Family Session Prep!
To help you prep for our shoot, I’ve put together a lil guide that’ll help ensure we get a big batch of framers.
How to dress
Think an elevated version of your everyday style.
Most people naturally gravitate towards similar vibes in decor and attire, so chances are you already fit in with your environment. (Hooray! You’re already doing great!)
Specifics that tend to work well:
Bare feet to keep things casual. Cozy socks are great too, especially for cold weather sessions.
Clothing you’d actually wear at home. Avoiding hats, jackets, and shoes (unless you really do wear them in your home!) and sticking more with sweaters, a henley, casual button downs, and sundresses.
Soft, neutral colors. It will limit any funky color casts reflecting onto your skin and will make it easier to coordinate outfits among your fam.
For baby: swaddles are great, a knit diaper cover, onesies, headbands, caps, or their regular clothes. For shorter sessions 1-2 outfits is recommended. Longer shoots: up to 4.
Shooting in-home
The majority of all newborn sessions are shot in-home, although there’s no need to spend the energy making the house spotless! We’ll contain our shooting to just a few nooks and/or rooms—usually those with the biggest windows—and rely on some clever rearranging and tidying, as needed. Most often our shooting space is the living room. Sometimes it drifts into nurseries, bedrooms, or backyards depending on the style of our shoot and your preference. If you’re unsure, send me casual snapshots of your space and we can decide together what might work best!
Ways to make your session more personal
Incorporate a real life activity. Maybe it’s ending our session by going for walk in the stroller? Giving a bath in the sink? Nursing?
Add heirlooms. Maybe it’s dressing your babe in an outfit you wore when you were tiny? Incorporating a beloved stuffed animal? Perhaps it’s recreating a photo of you and your parent that you treasure?
If it will help create a calming environment, invite the grandparents over! They can be on standby for moral support and an extra set of hands, later jumping in for a quick photo if they chose.
Other helpful tips
If we are shooting in cooler temps (especially fall mornings) then having warm layers and hand warmers will help keep everyone more cheerful.
Give me a heads up if there is a certain phrase that will help them to smile, a song they know and love, or a Youtube video to have queued up in case we need reinforcements.
Feel free to bring snacks! Marshmallows or Goldfish work well, or anything that can be given one at a time.
You’re welcome to bring along aunts, uncles, grandparents, or anyone else that excels at making them laugh.
Please try to keep pockets clear of phones, keys, wallets, etc!
Try to let go of any unrealistic expectations for your kiddos. If there are some tears, those shots can also be a beautiful slice of real life, and I love getting images of you comforting them. If they want to run and play, we’ll roll with it. If they need a diaper change or a snack, let’s take a quick break and focus on other combos we can get at that time.
Let’s do this!
Have any questions? Email me, I’d love to help!
Want to send some outfit or room snapshots my way? kimberly@studiokh.com