Last week on instagram, I asked a question in stories thats been on my mind for a while. I know of families who never get family photo’s done…who never reach out to a photographer to ask questions. So I thought the blog was a great place to lay it all out for anyone who has maybe thought about it but never reached out to a photographer! My hope is this blog will help you to initiate the conversation and start your journey of documenting your family! :)

First, I’m not in any way saying you should hire ME! Haha, I mean of course I’d love to shoot your beautiful family but I do understand I’m not the photographer for everyone and that’s okay! Maybe we don’t live close together? That’s okay too! I just want to help encourage you to reach out to a photographer who’s work you love! Family photo’s are so so important. Our children change so quickly so yearly photo’s are a must in my opinion… you’ll never be upset you did them, only upset that you didn’t.

There were three consistent answers to this question on my question box in stories! Here they are:

Cost – I’m not even going to pretend like this isn’t a huge one. Not everyone can afford family photo’s…professional photography is a luxury after all and I get that! I would say if there is a photographer you love, get their pricing and then figure out how to work it into your budget. I’ve booked photographers before where I had to pay little by little each month leading up to our session to be able to afford it. Not all photographers make you pay the lump sum up front. I personally charge 50% to book your date and the remaining 50% is due one week before our session together! BUT I have had plenty of people ask that I break it into 4 payments as opposed to 2 and I am always always happy to do that for them! Just communicate with your photographer :) We’re typically always willing to help where we can!

The stress and/or pressure of finding outfits for everyone – I understand this one SO well, it hurts! I myself struggled for a while over outfits for our last family photo session! 5 people is a lot to dress and making sure everyone coordinates and isn’t overly matched? Well that felt like a full time job! Here’s the thing: most photographers (including myself!) will provide a style guide or a styling consultation of some sort! This can take LOADS of stress off of you as you work to dress your family. For me personally, I provide a style guide FULL of tips to dressing your entire family as well as tips for preparing for our session! I also provide a styling option where I do the shopping for you, as well as a client closet where I have tons of beautiful dresses for mamas and even some baby/toddler clothing as well that any of my clients are welcome to borrow, free of charge! Again, its just another reason to reach out to a photographer about family photo’s because you never know what they offer that may take a lot of stress off your shoulders! That’s our job after all!

Lastly, unruly toddlers! Haha… Don’t I know it sister! Kids will be kids and guess what? THAT IS OKAY! I have 3 children myself so I’m never nervous to work with kiddo’s. Personally, I LOVE working with other peoples children. I’ve found over the years that parents are usually pretty shocked that I’m able to pull out all the smiles, giggles and sillies. A family photographer who is used to working with children will be able to embrace the chaos and get images you didn’t even know were possible! I myself am known to sing Blippie at the top of my lungs, roll around in the sand like an excavator and make the silliest faces and sounds… ANYTHING to get the shot! :) I know a lot of other photographers too who aren’t afraid to embarrass themselves to make sure they get the job done!

While those were the top 3, I did want to touch on the one mama that mentioned a 15 or 20 minute shoot makes her feel unimportant or rushed. It isn’t the norm for a photographer to only provide 15 or 20 minute sessions. We call those ‘mini sessions’ because they’re just that: mini. In cost and in time. If a full session is out of your budget, definitely try a mini with your dream photographer. A seasoned photographer knows how to get tons of different poses/images out of a 15 minute mini session (I’ve had clients get 40 images from one before!) so I truly wouldn’t stress it. If it does make you feel unimportant or rushed however, save up for that full session. I promise it’ll be worth it!

Remember, it is our JOB to make your time with us laid back, fun, easy. To help guide you in choosing outfits. To pose you and guide you into emotive posing. To help when kiddo’s are having a moment. If your photographer isn’t doing those things, find one who is! I’m always here to help where I can and love on my clients. A family session should never feel like work for you.

As always, I’m here if you ever have any questions or want to chat about planning your family session! I’d love to have you in front of my camera!

Xoxo,

Jami