Having your family pictures taken can sometimes feel overwhelming! What colors should we wear? How do you balance the colors out? Where should we have them taken? There have been a few years, when I felt like canceling because nothing seemed to come together. So, since then, I've narrowed it down to just a few tips that have made this process much more enjoyable and a lot less stress, and I thought I'd pass those tips along:
* Find a great photographer! Wow ~ this makes all the difference. We found Tia Howell through a friend of mine. I was visiting her home and noticed these gorgeous photos she had displayed, and she gave me Tia's telephone number. That was six years ago, and we just treasure the photos she has taken of our family over the years. Having built this relationship with Tia, my children are much more comfortable with her, and I feel like that comes through in the photos. Find someone you are comfortable with and that you can talk to about what style of photos you are looking for. We tend to be more casual, and less posed in many of our pictures, which is what I love about finding a photographer who understands what you are looking for.
* Choose a location. We've taken pictures on a bridge, in front of a barn, on a cool vintage truck, and chose to do a more Urban feel this year. Having a place in mind, will help you decide the appropriate attire and color scheme for your outfit choices. Photography Mad's article on how to choose a location, gives five great tips on finding the perfect spot!
* Lastly, the outfits! I tend to go with colors that I know will go well in our home (because that is where they will be displayed the most), so often grays, black, blue, tan, cream and white are the basics. Go with what is comfortable, looks nice and I always try to pull from what we already have, then adding in a shirt or sweater where needed. I've seen beautiful pictures of families that mix and match stripes, plaid and lots of color, but that just isn't me (or I just can't seem to pull that off!). I'm pretty simple, and that usually comes through in our photos. I always like a little pop of color, but not to the point of it being distracting. Madi's shirt is our pop of color above, and this was probably the most neutral clothing color scheme we've done. In previous photo's, Madi's pink top or my Red Jacket were the pops of color. I also like to bring a few extra items, a simple hat, scarf or blanket, to add a little variety to the pictures as well. I make sure that they are only used in some of the pictures, just to have a variety of looks to choose from. And that is it! Oh, and a little bit of bribery goes a long way too ~ haha!
