5 Tips For Your Family Session | Your Modern Story

family in field for family photography session your modern story photography

sunset family portrait session 5 Important Tips For Your Family Photo Session

So you’ve booked your family photo session: now here are my top five important tips for Family Photos! It’s my goal to make sure you feel comfortable and confident coming into your session!

Help! What do I wear for my family photo session?

This is the first question I often hear! You might feel like this is the hardest part, but you know what you like and you know what looks good on your family: play to your typical outfits. Long gone are the days of matchy-matchy white shirts and denim bottoms. Instead, I tell moms to pick out a dress that they adore. It’s even better if it’s a patterned dress with a couple of different colors. From there, Dad can coordinate by wearing a button up shirt with khakis, Son can wear a polo of another coordinating shade, and Daughter can wear another dress that fits in that colors scheme. Another way to think of colors is to look at what colors are prominent in your house? This will guide you to the type of color palette you’ll probably pick for your family. Don’t be afraid to accessorize! Jackets, cardigans, bowties, ties, sun hats, jewelry…all of it!  Make sure everything fits ahead of time and everyone is comfortable. My last bit of advice is to avoid the color red,  it’s rarely flattering and it casts a pink hue on your face that isn’t easy to fix.

kids looking cute wearing yellow for beautiful family photo session

Location, Location, Location

Picking your location will make the rest fall in place (clothing choices too!) Grassland, field, mountain backdrop, city-scape, urban mural- what’s your fancy?  As a professional photographer in Colorado I have to follow all of the rules that come with being able to use an epic location. It’s important that we have a location planned out in advance, so I can make sure that I have the required permits and forms completed. Also, let’s pick a backup location just in case. If you’re booking an outdoor location, it might be good to brainstorm an indoor location that isn’t a studio (due to scheduling), like a plant nursery, or a neat barn. 

kids sitting in grass for family photo session

Let Your Kids Lead Your Family Photo Session!

As long as they’re fed and not exhausted, we will let the little ones lead the session. This means we might be looking for rocks, playing parachute with a fun quilt, and lots of swinging. When the kids are happy-go-lucky, it makes it easy to gain their trust and ask them to do a quick pose. And, hey, a little piece of occasional candy helps; I’m not gonna lie.

family portraits in front of barn

Move it, move it!

Be prepared to get on the ground and have some cuddle time. The majority of your most favorite photos will be the ones showing raw emotion and candid moments. Maybe a game of duck-duck-goose will get the blood flowing? Haha. Most often we’ll do poses standing, but also sitting photos are just as important. If sitting or laying is hard for anyone in your family, I always try to bring some sort of chair, but it’s good to remind me. 

mountain family photo session with blanket and grass and trees

Trust. Me.

You’ve hired me to capture your family photo session in a way that you couldn’t find elsewhere. While I love seeing your most desired Pinterest worthy poses, I want to only take photos that are true to you. I will definitely try to include some of those elements. But at the end of the day, you don’t want your family photos to look like everyone else’s. You want it to look like YOU! Trust the creative angles, trust clothing recommendations, trust the cloudy skies (you’ll be happy that it wasn’t a perfectly sunny day.), trust me. If you’re looking for more tips, please see my Rocking Your Session post!

family posing in field next to barn

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