5 Essential Do’s & 7 Definite Don’ts for family photography shoots

Thinking of booking a family photography shoot? Read my essential do’s and don’ts first!

I adore working with families, especially as many of the families I’ve worked with over the years have been couples whose weddings I’ve photographed. I get asked a lot of questions and I get it, there’s a lot to consider and prepare for when thinking about a family photography session, in my blog post of the do’s and don’ts of family photography. Will the kids behave? What am I supposed to wear? How can I make it cute but not cheesey? Well, today I’m delighted to be sharing my tips on do’s and don’ts for family photography because as you can imagine, I’ve seen it all over the years. 

Let’s start with the list of definite no-nos. 

1. Don’t wear very busy patterns or clothes with slogans or text. Busy patterns can look strange on photos, and branded clothing is distracting, it will draw the eye away from you as a family too much
2. No need to consider this a formal photography session. This isn’t Victorian times where everyone has to stand and be serious and not themselves. You can relax and have fun, there just happens to be me capturing it all on camera.
3. Don’t wear matching outfits! This is your time to show off your unique personalities and have them captured on camera.
4. Don’t stress about knowing how to pose. I have been photographing for families for years so I can make suggestions and keep it all very natural, lighthearted and fun.
5. Don’t stress out about how the kids are (mis)behaving! They’re kids and it’s part of the fun of a family photography session to photograph you and capture your natural personalities.
6. Do not stress if one of the kids falls ill and you need to rearrange. I am flexible and whilst we don’t know what the rules are going to be too far in advance, we can make a contingency plan
7. Do not try and jam in lots of different locations as the shoot isn’t that long, so if you want to have lots of different locations we can plan different days together

Now onto the list of Essential Do’s!

1. Do have a chat with your partner or any other adults involved in the family photography session about where you’d like to have the shoot – where is important to you as a family? Your own home or back garden can be perfect (and no you don’t need to redecorate first!) or somewhere with a bit of colour
2. Do have a browse of your photographer’s portfolio (you can check out mine here)  to see what you like their style and how they’ve captured their family photography clients. You can even refer to specific images when you speak to them, so they can get a nice clear idea of what you’d like
3. Do plan for a location indoors and one outdoors because you know British weather! We’ll have a chat before the session takes place to go through some options together.
4. Do wear comfortable, well fitting clothes – there’s nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable in what you’re wearing is there? If you feel comfortable in the clothes you’re in, then it will come across on camera well, and you’ll look back at the photos for a long time to come and have fond memories of a lovely day.
5. Do wear comfortable shoes – this is not the day to break in those new shoes, heels or no! The temptation to buy a whole new outfit complete with new shoes for the whole family may be there but resist. They won’t be comfortable, and neither will you and instead the day will be filled with complaints rather than fun and laughter.

So there we have it, a nice juicy list of what I would say definitely do not and definitely consider doing for your family photography session. I hope you found the tips helpful! If you’d like to chat about having a family photography shoot, then please get in touch here.

Thanks for stopping by

Fee x

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