How to Prepare for Your Family Photo Session

What should we bring?

If your session is outside, please bring a blanket for sitting pictures (although I usually have one, if you forget). If your kids would benefit from having snacks (cough cough, bribes), I recommend things that can be chewed quickly and aren’t messy (for example, Goldfish crackers). If you have a small child that would respond well to a favorite toy near my camera lens, feel free to bring that! Beware of items that your child will want to hold, however. Pacifiers are especially dangerous. If you don’t want these items in the photos, it’s probably best to leave them at home (or hide them in your bag as a last-resort).

If you’re celebrating a milestone and would like pictures with a smash cake, please bring this with you. Please also make sure I’m aware that you would like smash cake pictures so I can plan accordingly!

When should we arrive?

Most sessions are booked during “golden hour”, the beautiful time right after sunrise or right before sunset. To ensure you have your full session time and the most beautiful light, please arrive on time or a few minutes early.

If your session is in a studio, please arrive 10 minutes early to allow time to walk with me from the building entrance to the studio. (We’ll be taking the elevator to the 6th floor.)

What if I booked a session in my home?

When I arrive, I’ll ask for a little tour of your home. In-home sessions rely solely on natural window light. I start out most sessions by turning off artificial lighting and opening up curtains and blinds. If you’re comfortable with it, I may move a few things around to optimize the lighting in key rooms. Darker homes typically render moodier photos, but they’re beautiful just the same! If you know that your home has the most natural light at a certain time, feel free to share that with me prior to your session.

Don’t stress about cleaning. We can always move things as needed!

What should we wear?

(For the full blog post, click here!)

My hope for you is that you feel both confident and comfortable during your photo session! A great place to start is your attire. I know it may be tempting to pick your kids’ outfits first, but I always recommend that mom picks her outfit FIRST! Other outfits can be coordinated around mom’s outfit. Try to avoid outfits that will cause you to worry (Is my bra strap showing? Did my skirt ride up? Is this top more low cut than I’m comfortable with?)

When picking outfits, I encourage coordination rather than matching. A subtle color theme is great, but don’t feel the need to all wear the exact same shirt. If you want to take it to the next level, include 1 (or more) clothing item with a pattern and at least 1 item with texture!

I’d recommend avoiding extremely bright colors or giant brand logos. And if I could advise against 1 common color, it would be red! Red is an intense color that has the ability to reflect a hue on faces (your face or your child’s face as he or she cuddles close to you). If you really love that new red shirt you just bought, I’m not going to stop you! But if I could tell you to avoid one color, it’d be red.

If your photo session will be in the fall or winter, consider the weather. I recommend layers if it will be cold! Consider putting tights on under your child’s pants and a long sleeve shirt on under his or her sweater. These layers won’t necessarily be visible in photos, but your kids will be happier for it! Vests and hats are also great options if you want to avoid winter jackets.

Can we bring a change of clothes?

Sure! Just note that depending on the location of your photo shoot, there may not be a great place to get changed. Please let me know if you plan on changing clothes so I can pause our session somewhere in the middle. I recommend at most 1 change of clothes, but that’s up to you! Just know that changing time will eat into photo-taking time.

How can we make our session great?

People don’t photograph well when they are hungry or sleepy (adults and children alike!). If possible, please make sure everyone has food in their bellies and no one has missed any naps.

I advise making this photo session today’s big event. Make it feel special and exciting for your kids. Perhaps there will be ice cream afterwards?! Regardless, if the day has been full of soccer games, running errands, and other big activities, there may not be much energy left for photos. Photos are a fun time to be silly with mom and dad. I will take some pictures of everyone looking at the camera, but my priority will be taking pictures of candid (or semi-candid) moments and play! It’s pretty fun, really :)

Feel free to show your kids a picture of me prior to our photo shoot so I don’t feel like a stranger to them. There’s a photo on my website on my About page. You can tell them I’m a friend of yours!

Lastly, make sure your spouse (if applicable) is on board! I’ll take a fussy 2 year old any day over a grumpy 38 year old! You’d be shocked how many photos DAD can ruin if he brings a bad attitude… SO, make sure he knows 1) the expected length of the photo session, 2) that he doesn’t need to look at the camera for every shot, 3) that playing with his kids and having fun is A-OKAY (even if they’re not on their best behavior that day), and 4) to take the iPhone and keys out of his pocket! Your session will go so much smoother if your spouse knows these things :)

What if the weather isn’t good the day of our photo session?

Cloudy weather? No problem! Overcast days actually make for great photos! If it will be raining during our session, we’ll reschedule! But otherwise we’ll continue as planned. I’ll reach out the day before your session if I find the weather forecast concerning.

What number can I reach you at if I have a last minute question?

765-617-0350 :)