Don’t Wait To Schedule Your Family Photos
You’re scrolling through social media when you see images from a friend’s recent family photo session. Beautiful smiling faces. Laughing family shots where dad is tickling the kids. Your heart is warmed as you see the love of this family captured in photos you know they cherish. And then you think to yourself, “I need to schedule our family photos.” Between busy jobs and little ones to care for, it’s easy to forget to schedule these important memory-saving sessions.
They grow so fast
Kids really do grow so fast. Parents hear this over and over and sometimes it doesn’t feel true, but before you know it, six months (or years) have gone by and you can’t believe how big your children seem. Maybe you’re like a lot of families and you take photos on the first and last day of school. It’s amazing to look at the difference a school year can make. It’s so valuable to have photos of this season of time (whatever it is) with your babies. Even if you have big kids or teenagers, you’ll be so glad to have photos from all the years together.
Your loved ones will thank you
A cherished tradition is to go through old photos and family albums, reminiscing on when a pair of grandparents were married or when certain family members were born. Photos bring back a feeling of nostalgia few other things can elicit. Having annual family photos (especially having them saved in an heirloom album), ensures that future generations will be able to look back and see how things were. Many of my clients tell me that they’re waiting a little while to schedule a session because maybe they want to lose weight or make some other change to their appearance. I always encourage them to schedule a session because there is no reason to wait. I know their loved ones will thank them in the future.
Meaningful art for your home
I mentioned heirloom albums as being a great option for physically preserving your family’s photos, but they aren’t the only option. Many of my clients choose to preserve their images with professional, framed prints. What better way to decorate the walls of your home than with the precious faces of the people living inside it? An album on a table or a glass box of prints on a mantle can make for great conversation starters when guests are visiting your home. These professional prints will last a lifetime and can be passed down to children and grandchildren. They also make great gifts!
Tip #1: Schedule one at the end of another
My best tip for ensuring that your family photos are always scheduled and taken care of is to schedule your next photo session at the end of the last one. If you take bi-annual photos or even annual photos, I can secure a date for you for the next session. This ensures that I have availability and then you don’t have to worry about remembering. It is one less thing on your to-do list! Worried about scheduling so far in the future? Don’t! I will send a reminder email a few weeks before your session to talk through outfits and planning.
Tip #2: Don’t worry about perfect
Many times, the thought of all that goes into getting ready for family photos makes people put off scheduling them. I completely understand. It can feel overwhelming to plan what everyone will wear, making sure everyone is in a happy mood and will be well-behaved. I want to encourage you to let go of the need for everything to go perfectly. I do offer a few tips on outfit selection for my clients but at the end of the day, when you look back on these photos, your focus will be on the people, not the clothing. It’s more important that you have the images than that they are perfect. And I promise, no matter how much planning you do, kids will be kids and you can’t control every aspect of how the session will go. I have so much experience photographing families and I know we will capture beautiful images of your family. Leave that to me!
If you’re thinking you want to schedule a session and capture your family as they are right now, I’d love to work with you! You can reach out to schedule your family portrait session HERE.
