You finally pulled the trigger and booked a family photography session to get some new images of this lovely little time in your life—exciting! So...what’s next?

In this little guide, I’ll take you through 5 tips and some of my clients’ most asked questions to help you prep for this fun portrait session. These pointers will help your family shoot be as easy and successful as possible.

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1. Where Should Our Family Photo Session Take Place?

One of the first questions a client always asks me is what location would be best for their family pictures. Honestly? That’s up to you!

Pick a Location That’s Meaningful to Your Family

I love having my clients think of a spot that’s special and unique to them. This can range from a favorite park or beach to a playground or even your own home.

This not only makes your session unique and personal to you but allows you to look back on these photos remembering this location fondly.

Tell Me About Yourself and I’ll Help Recommend a Spot

New to the Seattle area or just can’t come up with a family favorite spot? No worries! I always ask clients about themselves and what they like to do so I can help recommend a spot that will work for their personalities while making for some gorgeous family photos.

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Luckily, I’ve been doing this for long enough that it feels like I’ve done photoshoots at almost all of the 400+ parks that exist in Seattle. Because of that, I know which parks are real knockouts for photos (thankfully, this area of the country has a bunch of those).

2. What Should We Wear to Our Family Session?

There are a lot of different opinions about this, so I’ll break down what I’ve found to be most successful in the family photo sessions I’ve captured.

Aim to Be Coordinated, Not Matching

So what does that even mean? As an example, I’m a huge fan of the way neutrals photograph. I love how in this family shoot, these muted tones all work together cohesively without being that family portrait you’ve seen where everyone is wearing white shirts and khakis.

Hot tip—try to avoid bright yellow or red since that can reflect onto all skin tones in unflattering ways. Also, aim to avoid clothing with any graphics or words as that can be distracting.

A Simpler Wardrobe Is Usually Better

As I mentioned, choosing neutral solid colors allow you to be the star of the photos instead of your clothes. Prints and patterns can still work well in a photo session, though. Just try to avoid the especially busy patterns as lenses tend to want to focus on that instead of your face. A floral print can be a great choice for an adult in a family session like the one below!

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Stick to Your Go-to Hairstyle

When it comes to hairstyles, I recommend styling your hair the way you always do it for your photo session. The goal is to have these images be as “you” as they can be.

Dress for the Weather

As much as you might want to put your kiddo in that adorable sleeveless dress, if it’s chilly out there’s a good chance they’ll start complaining roughly 30 seconds into your family session.

The key to getting good shots is comfort! Weather-appropriate clothing for little ones makes a huge difference in allowing them to be comfortable so it doesn’t distract them while we’re taking photos. Layers can be adorable in a family photo session! Take a look at the photo below for some colder day inspiration:

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3. Should We Bring Any Props to Include in Our Family Photos?

As a lifestyle photographer, I typically don’t recommend bringing props to family photo sessions. Why? Well, we want these images to be as natural and authentic as possible.

When a prop comes into play it tends to act as more of a distraction than anything. Folks suddenly don’t remember how their hands hold things naturally or how hands really work at all… cue sudden stiff, awkward body language.

If You Have a Prop in Mind, Bring It Along

An hour of shoot time is plenty to get a bunch of photos and play around with different environments and light. Because of that, if you have something you’d really like to include in your family photo session, go for it! I promise there will be time to give it a try.

If you’d like to bring a prop along, a great example of one that can work well is an ultrasound—I particularly loved how we were able to incorporate an ultrasound in the below maternity session.

4. What Time of Day Is Best for a Family Photo Session?

This is one of the most common questions I receive, and honestly, I’m glad it is. Why is that? I have a lot of opinions on this! Light is the main player in photography. It decides everything. It is a photographer’s best friend and worst enemy all at once.

Best Time for Outdoor Family Portrait Sessions

It’s called the golden hour for a reason! The difference between an outdoor family photo session at 12pm and a photo session done right before sunset in the exact same location is remarkable. It doesn’t even look like the same world.

That two-hour timeframe before the sun goes down softens the light and allows golden hues to perfectly illuminate and backlight a subject.

Bright midday light beams down at an unflattering angle, causing harsh shadows and the bright green grass to reflect on clients’ necks (not great).

