Family Pictures.  Ahhh. 

There’s nothing quite like an awesome memory of your family encapsulated in a frame on your wall.  It not only freezes your ever-growing children in that moment, but also is a snap shot of your family dynamic.

As a photographer, I believe this can be one of the most challenging images to catch, or one of the easiest.  It really depends on your expectations and the parent’s expectations.  I have seen amazing images taken by very seasoned photographers where every person in the family is doing something different, wearing a completely different outfit, and capitalizing on who they are.  I have also seen images where everyone in the family wears a variation of a favored color and everyone is posed and smiling at the camera.  Both images are amazing and perfect for hanging in cherished spaces in prominent rooms. 

As a photographer, you have to decide what type of image you strive to catch, and then work to get that image.  As a parent, sometimes I’d like to have an image that when people walk into my living room they think – wow that’s a “perfect” family.  In reality, this image takes a lot of work and preparation from the family and the photographer to get.  Not only is posing and positioning of each person in the family very important for design aesthetics, but the proper frame of mind is as well.  I suggest that if youhave never had a family image taken, or one that you have really liked that you practice with your children first.  About a week before your session explain what the photography shoot might look like.  How much fun it is to smile.  Make a game of it and grab a drumstick, bell, or even your own camera.  Do a count down and have everyone practice laughing on the count of three (at three smack the drumstick, ring the bell, or take a picture).  This will give the kids some practice and know what to 

expect.  I believe this practice will help set the kids up to exceed your expectations.

Lastly, if you can, schedule your session for a time that works best for all your children.  If one likes to get up late, one naps n the afternoon, and the other doesn’t have a schedule, maybe right before or after dinner would work best for your family.  Try to avoid keeping your children up through or past their naptimes.  As a parent I have done this to schedule a session, and honestly the images just didn’t have that sparkle and were a lot harder to capture, as my daughter wasn’t at her best.  It would have been a much better session had I scheduled accordingly. 

On my trip to my hometown I got the chance to capture a beautiful family.  We did some solo images of youngest as he was 15 months old and then tried to capture a great family image of the kids together.  I chose a location that I had photographed at before and knew was very scenic.  A cute little one to four inch 

deep stream ran right through this park.  It was beautiful to have in the picture but created a huge obstacle to keep the youngest away from, he was very interested in the river.  I'm not sure I would choose this location with more than one child or less than two parents/caregivers again.   

When it came time to photograph the family portrait, each child had a different idea of what they wanted to do at each moment.   It was very comical, but also a bit difficult to get that iconic image of all three looking into the camera and smiling in the same frame.  I could tell this was the type of image their mom was looking for and honestly,  a solemn image just wouldn’t fit her family’s personality.  We managed to do it and it was worth every click of the shutter.  These kids taught me a lot about myself and gave me a lot of ideas on how to make a family portrait easier to capture.  I have another family session scheduled in a few weeks, so we’ll see if my new and improved ideas work!