I have had a lot of questions lately about family session prep, so I wanted to make a short blog post to refer my clients to when it is time for their family photos!!

Rule #1

THE KIDS ARE IN CHARGE!!! Absolutely no discipling the kids during the session!! You can ask them to come sit down but if they don’t listen, you can punish them after the session. Spanking your child during the session basically ends the session, there is no way they are going to smile or cooperate after that! There is also no way they are going to look natural while smiling. It will most likely be a “please don’t kill me mom and dad smile” – which no one would like haha!!

Rule #2

BRIBE the heck out of them. Promise snacks, or even bring snacks. It works! Promise Ice cream or for them to be able to play on the playground after. They could really be promised anything you are comfortable with.

Rule #3

Bring something the kids love if they are younger. A book, a favorite stuffed animal, a blanket, a favorite toy, something they really love and you want to remember for this time in their life!

Rule #4

What do I wear? One of the most frequently asked questions! Here is my style board https://www.pinterest.com/ChristiAnne57/family-shoot-style-board/  it has a bunch of photos I found that I like or outfits that I think would look great! Don’t do the all wear black or all wear white, it does not photograph well. Easy to match yes but just doesn’t look very good! Try not to match at all, as in two brothers wearing the same shirt. The reason is if they are wearing the same shirt they can’t be in a photo standing by each other because they blend in!

Rule #5

Time of the shoot I usually like it to be after 2pm, if there is shade we can do it earlier. If it is the beach we will need to be closer to sunset! If it is cloudy usually trees don’t work very well because they make it too dark. So, it really depends on where we are taking the photos for the best time!

Rule #6

Have fun!!! I love to do in home sessions (lifestyle sessions) just you in your comfy clothes having a normal day and a crazy photographer lady following you around. As far as location goes, just let me know what you would like to have in your background and I can most likely accommodate! It is the happy moments that aren’t planned that LOVE the most 🙂 so just relax!!

Rule #7

Please leave me a review !!! You can search google for Christi Clark Photography or leave me a review on my facebook page! It would be greatly appreciated!! 

A side note: I have noticed lately (not my amazingly awesome clients) but on some photos on social media I see that the clients aren’t tagging or even mentioning the photographer in their posts!! It is a huge bummer for me because I love to admire other photographers work sometimes and I am stuck wondering who took it! Also, speaking from the photographer side we get ALOT of business off referrals! There is nothing worse then having a client use your photo as their profile picture and not credit you and get like over 400 likes!!! If you have a photographer, make sure you credit them I promise you will make them very happy!!!

Thanks for coming and reading along!!! I hope I get to see you on the other side of my camera soon! 🙂

Christi