I get it. You love the idea of scheduling a family session. You want to have beautiful photos of your family in this season of life to hang on your walls and look back on someday to reminisce about how little and cute your kids were. But you keep putting it off because the idea of family photos with small children is daunting and seems stressful. You're worried they won't behave. You don't want it to end up with meltdowns or yelling or arguments between you and your spouse. So you just don't schedule it.
But then you never have the photos. And someday you'll wish you did.
Family photos don't have to be stressful. What's making it stressful is your expectations of what you think a family photo session should look like. So I'm going to tell you right now to lower them. I'm not here to document perfection. I'm here to document your family.
So without further ado, here's a list of 6 tips for a successful family session with little kids.
Plan the day accordingly
If you have an evening or sunset session planned and you’re worried about the kids being up late, try taking it easy that day (as much as possible). Don’t over do it. Put the kids to bed early the night before (or maybe even have them nap in the afternoon!) Make sure to be as prepared as possible ahead of time - pack a bag with a blanket, snacks, water bottles, and any props you want to bring, and put it in your car long before your session. Then start getting ready early. Rushing last minute leads to stressed parents, which leads to stressed kids. As a mother of three, I know this can be difficult, but do your best!
Talk to them positively about it ahead of time
Don’t frame it as having to go and sit still for photos - tell them we’re going to go to a pretty spot outside and we’re going to play and snuggle and run around and hang out and our friend Emma (or whoever your photographer is) is going to take some photos of us! You could even show them my photo and talk about the cool camera I’ll have and that I can show them the photos I take on the back of it if they want. Talk about it lightly, don’t make a huge deal about it, and frame it as something fun you all get to do together rather than something that sounds uncomfortable!
Bring fun props
This is of course not mandatory. I do propless sessions with small children all the time with no issues. But if you want to bring bubbles or paper airplanes or a basket of apples or a little wagon or books or a guitar or whatever you want - those things can make it extra fun for kids and add some color, movement, whimsy, or a personal touch to your final gallery.
Let them bring the stuffy
Or whatever comfort item they cling to. Or a toy that they’re obsessed with that you might even think is ugly. It doesn’t have to be in every photo - it even any. But often just getting to have it in one two photos makes them happy and having it there with them may provide comfort in an unfamiliar situation. Not only that, but it helps tell the story. You never know what memories seeing a photo of their little arms wrapped around their favorite raggedy old teddy bear might bring back someday.
Bribery
I’m not above it. You don’t have to be either. Sometimes you just have to do what works and if leading them through the session one skittle at a time or telling them 17 times throughout the session that they’ll get ice cream afterwards if they cooperate works - I promise, I’m not judging.
Let them be kids
In the end, kids will act like kids and that’s entirely the point. My job is to document your family as they are in this stage of life. And if that includes your kids running around like hooligans or your toddler having a meltdown, so be it. Believe it or not, 9 times out of 10, your stress level will make far more of a difference to the final gallery than your children’s behavior. And you have no idea how many times I get the kids to look at me and smile and I take the shots just to look through them later and realize that mom was way more focused on worrying about what the kids were doing than smiling herself. So relax. Enjoy the time with your family. Let me do my job. And we’ll embrace the energy, the giggles, the tears, the cuddles, and the chaos together.
