How should I prepare for my family photo session?

Prepping the kids for a photo session - painlessly!

Many families plan fall photo sessions in advance of holiday card season - I am here to help you prep painlessly and to ensure your photos are just as you hoped! Whether at a busy park in Austin, a quiet trail in CedarPark, an urban scene in Round Rock, or at the square in Georgetown TX.

I have three kiddos myself and I get the sometimes painful planning that parents take on prior to even cajoling siblings to stop fighting or running or rolling in mud. Outfits, treats as rewards (that won't stain or interrupt the session!), how to get that Elmo out of her hands! Its a lot to think about so let's talk through some of the ways we can ensure a pleasant and productive photo session at our favorite greater Austin location!

Tip #1 - Solid, neutral colors that complement each other

Patterns can be distracting, especially small stripes which can cause a moire effect in photos. They can also be distracting from your beautiful faces!

Tip #2 - Dress for comfort

If you squeeze three year old twins into itchy shorts or snug bow ties or pinch shoes, they won't be nearly as open to photos (with smiling faces!) as if they are in well fitting, weather appropriate comfortable clothing. Often we will have a photo session in early fall for holiday cards. It can still be so warm here in Austin at that time! So it's important to consider the weather when choosing clothes to avoid blue fingers or sweat stains :)

Tip #3 - Coordinating colors - not matching

The days of jeans and white t shirts for everyone are gone. If the entire family is wearing the same colors it can be harder to appreciate each individual in the photos.

Another thought is what category of colors or color family fits your family and aesthetic. For example, my home is mostly neutrals and jewel tones. So that's what I had my kids wear for our last set of family photos. That way the prints all fit with the rest of our house when we printed and hung them!

Above you can see the pale pink is a constant through the family members, but the dad is wearing a solid shirt while mom and daughter have coordinating but not matching patterns.

Tip #4 - Say No to Characters

Your littlest may love wearing his Hotel Transylvania T shirt - and that is probably something you want to remember in 10 years for sure! But it may have more of a place in quick phone snaps that make it into a memory book that to be worn during professional family photos. Characters, like too many patterns, can make the photos seem busy as well as dated.

Tip #5 - Choose your outfit first

Are you planning to wear something special or buy something new for these photos? This can help you choose something that fits you now, is comfortable, and makes you feel confident! Once your outfit is planned, work any partner's or children's clothes around yours.

Tip #6 - Consider *fit*

Now this does NOT mean you need to wear a dress! Lots of folks that I know and photograph are not dress people - and that it ok! A flowing dress can be great in pictures, but it won't be great if you're not comfortable and if when you review the images you don't see *you*. What I recommend is to choose a loose, flattering shirt that will be comfortable running, hugging, lifting, squeezing, and laughing. And will make *you* feel like *you*.

Tip #7 - Lovies for the Littles

It is important to keep the littlest subjects feeling comfortable or we won't get the images we all hope for. Sometimes this means allowing them to hold their stuffy or lovey or blanket. If there IS a choice and one of the options from home that keeps them happy is a neutral colored object, choose that! But even if little Billy wants to hold his bright red Elmo - let him! During the session as we all become more comfortable together, there is a very good chance we will be able to get some shots without it - even with me holding the lovely over my head to get some giggles and some eye contact right into the lens.

Tip #8 - Consider the setting

Once you have settled on a location, consider the color palette of the location when choosing outfits. This is something that I can help with of course.

Family Session | Austin TX

As a two mom family myself, one of the reasons I had been so hesitant to get family photos done in TX has been concern that the photographer may not be comfortable with us, may be confused by what to call us or what our kids call us, or that they - like me - have been working on their craft through conferences and experts and mentors who overwhelmingly teach prompts, etc using heterosexual couples. It just isn't the same! I wondered, will they understand all the combos that I want in a family session? Ones with my wife as well as mom-kid pictures of all the combinations? Will they feel uncomfortable with us? Or even just unfamiliar? Hesitant? I myself love photographing all types of families, but it does warm my heart just a bit more to photograph families that I can see my own reflected in. Give me all the two mom families!

At Home Family Session | Hyde Park, Austin

Photographing families here is Austin is such a joy. Having lived here and photographed here for years I have had the pleasure of meeting families at their parks and lakes, rivers and restaurants. One of the most special places I have had the chance to photograph a family is at the home they made a house by bringing their littles home to it over the past decade. This lovely family reached out to let me know they were moving and wanted to capture their home as well as their family in this season. It was such a pleasure!