Playful Parents & Joyful Kids
My absolute favorite thing to photograph is playful parents and joyful kids! So please enjoy these photos from a recent extended family photo session at Mellon Park in Pittsburgh, Pa. And if you scroll to the bottom, you’ll find a few of my best tips for having photos like these for your own family!
(And in case anyone was wondering, YES, there were a ton of smiling-at-the-camera portraits! But boy do I prefer all the in-between moments and joyful laughter!)
If you’d love to capture moments like this within your own family, here are a few tips!
Book a session, even though life feels too crazy. Book a session, even if you don’t love your body right now. Book a session, even though you think your husband might complain or your kids might misbehave. If you don’t prioritize family photos, you just won’t have them.
Book a photographer with a portfolio you love. If you want a photographer who captures candid laughter and in-between moments, you need to find a photographer who shares those types of images on their website or social media. Book a photographer with experience in the type of photography you want. (Not all wedding photographers are good with kids. Not all landscape photographers are good with humans.) Find someone who specializes in what you want! And lastly, make sure you like the photographer’s editing style. What you see on their portfolio represents what you’ll receive in your gallery, and most photographers will NOT change edits or provide unedited photos to clients. Who you book MATTERS!
Prepare for your session! I always send my clients a guide for making their session awesome, but a few tips I give are these: Make sure your spouse knows how long the session will last and is prepared to not complain about it. Let your kids know that you’ll be going to a park and playing together while someone takes photos. How you phrase this really depends on the ages and personalities of your kids, but I always try to make it sound fun! I don’t want them to arrive with dread. And truly, most kids I photograph have so much fun! (Once again…make sure you’re booking a photographer who is the right fit for your family and your photo goals.)
Let yourself have fun with your kids! I know this is easier said than done when you’re paying a lot of money for photos and you’re feeling a little stressed about it. I get it! But the best photos will always be the ones with joyful subjects. If you delight in your kids and have fun with them, I will capture those feelings in photographs. I know that as a mom, I have a fun side and I have a side that makes sure that my kids are behaving. It’s a spectrum! But when it comes to photos, I try not to reprimand my kids if I don’t absolutely have to. In that 1 hour, my soul focus will be to DELIGHT in my children. And when I play with my kids, my kids will have fun. Because lets face it - little kids LOVE playing with their parents. As the photographer, I provide lots of ideas throughout the session for how parents can play with their kids! As the parent, I just ask that you have fun with your awesome kiddos. That’s it!