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Question from Melanie: “I am very green – really just having fun learning about and playing with my camera at this point. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have dreams of doing this for income at some point. I did a family photo shoot with friends yesterday which leads me to these questions: How much time do you allot for a family session? How do you handle it if you don’t get the shot the mom wants because the child won’t cooperate (smile the way Mom wants)?”
Trisha: I usually allot at least an hour and a half for family sessions, more if they want outfit changes. The key for children is to take rapid shots – easier to catch those fleeting happy expressions when they are not in a good mood! But ultimately, you cannot make the child cooperate. You can goof around with them, try to make them laugh, but you can only capture the expressions they have! It is not your fault if the child won’t cooperate.
Alicia: Realistically the parents will know/remember how their child acted during the session and if you REALLY didn’t get any good shots you can offer a reshoot but most of the time, the serious/grumpy face/funny face ones are great memories for them to have too. I usually do 45 minutes for families but ALWAYS start with the most important shots that mom wants (whether it’s a family shot, kids together, etc) so that if all else fails and the kids lose it we got that at least.
Byrd: Manage her expectations from the beginning.
Amie: Well I always give an hour(but I get click happy ) and end up doing more than an hour`s worth of photo`s
Mollie: I always make sure to give some “free play” time at the beginning or end, depending on the kids’ temperament. You can get some great, fun shots of them playing or just being themselves.
Tabitha: Family sessions are about an hour and a half. I tend to tell families to have the child fully rested and fed prior so they are less cranky.
Chris: I had a special needs child that I was photographing recently, that his mom was complaining that none of his school pictures have him looking forward or if they are he isn’t smiling. All it took was a lot of patience and shifting thecamera to rapid fire. As this young man has CP and is constantly in motion, it was the trick that got the job done. Oh yeah…. Mom cried when I gave her the prints of the days shoot.
Kendall: It depends on the size of the family, groupings requested etc but I shoot anywhere from 45 min to 2 hours for family sessions. As someone else mentioned, managing the parents’ expectations is really important, but they should know their child well enough to not blame the photog…
Chris: Got a beautiful shot of him in her lap and he’s looking forward and smiling.
Sherrie: I have done several sessions and i ask for my clients ideas before the shoot. I take multiple pics of each shot so i can ensure i got the shot they want. Be silly and have fun with the kids. Once they trust you they will have more fun and it will show.
Sonya: Make on location and rapid fire candid your friend, I have been bombarded with mums wanting stiff posed studio shots, I tell them I do location so the kids can be themselves, I’ve had the odd occasion where mr.2 refused point blank to even have his photo taken with baby brother
Amber: I allow at least an hour and a half for family shoots with young children. At least, that’s what I tell the parents. If we’re having a good time, or the kids are playing in between locations or shots, that’s okay too. Young ones won’t stay focused for long. I’ve found a magic trick that has worked both times I needed to pull it out of my hat. I tell the child that we’ll do a trade – I get to shoot a few photos of them with their best smiles on, and then they get to take a photo of me (or their parents) with my camera. I put the strap around their neck and hang on to it, but let them click away. They LOOOOVE being part of it!! Sometimes I have to trade a few shots from me, and then let them do one, then a few more, then they get one more… Whatever works! 🙂
Kerry: Starting out is not easy. One of my 1st “family” shoots the grand parents were there taking pics w/ THEIRcameras as I was shooting. Sadly I did not have the backbone (yet) to tell them NO & the shoot was awful. Sadly the results were far below what I had hoped for. It was my own fault as I should have (as nicley as I could) tell them to put their cameras away & wait until I was done but – lesson learned. You will learn many lessons along the way so be patient with yourself and STAND UP FOR YOURSELF.
That said, 1 to 1 1/2 hours for a famly shoot depending on the # & ages involved. Be sure to build in “break time” if there are babies/toddlers for snacks, diaper changes, etc.
Good luck.
Melanie: Thanks everyone. Having clear expectations with my friend was something we really did very well. Mom was not upset that we didn’t get the shot right away, but we did get it with persistence. I really just wanted to know what you might think because I believe this situation could easily arise again and would be difficult if I didn’t know the family well.
Krista: I explain from the start that life doesn’t always look at the camera. At the very least it helps to manage expectations and it sometimes helps to break mom of the Walmart portrait mindset.
Krista: Granted, so far I’ve know all my clients in some capacity before hand.
Ashley: I always let the kids run around and do their own thing and I chase them cause let’s be honest, most of them will NOT listen to what you have to say lol but you’d be surpised how many amazing shots you get just from that. If the kids are old enough to understand I will bribe them with candy or a balloon (if the mom agrees to let them have candy) and when they hear candy or balloon they perk right up and listen to what you have to say. Most of my sessions only go on for about an hour.
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