We know that photographing young families can be tough. The energy is high & can be unpredictable, and there’s a lot to handle. So we’re spilling our tips for a family session AND giving you three of our favorite prompts for them.
Our Top Tips
Let Kids Explore
Rather than come at children with crazy energy, build a relationship with them by allowing them to explore. Let them walk around (with you & their parents following) and explore the scenery. Notice when they like a cool ledge or pretty flowers. Let them get used to their surroundings before we ask them to smile at a big lens and do crazy prompts.
Learn What They Love
We don’t have kids so we don’t know anything about kids culture. So we talk to the parents about what they love right now or what makes them laugh. Like different songs, tv shows, movies, funny faces, etc.! Be relatable so that you can genuinely pull all the giggles out. Be in tune so you can make those crazy faces or sing Frozen when the kid isn’t smiling.
Give them Repeatable Actions & Assignments
Give each person a different assignment so that they can focus on what action they each need to be doing. On top of that, repeated actions are great. For example, maybe a father continuously lift his son and then pulls his son back in. This will happen a bunch, each time a little different with an extra squeeze or kiss. This way there’s a variety of shots & emotions, and it allows the kid to get used to everything and ease into the experience.
Prompts
Swing
There are some variety in who holds hands or the formation, but the main point is to swing the kid. This works for a range of ages and will definitely bring out the giggles. Plus is allows for a variety of shots & angles!
Airplane Around
The child is the airplane and a parent picks them up. Then the parent will fly them all around with different variations like a kiss on the forehead or on dad’s cheek. It’s gets a lot of reactions with people watching & laughing as the child flies!
Circle & Pose
This honestly works for families of all ages. Here’s what happens. Everyone will hold hands in a circle and run around when I yell GO! Once I yell STOP then they have to face the camera and hit any pose as long as they one arm wrapped around another person. You’ll get some craziness and a lot of laughter!
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