners with professional photography labs where you can order prints, books, and more.

And just like that, your holiday photo/mantle decor/new phone background is ready to go. Truly can't wait to capture all the smiles together — see you soon!