If you’ve been a reader of my blog for any time at all, you can tell we LOVE photos! We take a ton both professionally and ourselves. I get a lot of questions on how I get good pictures of my kids, so I thought I’d share my tips with you:
- Pick the best time of the day for your family! You need to pick a time that works best for your kids, meaning when will they be in a good mood? Mornings are not good for us (besides my husband, the other 3 of us aren’t morning people). My kids like to take their nap in the early afternoon so that is also out. I try to schedule pictures in late afternoon or early evening! Find the best time that works for your family!
- Eat a snack or meal right before! Make sure your kids are full (but not overly stuffed) because they will most likely be in better moods and will smile!
- Wear comfortable clothes! I spend a long time coordinating outfits (I’ll do another post on that in the future) but the most important thing is make sure your kids are comfortable in their outfits! If something is bothering them, they will let you know and the pictures will show!
- Go with the flow! I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not always a go with the flow kind of girl. I’m a Type A planner but I’ve learned it’s nearly impossible to get toddlers to do exactly what you want.Some of my favorite pictures are the pictures that weren’t posed or planned, these show my kids true personalities.
- Trust your photographer! You hired your photographer for a reason, she is good at what she does! Follow her lead and trust her, she knows what she’s doing!
We recently had some amazing family photos taken in downtown Charleston by the talented, Olga Chagarov Photography. Make sure you check out her website!! She’s fabulous!! She also wrote a post on How to Prepare Your Kids for a PhotoShoot.
Here are a few more of our family pictures!
Thanks again,Olga Chagarov Photography for these amazing photos!!
These are awesome tips. I haven’t done a professional shoot with my family, but I definitely want to.
You should give it a try!! 🙂
I adore these natural photos so much. I like the portraits, too, but these show their delightful personalities.
Thanks so much, Terri!!
These are some great tips! I know my readers and twitter followers would love to read these! You take some great pictures too! As a mother of teen twins I remember doing anything I could to get them to participate in family photos I wish I had read this blog post 10 years ago!
Thanks so much! Feel free to share!
I definitely agree with picking the best time of day for your family. I have this picture of my four kids when they were little and my three year old was over it. You can tell because she leaned away from everyone else and had a huge frown on her face. That is how she posed for every picture. But at least the other three kids were smiling, lol.
These are the cutest photos! And these are helpful tips. Sometimes kids can be tricky to wrangle up for photos.
I remember trying to get my younger kids to cooperate while doing a photo shoot. It was like wrangling two monkeys at one point. I had a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old as a single mom. Snacks are a must-have and something to drink even if its not hot outside. Trust me they come in handy.
How smart to get the family before a photoshoot. I wouldn’t have thought of it on my own. Would make the whole process so much better and get better results.
These sound like some great tips for people who are trying to make the most out of photographing their kids! I can imagine at times it can be a bit of a crazy task getting those perfect pictures.
These are great tips for preparing your kids and family for a photoshoot. Family photos are important to us but it can be hard to get everyone on the same page when its time for the shoot.
Great tips. As a photographer, it’s hard when the kids aren’t ready and we spend about half an hour preparing
These are all great tips on how to prepare kids for a photoshoot. Sometimes it’s hard to get them ready and this will really help. Thanks for sharing!
These are all incredible pictures. I am delighted with the tips you mentioned. Not a morning person either.
We have boy/girl twins too (my grandkids) they will be five next week and I can definitely tell you that you are so right about these tips. A photoshoot with twins definitely has to be planned out.
Feeding the kids before a photo shoot is definitely a great idea because they can be cranky when they’re hungry. LOL. Great pictures! You’re all adorable!
These are great tips for sure. Having a snack beforehand is important. Nobody will be happy or content if they’re hungry.
I think these are some great tips. It can be tough with younger ones when doing photoshoots. I remember doing some photoshoots when my kids were younger. They just wanted to explore everything.
I have always tried to plan pictures around kid’s crabby times. I also set my expectations pretty low.
Great tips! I love taking pics, luckily both of my kids always feel comfortable in front of a camera as long as the photo session goes quickly!
These are really great tips, yes taking family photo with kids is not that easy. My kids are camera friendly so they love to take pictures.