How I Prepped My Kids for A Family Photo Session

We had family photos last week. School was closed, I work odd hours, and my husband took an hour off work so that a local professional photographer could come to my house and document us together. Sound familiar? I hire someone to do for me what I love to do for you.

The dear and wonderful photographer we’ve been using for the last three years is transitioning away from family photography this year, and I had to find a new photographer who would come to my home and not scare off my kids or my partner. Luckily, I have a short list of friends in the industry and found one who was available during the photography busy season. (Looking for your own photographer? Here are some tips for your search.)

I started nudging the kids about the session about five days before Sarah was scheduled to come. With Halloween and “Fall Festival” activities all around us, I didn’t want to overwhelm the kids with something too far in advance, but I wanted to give them time to process it and not spring it on them as a surprise. Five days is kind of our sweet spot.

I brought it up over dinner, in a “by the way” kind of way, and told them what we’d be doing (playing at home). They had all the questions, like “why aren’t we going to school” and “is she going to spend the night,” and then lost interest in the topic as soon as I started answering them.

On day three, I mentioned what time Sarah would be arriving, and what we could do while she was visiting. My son has set up a “library” in his bedroom (ie, two chairs around his bookshelf) and wanted to spend some time there. My daughter was interested in coloring. I suggested bike riding outside if the weather was nice. And we thought we’d finish the session with making French Toast, which is something we do every weekend for breakfast. The kids were excited about all of it, but especially the French Toast part.

On day two I let my daughter pick out the dress she wanted to wear, and then chose my son’s shirt for him to coordinate with her dress without matching. She picked out a dress with pink, blue, red, and white colors, so I put my son in red (looks great with his skin tone), and my husband chose a navy tshirt. I went through a couple of tops before I was happy with a blue/gray that made me feel comfortable and was long enough to cover the top of my jeans if I were to be sitting on the floor or bending down (it’s almost like I’ve done this before).

Same dress, different location.

The night before our session I did a full rundown of what to expect while Sarah was here, as we got ready for bed. I gave them time to ask questions and talk through anything they were nervous about, and kissed them goodnight.

The morning of our session, we did our regular morning routine while we waited for our 10:00 start time. I let them gather special toys or stuffies they wanted to show Sarah (always a great way to get a session started, kids love to show off their favorite things), spent some time coloring to calm our minds, and gave them a (clean) snack about 20 minutes before session time. They were brimming with excitement when she arrived, and were running around, jumping onto the furniture and playing together as Sarah and I chatted. Predictably, one of them fell and hit his head on the floor just as we were getting started, and Sarah snapped a few photos as he cried and I comforted him. Typical morning stuff.

We were able to regroup after a minute or two, and a more subdued start to our photos led us upstairs, where the kids showed off their rooms and their excitement levels ramped up again.

It was a terrific experience, mostly because Sarah Mattozzi is amazing, sweet, and had a specific vision for the session and directed us throughout. But the prep work I did ahead of time with the kids also helped them be ready to meet a new photographer and to be excited about photos. They did great! And they were rewarded with French Toast and Bluey at the end.

Have questions about how to prep your own kids for a session? I’ll send you a prep guide when we’re getting ready for a session together, but I’m also available for questions at any time, even if you’re not a client! Email me at allison@allisonpatelphoto.com.