How to Prepare for a Family Photoshoot with Kids!

February 2, 2022

Sharing all my tips on preparing for a family photoshoot with little ones, and talking all about my favorite family photographer here in Southern California!

We recently had our family photos taken and let me say we are OBSESSED with how they turned out and will cherish them forever. There is no one size fits all for families and how to execute a perfect family photoshoot. There just are so many factors and variables that come into play when trying to gather your littles to look good for even just a few shots that will hopefully work! There are tantrums, tears, illness and possibly even bad weather that we all can’t control. I’ll help you with ideas on how to deal with all these factors!

These tips are just from my personal experience doing family photoshoots since Kennedy was a baby but remember as the years go on that you too will come up with an arsenal of tips that work for YOUR individual family! Write them down and look at them when family photoshoots come around. You’ll thank me later 🙂 

Photoshoot Tips:

1. Set your expectation for how everything will go LOW. You will have a vision in your head of how you want the day to go and how everyone is supposed to behave. Trust me you’ll be pleasantly surprised how much better of a mood everyone will be in when they too aren’t feeling the pressure from mom or dad. 

2. Bring lots of snacks that aren’t sticky or gooey or can squirt out on clothes. I’m talking goldfish, fruit leathers, water, gummy bears (for bribing because we all know we need that in our back pocket) and bring their favorite treat for the end as a reward for trying their best for the photoshoot. Let them be aware you have it and encourage good behavior with it. This is when I bring lollipops and their favorite candy and let it slide for the sake of smiles! 

3. Bring a tide pen, hair products and baby wipes and any other grooming and cleaning essential you think you might need.  Because believe me you probably will end up needing it. Bring a big blanket for the kids to sit on so their clothes won’t get dirty while setting up or if they need a break. I also recommend bringing a wagon or a stroller to haul all of your stuff in to make it easier for carrying back and forth from the location.

4.  You can’t control how your kids will act but you can control your attitude and outlook on the photoshoot. Attitude and energy is everything and kids feed off of your energy. Make it fun and light and see how that translates into your photos. Get yourselves ready one hour before you think you need to, leave earlier than you think, have your car already filled up with gas and prepare the snacks the night before. You want your day as stress free as possible! Trust me 🙂 

5. Hire a professional and experienced photographer! This one is a MUST and someone that has experience with little kids and getting great shots no matter what the conditions are! If you do one thing, do this- no matter what your photos will turn out timeless, beautiful and professional looking! 

We recently did our most recent photoshoot with Reshma Photography, who is a newborn, motherhood and family photographer here in Orange County. She was the easiest and most professional photographer to work with and I’m so ecstatic she was able to capture our children at the ages they are now and we have beautiful pictures to hang on our wall. She handles everything for you from start to finish which takes so much pressure off of you when preparing for the shoot. If you live in Southern California (or are willing to travel) I can’t recommend her highly enough!

Here are so here are some reasons to hire Reshma for your next family photoshoot:

1. She offers a beautiful client wardrobe for the entire family which takes the stress of figuring out outfits so much easier! 

2. She’s known for images that capture the feeling of the moment, photographs that portray true emotion and connection. She’s great with kids and makes the session flow so nicely! You get a good combination of traditional family photos and all those authentic candid moments captured as well. 

3. She designs beautiful albums and custom wall collections and using your photos and mockups sample wall collections of your own home so you can see how your photos would look like. 

4. The quality of all the products she uses is all fine art products and archival museum quality which means they are meant to last a lifetime and make for perfect heirloom pieces to pass down to your kids. 

5. She creates a stress free experience from beginning to end to take care of all this for you. As a busy mom I don’t always have the time to order photos and make albums for our family but I know I want to cherish and preserve the memories of my kids as much as possible so she makes my life much easier by not just being a photographer but also offering all these services. 

If you want to book her in 2022 please visit her website: www.reshmaphotography.com, you will not be disappointed! Also, you can follow her at www.instagram.com/reshmaphotography she will be sharing some spring motherhood session information on there soon!

I hope these tips and insight into what to expect from a great photographer look like! If you have any tips you’d like to share with me drop them in the comments below, I always love hearing from fellow moms what they think works best for their families!