family pictures Archives

Ultimate Photo Shoot Guide: How to Prepare for Studio Family Pictures with Little Kids

Do’s and Don’ts for a Family Studio Session

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Family Photo Shoot Tips and Tricks

Over the years we have shared our photo tips for every stage of life. Britt shared her do’s and don’ts for couple photos – you guys loved that one and it has been shared millions of times. The blog post is perfect for newly engaged couples wanting to prep some poses before their first photo shoot together. Or at least know the ones to avoid! I shared my family photo shoot when we just had Lila and did some do and don’t do poses that have been shared more than 5 million times. Thank you for the support! If you have headshots coming up or just want to know some tricks from photography pros check out this blog post we did with Jessica Janae. She was so helpful in teaching us ways to position our bodies for flattering shots.

And now onto the newest addition to the lineup. Tips for a studio family photo session: how to keep little ones happy, what poses to include, and how to prep the day before.

Plan Your Time Wisely for the Family Photo Shoot

When it comes to photo shoots and little kids you want to keep it as short as possible, especially in a studio where they are in a restricted area with little space to run and play. Our entire photo shoot was 15 minutes — that’s it! We knew the shots that we wanted to get and moved quickly. Our photographer Beth was great to work with and helped us move fast so we could get all the photos we wanted.

Winston almost fell asleep on the way there and we were ready for the worst but with a little bribery (I promised him ice cream after the shoot) things thankfully worked out! Also, start the photo shoot with your kids solo and together so that you can get those done before you lose their attention.

Get Photos of Your Kids on Their Own and Together

We chose to start with photos of our kids together. That way they weren’t too nervous and the photographer was able to capture moments that we will treasure forever. I loved the bright light and clean lines of the studio. It was our first time opting to do family photos indoors and I am so glad we did. It was nice to switch things up and have a different vibe for our photos.

After the kids’ photos together we had them do solo shots which was so much fun! (they were really good at making each other laugh so we got some great smiles) After that Parker and I did photos together which might seem odd but I have come to love looking back at our photos of just the two of us over the years.

We also started with just the blank wall and standing shots and then moved the bench in and did the remainder of the photos sitting. I am glad we tried out both and got some variation in the photos. I never expected my favorite photo to be the one of us sitting cozied up together on the couch but it is!

Be Silly to Get Real Smiles

With little kids, you have to add in some silliness or you will get robotic smiles. Our kids are 6 and 3 and love nothing more than when mom and dad are silly with them. Some things that worked for us were booty shaking, silly faces, and potty words. Kids will be kids and these all worked like a charm! I love the real emotion and happiness that was captured in the photos instead of them feeling too formal and staged. It was nice to keep the mood light and everyone smiling during the photo shoot.

Try on Outfits Before the Photo Shoot

This is a must with kids! I had ordered both of their outfits online and am so glad we did a try-on one week before the photo shoot because Lila’s dress ended up being way too big. I decided to swap it out with her Easter dress and thankfully it worked with our color scheme. Phew!

Winston’s shirt fit perfectly but we had to try on a few different pairs of pants to land on our favorites that fit well and went with the vibe. I also had them try on their new shoes ahead of time so we could troubleshoot any problems ahead of time.

I LOVE little girl bows and accessories but could not find anything I loved. We went searching the day beforehand and I found this linen bow for Lila that I ended up loving. Family pictures are the opportunity to be picky and particular. I am not normally as detail-oriented when I am getting the kids (or myself) dressed every day but for family pictures you want everything to fit and be cleaned/ironed.

I was thrilled with the green dress I found at Anthropologie. We used the photo shoot to announce my pregnancy and this dress fit so beautifully over my growing bump. It is not maternity and Britt wore it the other day and it looked amazing on her too. The cut is super flattering for all body shapes.

And I have told everyone about my velvet heels because I am obsessed with them! They are so beautiful in person and the perfect fall/winter shoe to dress up otherwise boring outfits with a little bit of texture and warmth.

I hope these tips help ease your nerves the next time you are headed into a studio family photo shoot. I know I was nervous going into a studio photo shoot with little ones but the most important thing is to have fun! It definitely shows in the photos. Please share any other tips you have in the comments!

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!

How to get your toddler to smile in family photos

We thought family photos were simple until we added a wild toddler and tried to get her to smile! It seems like toddlers have a sixth sense about family photos. Like they know they are coming and they are going to do everything possible to make it a miserable experience. If this is not the case for you, lucky you!

For me, on the day of our family pictures, my 2-year-old refused to nap and then fell asleep on the drive to family pictures, which meant I had to wake her up and try and get her to smile. I pulled out a few tricks I learned from photographer friends and THEY ACTUALLY WORKED! So, here are four tricks for getting your toddler to smile.

#1 Bring a family member or friend your toddler loves

This was absolutely key! If you don’t bring someone else to family photos, chances are you will be looking at your child in every photo either trying to get them to look happy or making sure they are happy. It is stressful. We invited my toddler’s grandpa to come and he had a great time! She loves him, so he was able to make funny faces and sing her favorite songs and get her to smile for us.

This is also super helpful for photographers so the pressure to get your child to smile is not on them. Instead, they get to focus on capturing the whole family. I also felt like it gave the photographer more of an opportunity to set up the shot and make sure everyone in the photo looked great.

#2 Bring bribes

Yep, I said it. Bring ALL the bribes! We brought favorite toys, favorite snacks and special treats she rarely gets to have. As you can see in some of the photos, we had to pull out fruit snacks very early on to even get her to hold still for 5 seconds. After that, we moved onto a green sucker that completely dyed her mouth and tongue green. ha.

