Family Pictures Tips + Tricks

me: dress + similar  ||  joe: shirt + similar  |  pants + similar  |  tie|  shoes  ||  hunter: dress  ||  hudson: shirt + tie  |  jeans  |  shoes – similar  ||  hayden: dress  ||  houston: shirt  |  jeans  |  shoes

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Family pictures — any love that word? Yeah most likely not, until they are all over with. Am I right?! With the holiday’s coming (and fast) that usually means family picture time. So mom’s stress level doubles and little people tend to not listen or want anything to do with anything. Haha. I used to stress like a CRAZY women over family pictures!! Don’t get me wrong…I still stress a bit, but I’ve just learned to not really care anymore and I know now we will always get a good “candid” shot.

So to help relieve a little bit of that stress, today I’m sharing some of my tips + tricks to help with the whole family picture process!! And trust me…we’ve had a lot of experience with “family picture taking” because of my job/business (which I love) and well all the previous 10 years of family picture before.

You would have never guessed it (okay well maybe in a few pictures) but Hayden was in the WORST mode EVER!!! Like she didn’t want to do anything we asked her to….like move, stand, hold a hand, or even walk!! (nightmare) But we just kept going and totally let her do her little thing, and she eventually snapped out of it. (see below, haha)

So my biggest tips are:

1. Pick out your outfit first : (Because you want to feel confident + comfortable) and when you feel good about yourself you’ll love your pictures more!! Trust me on this one.

Also, if your self-conscious about your mid-section (which I think some of us are) I’d go with a flowy dress or top so you don’t have a second thought about it. I love dresses for this reason + they are usually nicer then a top + bottom look. Free People and ASOS always has good ones and I love this one HERE. Free People dresses can be a bit more expensive, but I promise if you love the fit, and how it feels you will wear it to death! 

2. The less matchy-matchy you are the better : Plus I think the images turn out wonderful.  All of our last-minute pictures where I’ve had to throw random outfits together –that necessarily don’t match perfectly always end up the best. This year I picked my dress first and then just kinda went off what the boys already had and let the girls pick out their favorite color of dress. I didn’t even worry about matching. (hayden actually picked out a green dress, but it was back-ordered) and I think that color would have been better and made us less matchy.

3. Have a “wild card” outfit : So have a random floral or pattern print or a crazy pop of color that just helps balance all the matching colors out. Usually we have someone in a floral to mix things up or years ago Hudson wore a pink neon shirt and those images are still may favorite to date!

4. Patterns + textures : Always have someone in a stripe or dot pattern along with the wild card outfit to add some pattern play into the mix. Adding textures help add more depth + dimension to the image rather then just everyone in a cotton tee. I love knitted cardigans, a scarf, or even a linen shirt or shorts for the boys to break it up a bit. 

5. Bribes : I see nothing wrong with bribes for family pictures!! I usually have skittles or gold fish for the kids in Joe’s pocket and will pop one in the kids mouth here and there when they are listening. Or for this shoot in-between every pictures for the baby — because that is all he wanted. AND, tell your kids they can get a reward like ice cream or a night at the park if  they will  listen to the photographer without a fuss. It always helps and we really go and do it afterwards, because who doesn’t need ice-cream after all of this. 

Also, let them just be them. The candid photos always turn out the best and they will be the moments that are true and remembered – not the super posed one where everyone is smiling perfect. (even though we like those ones) 

6. Timing : Try to do a time when you know your baby or toddler will be happy. Like right after nap time, lunch or even dinner. Or if morning is their thing then try to do pictures then!! I think this helps the mom’s stress level a million times. Also, make sure your people are all fed and not hungry because that makes a huge difference with their moods. Gosh, I even get hangry sometimes. Haha.

Well I hope some of these tips and tricks help with your next family pictures AND I’d love to know all your tips and tricks, bribes and anything else to help make the whole process go smoother. Really, I love hearing all your advice!! Love you guys so much and thanks for all your support here!!

xx – kails

Also, I rounded up some more great maternity dresses to wear for photoshoots below. I’m loving the maxi dress look, especially for fancy photoshoots because I feel like the long, flowy dresses look more elegant!

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photos: corissa ann