What to Expect During Your Family Photography Session

I don’t know about you but new things make me nervous and to try and ease my mind I do research. I look up reviews, photos, testimonials and video tutorials because the more I learn about the “new scary thing” the better prepared I will feel. Sound familiar? If so, to ease your mind about having professional photos taken for the first time or the first time with kids or simply the first time with me I am going to lay out my whole process for you to see.

Let’s say you inquire through my website about a family session for you, your partner and your two kids. I respond with my calendar of availability, you select your date and book it with a retainer payment and signed contract. There is even a short questionnaire to fill out so I can start to get to know you.

You’re worried though. Your kids are young and sometimes unruly. You haven’t had professional photos taken of you since your wedding several years ago so who knows how this will go? And where is this going to take place? You don’t know the best place to take photos that also has easy parking.

But then you read your booking confirmation email and there is a Session Guide and Location Guide linked. Tips on what to wear, how to mentally prep the kids and a list with visual examples of beautiful Bay Area spots that make perfect back drops for family photos. You start to feel more at ease.

You choose a location that you think the kids would be excited to visit; the Redwoods in Oakland. The light poking through the tall, majestic trees looks like something out of a movie. Based on your location choice I suggest the start time for the best golden hour light, which is great because you’re not sure what math formula you’re suppose to use to calculate that.

But there are so many trails and parks within the forest, how do you know where to meet me? Thankfully in the week leading up your session you get a reminder email with detailed directions for where to meet; a trailhead name, pin drop link, and even a photo of the parking area for good measure.

You pull into a parking spot and recognize me waiting by the yellow gate, just like I said I would be. We exchange greetings and then I lead you to our first stop in the woods.

The session is off to a rough start, unfortunately. Your youngest child isn’t in the mood for a photo shoot even though you’ve been hyping up this fun “activity” all week. You bend down and have a chat with him to remind him how much he was looking forward to taking pictures in the forest to hang them on the wall at home. You also remind him that there is a reward at the end of this. On my recommendation you told your kids that if everyone put their best foot forward during picture time they could have ice cream when we got home. And the time during this chat was not wasted. While you had a talk about feelings with your son, I snapped a couple of photos of your partner and older child together and when things had cooled off for your youngest I captured the sweetest hug at the end of your talk.

Then we are off to our next spot. It’s almost like I have a map in my head I am following and checking off a list of “stops” along the way. We spend a little bit of time at each spot and I give you prompts instead of poses. They start off simple, like walk to me side by side while dad tells a joke or parents help the kids balance walk on a fallen log. There are some poses mixed in the assortment too so you can get a couple of shots with everyone smiling at the camera or at each other. All the shots you can think of I am already on top of getting like each child individually, both kids together, each parent with kids and even one of the parents without kids. I ask you if there are any poses or shots I may have missed and you ask to recreate a picture that you have of you with your own father.

By the end of the session your kids are playful and comfortable while having their photo taken. Your son’s stubborn start seems to have been barely a bump in the road on this ride. You realize we are back where we started, near the parking area. It appears we traveled in a big loop, strategically stopping where the light was just right along the way.

We say our good-byes and I let you know a timeframe to expect your finished gallery. On the ride home you think about how that was actually a fun and easy experience.

When you receive your gallery you are blown away by all the good shots I got amidst what seemed to be chaos with the kids at times! It seems that the magic really does happen when the kids get to be themselves and parents let go of rigid expectations.