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6 Tips for Amazing Family Photos

We all want to have the best family photo experience but a lot of the time it just doesn't happen. In our 10 years of photographing families, we've seen these 6 tips work time and time again to provide a stress free and joy filled photo session.

A family is posing for a picture while sitting on a blanket.
Orange county newborn photographer

Do you remember the first day you met your new baby? That sweet euphoria after holding them close for the first time? Do you remember the excitement you felt over every little accomplishment as they took their first steps or had their first real laugh? When thinking about your family photo session, we want you to hold onto the memories and the emotions you felt surrounding those moments. We want you to think of how proud you are of your kids, how much you love them, and how much they mean to you going into your shoot.

1. Remember your most special moments

A man and woman are holding a baby in their arms in a park.

In order for us to get genuine images, you have to let your genuine adoration show. Let your kids know how much they are adored, cram all your love for them into your session! This is important! You have 1 hour to SHOW your family how much you love them! You need to visually put your love for them on display. Don’t be afraid to over love your kids, you can’t embarrass yourself for loving your kids too much. They want to know how much you love them because you are who they get their assurance and confidence from. The more love and affection you give them, the more opportunity for us to capture your family’s love on camera. Hug, squeeze, play, throw them up and chase after them, make fart noises in your boys ears, kiss them all over until they’re laughing uncontrollably (or violently swatting you away!). And guess what! If your kids aren’t pressured or stressed to perform, they might be in a good mood. And if you’re standing by their side cheering them on and showing them some PDA, they probably won’t be misbehaving either.

2. Visually cram all your love into your session

A family is standing next to each other in the woods holding hands.

One of the biggest barriers that prevents us from capturing genuine moments and emotions is the parents themselves. Isn’t that ironic? The ones who want so badly to capture these moments of joy and spontaneity often are the ones who smother it out by trying too hard to control their families. Many times, too much control, too many rules, and too many times saying “no” can actually become overbearing and deflate children’s sense of joy, adventure, spontaneity, and excitement. As parents, it is your job to model the emotions you want your kids to feel during the photo shoot. If you’re nervous, your kids will feel nervous. If you’re restricting them too much, they won't have any fun. We want photo sessions to be a joyful, positive experience and a fun time each year, not a chore that is a relief when it’s over. So how does this work then? You might be saying, “Dan and Tyler, you don’t understand, my kids are CRAZY and if I let them off the leash we won’t get any cute photos!”. We totally understand that! We still want them to be self controlled, but we want to caution you as parents not to be too overbearing and discouraging to them. Like everything in life, there is a delicate balance between gentle, positive correction and reproof stemming from frustration. Overall, the best, most genuine images that you will love come from a positive, fun, light hearted, sunny disposition during photo shoots.

3. Don't be too hard on them

A family is standing in a park holding a baby and a sonogram.

To create an environment free from stress and misbehavior, you have to create it and plan ahead to eliminate it. One of the biggest causes of stress comes from rushing to get out of your house on time. We encourage you to take way more time than you would normally need to get everyone ready! If you need to arrive to the location early to get your kids ready in the car, make sure you account for that– and traffic! Most of our sessions are scheduled around rush hour because that’s when the sun is most flattering. Additionally, we encourage you to NOT let your kids nap in the car before a session. No one likes being woken up from naps. It’s especially unpleasant to be woken up and immediately expected to put on a happy face and have fun. If you need to give them a bit of sugar ahead of time to keep them going, do so sparingly.

4. Plan ahead

Toddler siblings kissing for family photos in Irvine

When it comes to sugar, a little bribe goes a long way! Our favorite sugary snack is the small hot chocolate marshmallows. They’re the perfect photo shoot treat because they look just like teeth in photos! Gummies are good but they take a bit longer to chew. Avoid messy, colorful snacks that could dirty outfits or stain teeth. If there’s one day to spoil you kids, photo shoot day might be that day. We have some families that reward their kids for a good shoot by giving them a new toy, desserts, or planned family outings following the shoot. What do your kids LOVE? Is it something your kids could look forward to after the shoot? We want to encourage you to think about what your kids will respond to in order to get fun, genuine images out of them.

5. A little sugar goes a long way

A family is sitting on a bed holding a newborn baby.

We photograph dozens of families each year, we’ve been doing this for over 10 years, and have never met a family that we couldn’t photograph. We are professionals who are not only proficient at what we do but we are also passionate about what we do. We care deeply for each and every family that chooses to trust us to take their photos. Have concerns for your family specifically? We encourage you to let us know ahead of time so we can provide any help or reassurance you might need. Our sessions are usually very thought out and structured to encourage both formal and spontaneous images. If kids just aren’t responding well to the structure, we will shift gears into a candid lifestyle session which puts less pressure on getting those formal photos smiling at the camera and more focus on capturing your family interacting with one another. We will always be keeping an eye out for opportune moments and tricks to get everyone smiling at the camera.

6. Trust us

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