The number one concern that families have when they’re considering booking a session with a professional photographer is how it’s going to feel. Will it be awkward? Will they look ok? What will the photographer be like? This article helps you understand what to expect when you book an outdoors or location family portrait photography session with us.
We choose locations that give us multiple options for background scenery and use of light. This is for two reasons:
- Moving around during a session keeps it interesting and fun for kids
- You might like one look/background a lot more than another and you probably won’t know until you see the photos
So this means we might walk for a bit, stop, take some photos, walk a bit more, stop again, take more photos, move to a slightly different spot, take more photos, and then head back to the carpark.
While we’re photographing you, we do a bit of directing so as to make sure we can see you all, and that we’re using the natural light in the best way. Depending on the ages of your kids, we might play games or ask silly questions, or we might put our ‘entertainer’ hats on. We do this to encourage you to relax and to connect with each other and have fun. The best photos are always the ones where you look like you’re genuinely having a good time!
We will ask you to look at the camera, but not all the time. Often we will ask you not to look and to try and pretend we’re not there!
We might sit you on the ground (we usually have blankets with us), or a log, or a low hanging tree branch or some rocks. We’ll probably get you walking together, or actively playing with your kids (depending on their ages).
We usually capture all the combinations of family members that make sense, taking your family structure and dynamic into account and any special requests you might have made.
Some photos in your collection will be truly candid moments that you weren’t even aware we captured. Some will be classic portraits. Some will be very environmental (where the scenery is quite dominant). Some will be bursting with personality and emotion.
Our job is to use the light and the scenery in harmony with your personalities and relationships to create a collection of meaningful and artistic images that you’re going to fall in love with.
Your job is to show up, be yourselves, and have a good time.
