Five Family Portrait Tips For Parents

Often times, family portraits are focused on making sure children are ready and prepared for the session. But this brief post is all about the parents! Here are a handful of family portrait tips for parents 🙂

1. Set Realistic Expectations For The Session

One of the most important things you can do, when preparing for your family portrait session is to set realistic expectations. Expecting a “perfect” session is often times not realistic and coming into the session with this in mind is important. In my experience, setting the expectations of having a fun time with your family and documenting this with the images, is the most realistic expectations you can set. If you and your family are having fun, the pictures will reflect this.

2. Limit Stress By Arriving Early

Another one of my favorite family portrait tips for parents is to limit the stress. When parents are stressed, this rubs off on children and can affect the session. Perhaps the best way to limit stress is by arriving to the session early. I recommend planning on arriving at least 15 minutes before the start of the session. This allows you to find parking, arrive at the meeting place, and have the kids get familiar with their surroundings. If your children are on the shyer side, arriving early and letting them explore a little before the session is a great way to get them “warmed up” for the session.

3. Don’t Always Look At The Camera

One of the most common questions that I get from parents is, “where do I look?” This is a GREAT question. In general, if the pose involves movement, I recommend interacting and looking at each other. For example, if we are capturing you walking – it does not look natural if everyone is staring right at the camera. Switching between glancing in the direction of the camera and at your family is the best plan on action 😉

For most poses, I will focus on instructing the children, but most of my instructions also apply to the parents as well. For example, I may tell the children, “when you stop spinning, make sure to look right at the camera.” These same instructions apply to parents.

4. Show Excitement But Not Too Much Excitement

Another of my favorite family portrait tips for parents is to show excitement – but not too much 🙂 In order for children to take really great images, they need to be excited and having fun. Often times children show this with exaggerated smiles (which is cute), but doesn’t look natural on parents. Make sure to smile but not too big 😉

5. Provide Incentives For Younger Children

Last but not least, an excellent way to get children into the session is by providing incentives. Incentives can come in a few different forms. One way is through a sweet treat in between poses. As children give great smiles and are having fun, they can have a treat in between poses. Another good incentive is by promising a fun activity after the session. for example, allowing them 15 minutes to play at the park after the session.

Hopefully these five tips have been useful for your next family portrait session. Thanks!