How to prepare your little ones for family photos

Hello Friends! Here are a few tips on how to prepare your little ones to have the best experience during your family photo session. If you’ve got any tricks up your sleeve, share with us in the comment section below!

Start at home

As soon as you book your session with me you can start to prep your little ones by telling them how excited you are for the family session you just booked for the family, tell them how fun it is going to be. Mention it every couple of days to start getting them excited.

Engage them

Ask them what are they most excited about for the session, what colors they would like to wear, if there is any specific photo they’d like to get – for example, I had a little girl take a few photos with her favorite stuffed animal and that got her really happy. She got something she wanted, so we got to ask her to post on certain photos in return and she was happy to do so.

Mix it up!

If If you have multiple children, don’t feel like you need to put them all in the same type of outfit. For example, one of your daughters could wear a dress and flats, while the other wears a skirt and boots. One of your sons could wear a bowtie, while the other one wear suspenders. Mixing up the wardrobe pieces will bring a great visual interest to the photos.

Prep

Make sure your little ones are well rested and have a full belly before the session. Bring snacks, water, their favorite toy to help us get their attention during the session. It’s a great idea to discuss and pick something fun in advance as a treat after the session if they’re good listeners, like an ice cream cone, for example. 

Make it FUN!

Don’t be worried about how they will behave or embarrassed if things don’t go as planned. They’re little, and I want to help you embrace this moments with them instead of trying to make them act a certain way for an hour or more. We will make sure to get a few shots of everyone smiling and looking at the camera, but for the most part I want you to just have a great time and be yourselves.

What really matters

What truly matters is the memories we are capturing, photographing your littles as they are and the bond your family shares; let them be silly, play, run around, cuddle up into a ball in mama’s lap. My favorite thing to capture is all of those in-between moments that can’t be “perfectly post”. If one of your children starts running away from the group giggling, scoop them up and smother them in tickles and kisses. If they’re shy or upset, hold them close to you and tell them how wonderful you think they are while tucking their hair behind the ear. If the parent keeps smiling and having a good time, I will be able to catch your sweet moments the whole way through. Sometimes “imperfect” situations can lead to the perfect photo. And trust me, I know that some of your favorite photos will be of the intimate, or silly moments that we didn’t plan on!

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