Extended Family Portrait Tips

3 Extended Family Portrait Tips | Kristina

Family portraits are one of the most important things you can organize for your family. We often take for granted the moments where everyone is together. One of the best ways to celebrate these moments are with family portraits. Here are 3 extended family portrait tips to help you get the most out of your session.

Make It Easy For Everyone To Attend

Once you’ve confirmed everyone’s availability, and everyone can make it – you’ll want to make things as easy as possible. This can include the timing of the session and where everyone can meet. One of the things I recommend doing is to tell everyone that the session will start 15-20 minutes before the actual session time. This is especially important with families with children. Because they tend to run a little behind 🙂

Also, pick a location that is easy to get to. And provide detailed step-by-step directions on exactly where to meet. I recommend scheduling the session at a location that is easy to get to. For Kristina’s family portraits, we scheduled it at Hellyer Park. Hellyer Park is a convenient location because it is right off of the freeway.

Start With The Largest Group And Any Other Groups Involving Kids

Depending on the demographics of the group, I recommend getting the largest groups first. Followed by most of the groups that involve small children. Children are going to be the least distracted at the very beginning of the session and you’ll want to make sure to all of these pictures taken in the first half of the session. To keep children involved, I recommend bringing snacks and other things that can keep them involved in the session.

Keep The Session Lighthearted And Fun!

My last extended family portrait tip is to keep the session lighthearted and fun! One of the things I like to do with extended family portraits is to make it conversational. I love asking questions of the group and capturing everyone’s reactions. These types of images capture people’s genuine smiles and are a lot of fun!

Anytime you can get your entire family together, for just 60 minutes, it is a great time for family portraits. Remember to make it easy for everyone to attend, start with the largest group and any groups with kids, and to keep the session lighthearted and fun! If you are interested in family portraits, I would love to connect! Thanks.