I say the more things you can bring the better. We just gave the bag of bribes to Grandpa and let him go through it. He used every single thing in there by the end of our session, so I really don’t think you can overprepare.

#3 Tell your toddler not to smile

Isn’t this the oldest trick in the book? We thought there was no way it was going to work but guess what? It worked every single time! There is just something they love about not doing what they are told 🙂

#4 Don’t take it too seriously

Have fun with your child! Play with them! These photos will end up looking natural because they are natural. Kids love to play and when you give them the opportunity to have fun, most of the time they don’t mind being photographed. We also went into family photos knowing that we may only get a handful of good photos. That’s all you really need anyway! We want to remember this time in our life as it actually is, not how a perfectly stylized photograph of our family is.

One other note because I’ve been getting questions about the weather. If you can try to pick a day with nice weather, that is, of course, ideal, but if not, come prepared for the conditions. It was about 95 degrees while we were getting our photos taken, so we made sure to dress our toddler appropriately and have plenty of water and drinks on hand.

I hope these tips helped you and would love to hear any others you have. Good luck with getting your toddler to smile for family photos! Let me know if these four tips helped. Our photos were taken by Tori Hillyard Photography, she is located in Salt Lake City. You can find her website here.

Don’t forget to take a look at our other photography posts:

Couple Photo Do’s & Don’ts

Family Photo Do’s & Don’ts

Family Photo Outfit Ideas

Do’s and Don’ts for Family Photos

A few years ago Britt and Sam did a “Do’s and Don’ts for Couple Photos” post and it has been seen more than 20 million times since then! You guys loved seeing the comparisons and side-by-side poses.

Time to share our tips for the best family photos

So… we decided it was time for Do’s and Don’ts for Family Photos! In this post, we are going to show you the good and the bad examples side-by-side for comparison.

Follow these tips for Christmas card photos

The talented Ali Anderson Photography had some fun with us during our session and we were able to come up with some pretty bad poses. Whether you are trying to get the perfect snap for Christmas cards or to frame on the wall we hope these tips help!

The Prom Pose

Lila’s face shows exactly how I feel about the prom pose. You only see it in high school dance photos for a reason! It looks formal, but not in a good way. You can get the same feeling of closeness by putting your tiny human between the two of you. The YES photo looks more balanced and much less forced.

The Laying Down Chin In Your Hands Pose

Now, I know this one can be tempting… but you end up looking a little contrived. If you want to switch things up and get down on the level of your kids go with a casual pose that looks NATURAL! Ali is great at putting her subjects in every day poses that help showcase the family instead of the pose.

An outdoor blanket is a helpful prop to bring to a photo shoot. Try to choose one that is a neutral color so that it will not distract from your outfits. You also want to make sure that you bring along a blanket that you don’t mind getting a little dirty. (Thank goodness for washing machines!) The blanket will allow your family to experiment with some unique poses rather than just standing together. Plus, a blanket can be really helpful if you have younger kids that are not quite walking yet.

Squishy Cheeks Kissing Pose

Now, before you get upset about this one. Listen, I totally get it! Baby cheeks are the most kissable things in the world. However, when both of you kiss your baby’s cheeks, your faces can no longer be seen. And the purpose of family photos is to show the entire family, not just the back of the parent’s heads.

If you all are glancing at each other in a photo you still show a sense of closeness and love without hiding everyone’s face.

Piggy Back Pose

Let’s go ahead and make a general rule that if you are older than two-years-old you keep your feet on the ground! Haha, we see the piggyback pose a lot in engagement photos. No matter how fun you are, this pose is not the way to show it. Instead, put your little one on the ground between you and let them hold both of your hands. You still get movement and something a little different than everyone standing and looking at the camera.

As you can see from the photos, Lila did not like the piggy-back pose! It is really awkward for little ones and they don’t feel very steady. She felt like she was getting squished and not held tight enough. By switching the pose to holding hands you create balance for your little one, especially if they are a toddler and still learning how to walk like Lila was at this point in time.

Stick to your own style

There you have it – the do’s and don’ts of family photos! I hope this is helpful. Family photos are incredibly stressful and seeing some tried-and-true poses can help ease the worries. No matter what you do, stick to your own style.

Don’t take my word for it, do what YOU want to

Now, here is my disclaimer. If piggy-backs or the prom pose is your family’s thing – don’t let this post hold you back! These are general suggestions that have worked in the past for family photo shoots. However, each family is different and has their own unique style.

What to wear in your photos

As for picking out outfits for family photos you can check out this post all about it. As a general rule, you should start with one main outfit whether it is you or your child’s and build everyone else’s off of that. I think it is really helpful to flat-lay all outfits next to each other before the photo shoot to make sure that everything looks cohesive.

Make sure you gel with your photographer

Don’t forget to find a photographer that you trust that has your same vision for photos. Check out their previous work and make sure it is what you want. There are so many different styles out there that you are likely to find one you love!

A few more photo resources to check out

We did this post about how to look good in photos with tips from one of our mega fab photographer friends that is hugely successful.
If you have any young children you definitely want to check out Britt’s post about getting your kids to smile in family photos!
Check out more of our photographer, Ali’s work here.
And of course our most popular post of all time, Tips for Couple Photos. Happy photo-taking!

Tis the season for family photos

The holiday season is around the corner and everyone will be wanting the same thing – family photos for their holiday cards! Make sure to plan ahead and contact your photographer in advance. We have also found it is helpful to have a venue in mind and make sure it is available when you schedule your photo session.

Have fun!

Last of all, don’t forget to have fun! Try to follow our tips for family photos but remember that it will show in the photos if you are stressed out about every little detail. Try to enjoy being together as a family and remember the photos don’t have to be perfect to be wonderful!

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