How To Make Family Portraits Fun For Teens

Three Ideas On How To Make Family Portraits Fun For Teens

One of my favorite demographics to work with are families with teens. I believe that family portraits should be fun, candid, and feel unposed. And teens are the perfect demographic for this style of photography. But in order to get the most out of your family portraits, there needs to be a little preparation beforehand. Parents may also need to be a little flexible during the session. Here are a few thoughts on how to make family portraits fun for teens.

1. Give Your Teen Advance Notice of The Session

One of the most important recommendations on how to make family portraits fun for teens is to give your teen as much notice as possible. Giving them advance notice allows them to mentally prepare for the session and plan other activities around the session. In my experience, teens are not the best communicators. So chances are, they may have other plans on the day of the session that you are not aware of. By giving your teen at least a weeks notice, it minimizes the chances that the family portraits will interfere with anything else they have planned.

2. Plan Something Fun After The Session

Another pointer I like to give to families is to plan something fun after the session. Aside from documenting a moment in time with loved ones, taking family portraits is an opportunity to spend quality time together. During the session, we will have fun and capture a lot of great photos – but the fun doesn’t have to stop after the last photo is taken. I recommend collaborating with your teen on something fun to do after the session. If you know that your teen may not be super excited for taking family portraits, planning something fun to do afterwards will make things MUCH easier. It can be something as simple as getting ice cream, trying out a new restaurant, or going miniature golfing at Golfland.

3. Go With The Flow During The Session

My last recommendation on how to make family portraits fun for teens is to simply go with the flow. Teens do weird things and like to act silly. And I recommend fostering this during the session. One of the ways I like to do this is by making the session fun and candid. For example, I may ask your teen to tell me something about Mom or Dad that I would not know. Chances are, they have something funny to say – that will keep the session lighthearted and fun. I encourage moms and dads to also go with the flow. If they see mom and dad having fun, they will too 😉

Hopefully this short post on how to make family portraits fun for teens has been helpful for your next session 🙂 Thanks!