If you’re one of the lucky ones and have all your family living in one area, no doubt you’ve thought about doing extended family photos as a gift for your parents. Well honestly it’s a gift to everyone, especially the kiddos. I’ve done many many extended family photo shoots over the years and they are possible within booking back to back mini sessions to be short and easy. Here are some tips and tricks for a successful photo shoot!
1. Participation from everyone in your group is KEY. It’s actually VITAL. When working with multiple young kids it can get hard to get them to pay attention to where I need them to look, but it can and does happen. Adults however have to be completely vested in listening to directions and looking at me at almost all times when it front of the camera (because often I’m waiting to get kiddos attention, so parents need to be on the ready!). I’m not going to sugar coat it, I’ve had sessions before where adults just haven’t listened and are looking in various different directions (anywhere but at me) and I’m honestly not about to head swap a bunch of different heads into one photo because of participation. I have in the past and it’s just too time consuming and unfair to me. So, come ready to rock it because the better everyone participates, the faster we rock it and get what we need before the kiddos completely lose interest.
2. Coordinate outfits. You don’t have to match (please do not show up in all white/black shirts and jeans, everyone melts together at that point) but coordinating a color family is the best way to bring everyone together. It’s okay if little kids match because hey, it’s crazy cute, but don’t match the adults. Just choose a color theme and run with it. Make sure you choose clothes that do not have brand logos, characters, cartoons, contrasting colors, or neons. Less is more, keep it simple. When grouping the photos together, you’ll see how nice they all come together when the outfits are in the same color family.
3. Avoid waking kids up from a nap immediately before the photo shoot. It’s just not a pretty situation for anyone, let alone the kiddo. Well rested, well fed, potty breaks beforehand, and have treats in your back pocket.
I now only do smaller extended groups. So one set of grandparents and their grown children (one nuclear family, limit of up to 4 grown children) plus spouses and grandchildren. We usually need on average about 20 minutes, which is 4 mini sessions, and I do them the last sessions of the day. You must contact me prior to booking to go over details to make sure we have the right location and timing for you. There needs to be just one contact person who is in charge of coordinating everyone and communicating with me, this is generally the person who books the sessions. Please know that post session, that contact person is the only person I communicate with to make sure there is no miscommunication. Otherwise handling requests and emails from multiple people over the same shoot there are bound to be crossed wires. I will upload the images from the sessions to either Google Drive or Dropbox and that contact person is responsible for making sure everyone in the family gets the images. Makes it easy peasy for everyone.
This family rocked their extended family shoot last Fall and we planned it at the perfect time of day to catch the kids at their happiest. Not easy with 7 littles but they did awesome and everyone loved their photos! See how coordinating their outfits really brings all the photo combos together. No doubt this looks AMAZING all framed together.
Booking an extended family shoot with me is meant to be quick, easy and painless.
Please understand that I specialize in basic and fast, yet still beautiful, which is what little kids need and parents want. I work alone, no assistant, and while I will direct people on where to stand or group together, again client participation is vital. Some things I can’t avoid will be weather conditions the day of the shoot, such as wind or cloud/cloudless cover, but we do our best to work with what we have. I do not offer refunds and complete reshoots are only done when there is a technical error with my camera. If you need a more slowed down session on your own date and location, custom sessions are available to book at $450 + tax.
I am looking forward to 2018 being an awesome year and meeting so many more families here in our beautiful KC.
Cheers!
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ALL 5 minute mini sessions are just $90 + tax and INCLUDE a minimum 8 – 12 high resolution digital images (usually more!) made available to you via digital download approx 1-2 weeks after your session. Be sure to check out the FAQ for more info!
Regular 5 Minute sessions are only scheduled on specific dates/times available for booking through our online booking system. Please be sure to book in advance!
Questions? Shoot me an email at jessicastromphotography@gmail.com
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