Preparing Your Family Photo Session

A family/kids photo session with Chris Shum Photography is a time you can enjoy and have fun with your family, while leave it to us to capture all those heartily laughs and happy moments of you and your kids.

What to expect

Some of you might feel a bit nervous about being photographed, and how you look in the pictures. This sentiment is perfectly normal. With a few exceptions, most people have not been photographed professionally many times in their lives. Don’t worry! We are experienced to loosening up the atmosphere, and for you and your family to feel at ease. During the shoot, we will give you guidance along the way for the poses and actions. Just be yourselves and enjoy a wonderful time together and leave the rest to us!

What to wear

While there are no hard and fast rules, some clothes generally appears better in pictures, so I’ve put together a rough guide that will help you decide on you and your kids best outfit for the day.

COLORS

Solid colors tend to work best since all attention is on you, and not your clothing. Rule #1 in the picking the colors of your clothes: Coordinate but not matching. Coordinate the colors among yourselves so they work well together. There is no need to wear the same color. In fact, I would highly recommend not to wear the same color! Just make sure they don’t clash. One rule of thumb is to choose colors from the opposite sides of the color wheel (complementary colors), or the colors adjacent to each other (harmonious colors). Most people just intuitively know what color combinations work for them, so just trust your instincts, and your eyes.

AVOID LOGOS AND LOUD PATTERNS

You do not want to be a walking advertisement with big logos, nor do you want busy patterns that drawn attention away from you. Neon colors are also a big no-no. They tend to be extremely luminous and create weird color cast on your skin. Again, trust your instincts and your eyes.

OUTFIT

For the kids outfits, my first and only recommendation is: casual wear always works best both for their moods and for the final output. Do not try to push your kids into wearing too formal clothings, unless they enjoy it! You will not get any good results out of them if you force your kids into that pretty outfit you had prepared if they feel uncomfortable in them. After all, in photographing your child you want to capture their personality and how they are at the moment, and it’s those unique shots you will come to treasure as they grow up. Also please be aware that we may sit on the pavement, roll in the grass, doing cartwheels, or some other crazy stuff. So dress accordingly. The most I would suggest for kids clothings is to pick some brighter colors.

As for the adults, wear something you feel comfortable in, something that makes you feel gorgeous and confident. If you are not normally wearing dresses and high heels, it’s probably not a good idea to wear them on the day of your photo session.

Here are a few sample color palette combinations for your outfit inspiration. And you can always go onto Pinterest to look for more ideas that fit your style and liking.

Remember, it’s all about YOU, YOU, YOU, i.e. All of YOU in the Photo Shoot!

What to bring (optional)

For photo sessions with younger kids, please bring a couple of their favorite toys (or have them at the ready if the photo session is taking place at your home). Not only are those great props for your kids’ portraits, but their favorite toys will also make them feel more at ease. Another suggestion is to explore the photo location for any natural props at the scene, like leaves, seashells, pine cones, rocks etc.. The exploration is a fun activity in itself!

Of course, some handy, simple snacks are always a good “bribe” for their attention and cooperation, and some sweet moments to capture!

A lot of times parents tend to forget that kids (younger or older) usually have relatively short attention span, and having the kids to focus and cooperate with every pose during the 1-2 hour session are usually beyond their limit. I would suggest if there are certain portraits you want to take, do them first when your kids are still in the mood to cooperate, or at least spread them out. For the rest of the time, let the kids loose a bit more and be themselves, and I will do the magic! You will be amazed how many more beautiful smiles and pictures you will see!

The most important thing… happy mood for all of you brings lots of smiles!

It is also a wonderful idea to bring along a bag, a wagon cart, stroller etc. for putting all the stuff you need to carry, especially phones and small items. We want to avoid having the phones showing in the pockets of pants or shirts. They are also a kind of distraction for anyone in the group to fully enjoy the photo session!

One last note

We would also like to request parents, or anyone who comes with the family, do not take pictures during the session, since this would definitely distract the kids (and everyone else)!

Can't wait to see you all at your photo session!

**Hint: It is also a good time now to check out our Wall Gallery design to see how you could show off your beautiful pictures!**