So…your family photo session date is secure, you’ve read Tips for Dressing for Family Photos You Will LOVE, and now you’re writing a session day of “to-do” list. Well, here are three important items to bring along to your family photo session to help it run smoothly.

Favorite toy, stuffed animal or keepsake blanket

As your trusted family photographer, I will do my best to make your kids feel comfortable and keep them at ease throughout the session. While I have many tricks up my sleeve, I recommend bringing a favorite toy, stuffed animal or keepsake blanket to your session. Not only will that special item bring comfort to your child, it is also a great way to capture this sweet moment in their childhood.

Trust me, someday you’ll look back at these photos, swoon over their chubby cheeks and it’ll bring you back to times when the only solution to their problems was their blanket and a cuddle with mom.

Water and a Snack

My goal for every family session is to interact with your family in a way that feels natural and allows for everyone to be themselves.

When photographing children, you can count on me to get on their level, be silly and run around with them to get them to show their personalities as I take pictures.

Keeping this in mind, a family session typically lasts around 60 minutes, so expect your kids (and even parents) to want a sip of water or a quick snack to keep energy up until we get all the shots we need.

This rings especially true when we are shooting outdoors in the spring, summer and fall months (thank you Texas and your endless months of warm weather).

Hair Tie, Spray and/or Brush

Let’s set the scene. You show up to your session, everyone is dressed, ready to laugh and ready to create new memories together. We walk over to our shooting location and the lovely evening breeze has picked up a bit more than we expected. The wind is now blowing your hair everywhere and you find yourself adjusting after each click of my camera.

While these things may not seem like a necessity, I believe they are items you should bring just in case.

The overall goal of our sessions is to capture great images of your entire family, but let’s be real… if mom doesn’t love the way she looks in the pictures there’s a chance she will walk away feeling unsatisfied. And that is a chance I’m not willing to take!

Having something to help hold you hair in place as a backup plan will help us achieve our goal of photographs that the entire family loves.

Let’s Recap…

While you’re making your day of session to-do list add a favorite stuffed animal or blanket, water and a snack and hair ties/spray to your bag. 

If you’re looking for other tips to help you plan for your family photo session, check out our other blog post How to Prepare Your Kids for Family Photos!

Let’s Start Planning Your Family Photo Session

Pregnant and expecting?! Is your child growing quickly and you want to freeze this phase?! Or maybe you want updated family photos, but think you have to wait until next fall (you don’t!). Contact me and let’s start planning today.

In the meantime, check out more of my family photography work.

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