Why You Should Include a Couples Photo in Your Family Photo Session
Before every photo session, I send a questionnaire to my clients and ask a series of questions. Even if we’ve worked together before, I’ll send a questionnaire to help me prepare for your session and make sure I’m capturing everything you’re hoping for when you hire me.
One of the questions on the questionnaire asks clients to rate the importance of different types of photos, followed by a list: the family as a whole, siblings, individual kids, a photo of “just the parents.”
So often, I hear back that the “just the parents” photo is “not that important” (or worse, not wanted) for the session. And I get it, it can be hard to focus on a couples photo when you have young kids underfoot. You’re in full-on Mom mode, not Wife or Partner mode, and pausing long enough to get a photo with your partner might feel like trying to step into the eye of a tornado while it whirls around you. But here’s why you should prioritize it anyway.
You’re not just a mom.
You’re a human, who deserves to be celebrated on her own (we’re not even getting into how you deserve a photo of yourself by yourself, too). You’re also part of a partnership, and your partnership deserves to be photographed as it is, just you and your partner, without the extra hanger-oners in it. As a bonus, when you exclude the kids from the photo, you’re able to stand up straighter (no hunch as you hold a wriggly toddler), and focus on each other (no pun intended) for a minute. You’re able to stand still and just be while someone else takes a beautiful photo of you as a person and partner, not you as a mom.
You’re showing your kids that your relationship is important.
Question: What do you take pictures of? Answer: The things that matter to you. What do you display in your home? The things you think are beautiful. So, why wouldn’t that include a photo of you and your partner? By taking the time to take the picture, and then displaying that in your home, you’re teaching your kids that this relationship is important, and that it matters. That it’s beautiful. And that your relationship to your person - without kids - is something to be admired and cherished. (And, by extension, you’re reminding yourself of that regularly, too.)
It’s a date.
Even just a quick break from having kids in the picture can help you feel closer to your partner. Consider it a (very) mini date. Step in close, put your arms around each other (when was the last time you did that, anyway?) and pause there. Let those endorphins flood in as you remember why you chose to have a family with this person. You might breeze past each other in your day to day, but this 30 seconds of pausing makes you stop and appreciate the way they smell, feel, and look when they’re so close to you.
The next time you’re preparing for a family session, make sure you ask for a photo of the two of you. Your relationship deserves to be center stage in your family photos. Your future self will thank you.
