Do’s and Don’ts for family photos (PART II)

Family photo refresh

It’s time for a family photo refresh! I want to share tips and tricks for looking your best in family pictures with your littles in tow. Our first family photo post from a couple of years ago has been viewed by more than 3 million people so I wanted to give you an updated post now that our family has grown.

Our baby boy!

This time around we have added another member to our family! Winston is our lovable, squishy 1-year-old baby boy. We all know that toddlers are notorious for tricky photo shoots, so I tried to be as prepared as possible. However, on this particular day, we were up against a nap strike and an older sister that fell and scraped her knees twice BEFORE we had even started taking photos. Read on to find out what saved our photoshoot.

Some things that saved the day:

• A full bag of marshmallows (you may think I am kidding, but we needed the entire thing)
• A full box of tissues: runny noses, dirt, and tears – be gone!
• Adult family members to make the kids laugh and smile (grandparents work like a charm)
• Cousins: my daughter was in heaven playing with her cousins and we got some beautiful, candid photos of them all interacting together

Tips from photographers that I like to follow:

• DUSK: Take photos at dusk, you just can’t replicate that beautiful glow any other time of day. The way the sky changes makes for a variety of looks in your photos as the sun goes down.
• MONOCHROMATIC: Don’t be afraid to match your surroundings, I have been very into monochromatic dressing according to the setting I am in. I really liked the fact that we blended into our surroundings instead of having a stark contrast.
• MOVEMENT: Don’t be afraid to move. Movement adds life to still images and helps personalities shine. My daughter’s favorite thing to do at this age is spin in a dress, so that is what we did for a majority of the shots to get her to smile!
• THE TOSS: There isn’t a baby on earth that will be able to hold in a smile after being playfully tossed in the air by their parents. This can relax your baby so they think it is more of playtime instead of being trapped.

The most important photo

The main priority for most families is to get the “Christmas card photo” that will be sent out to dozens of your closest family and friends over the holidays. I recommend telling your photographer that is your main priority and knocking it off the list first thing. That way you can be relaxed when you get some other photos of the family. Here are some photos that you need to put on your list:

• Couple photos. Pictures with just you and your spouse. So many times as parents we put the entire focus on our kids. However, I cherish the photos that my husband and I got together. It gives me warm fuzzy’s when I see what we have accomplished and created together! I printed a photo of just the two of us to frame on my nightstand.
• Solo baby photo. Babies change so fast, it is so fun to get solo baby shots where you can capture their silly expressions and sweet personality.
• Mom with kids. I love the photos I got that are one-on-one with my kids. I plan to do this with them until they turn into moody teenagers and refuse to 🙂
• Dad with kids. Parker and Winston together just melts my heart! Seeing how tiny your baby looks in their dad’s arms is priceless.
• Grandparents. If grandparents are at the photoshoot it is worth getting a few pictures with them and the grandkids. Parker’s mom is in Africa for the next year so we wanted to get some special pictures with her before she left. The kids love her so much and it shines through in the photos!

What to do with your photos? I have a few ideas:

• Turn them into a Chatbook. This app is so easy to use and I feel validated in spending hundreds of dollars on a good photographer when I print them in a beautiful book that can double as coffee table decor.
• Hang them up! My favorite right now is a gallery wall in our hallway. My kids point and talk about the pictures almost every day.
• Print off your kid’s favorite pictures and find a cute photo stand for their room to display it on. I really love this acrylic one.
• Use them on your holiday cards! This is the most popular – and for good reason! We all love seeing friendly faces on our walls during the holidays.

What to wear

Now for what to wear in a family photo. It’s hard to find the balance between coordinating but not too matchy-matchy. For this photoshoot, I found my dress first and fell in love with it. It is sold out but this one on Amazon is really similar and affordable. Then I spotted my daughter’s dress (which has since sold out at Old Navy) and thought it would pair really nicely with mine for the photos. My baby’s sweater is an amazingly affordable Amazon find. And I love when my husband wears a button-down to tie the entire look together. This time around I avoided a few things due to the look I was going for:

We did not have any

• patterns
• jewel tones
• jeans

Poses to avoid

I did not share any “do not” poses from this recent photo shoot. But if you need a refresher check out this post from our last family photo session. And don’t forget about the post that started it all – Britt and Sam show do’s and don’ts for couples that has been seen by millions of people- I know we can’t believe it either! But there are some incredibly helpful tips if you are taking engagement or bridal photos soon! If toddlers are what you are worried about we have a post dedicated to them, How To Get Your Toddler To Smile in Photos

As always thank you for reading and being here. I always love to hear your feedback and ideas from these posts. Be sure to share them below!