If you’ve seen a family photo shoot on Pinterest where warm light is streaming in around them, that was 100% done within 1-2 hours of sunset! This is the perfect time to get your family portraits taken. Not convinced yet? Check out this great article from Expert Photography about the importance of taking photos during golden hour.

I know that scheduling your session at this time isn’t always an option (especially when naps come into play), which is why I also recommend any time between 9am-11am as a great alternative for your outdoor family session.

Best Time for In-home Family Portrait Sessions

Have you booked an in-home session? This will be best between 11:30am-1:30pm when most houses let the most light in. I am a 100% natural-light photographer, which means I’ll be relying fully on the windows in your home.

5. What If Little Ones Are Rambunctious During the Family Photoshoot?

If your kids aren’t little balls of energy during your family session, I’ll be pretty shocked. Almost every family portrait session I’ve ever done has included a child that is at least a LITTLE antsy.

Want to know something interesting? This often makes for photos that are WAY more natural and special than your typical posed family portrait.

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Below are the three best pieces of advice I have for dealing with your kiddos during an hour-long photoshoot.

Relaxing Allows for an At-ease Session (and Photos)

An hour of photo coverage is a lot of time! If things seem hectic for even half of the session, we’ll still get a multitude of beautiful photos for you to choose from. In fact, I’ve never had a family photo session where there were fewer than 50 great images to choose from.

Kids have an amazing way of sensing your stress. Once that starts to happen, they’ll think the photoshoot is a stressful activity and find it difficult to relax and have fun (which is the opposite of what we want for photos).

No Need to Force Smiles

I totally understand the feeling. You know the one I’m talking about… the little voice in your head that shows up to say, “There isn’t much time, I’ve got to get them to smile!”

Pleading with kiddos to smile unfortunately rarely works. If it does work, it’s rarely their “real” smile that appears. In order to let children be their happy natural selves, we want to allow them to…well... be themselves.

Parents tickling and telling their kids jokes works way better than begging them to smile (and makes for a way more natural smile too).

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If we aren’t getting smiles, I’ll back up and allow your family to be alone for a bit so they aren’t distracted by what that woman with a big shiny reflector and camera is up to.

In my lifestyle family portrait sessions, it’s important to me to create an atmosphere that feels like you’re just hanging out and enjoying each other’s company (and I happen to be in the background documenting it).

Let Little Ones Run Around or Rest

Kids not up for being in the photo? No problem. A great tactic to deal with this is to… let them not be in the photo. It can be helpful for them to run around and blow off some steam (which makes for sweet photos too).

Almost 100% of the time, a funny running away photo will end up being a favorite.

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Additionally, a little one almost always gets pretty jealous about not being involved in the photoshoot and... comes running back for another adorable giggly photo.

I’ll be your navigator throughout your session. That means sometimes I’ll tell you to pop behind my camera to make goofy faces at them when need be, but for the majority of the session, you’ll simply be looking and smiling at their adorable faces. You’ll be surprised by how many beautiful, genuine moments come from this method of doing family photo sessions.

Recap of the 4 Must-have Pointers for Your Family Photo Session

Okay, so that was a lot of info. Let’s go over those 4 pointers again to help you remember for your upcoming family photo session.

Choose a location for your shoot that’s special to your family. Having trouble coming up with one? I can help! We’ll make sure to find one that’s perfect for you.
Pick clothing that’s coordinated, not matchy-matchy. Remember, neutrals and solid colors photograph really well and look wonderful in a group setting.
Try to avoid props so they don’t become distractions. If you have something you’d really like to include like an ultrasound, do bring it!
Try to book your outdoor family shoot within 2 hours of sunset or before 11am. If you have an in-home session, we’ll shoot midday for the best possible indoor light.
Don’t worry if your kids are energetic during the shoot. It’s crucial for them to feel relaxed. Forget forcing smiles or holding them perfectly still and remember we’re getting a ton of great photos.

If you haven’t already, pop over here to learn more about Kiersten Marie Family Sessions! Let’s get some beautiful images together.

Share this post and comment below if you have any thoughts or questions about these tips! I’d love to hear from you.