Family Portrait Advice

I had the same conversation this weekend with two different mommas, so I thought it warranted a space on the website today.  (Still got some updating to do by the way, so keep snooping around and checking things out.)  One momma, (you know who you are!) talked about being disappointed in her most recent family pics.  She was hoping to get a good wall portrait and things just didn’t come together well, and the quality wasn’t what she had wanted, and it was the first portrait in over 7 years!  That’s a lot of pressure on one session!  The other has a church directory picture that she hates on her wall because it is all she has.  She also has had an adoption, a wedding, and a grand baby since then!  I have a feeling they are not the only ones, so I wanted to share.

I know I’m a photographer, so I am biased, but I have ALWAYS loved photographs and even when we were a young, working-part-time-one-income-poor family, yearly portraits were a priority.  I am going to share my family’s shots from the last 4 or so years.  Just a personal note:  My hair has been great, totally wind-blown, good color, bad color, and everything in between.  My weight has ranged from 135 to about 175.  Some of these pictures would look great with the decor of my home.  Some are opposite of my decorating style.  Here is my advice about Family Portraits:

• Give yourself the opportunity.  Take at least one family group shot a year.  Make use of it.  Use it as a Christmas Card, print it for a scrapbook, put it on the wall or a table, have an album.
• Relax.  Not every year will be suitable for a wall portrait.  There will be bad hair, cheesy grins, uncooperative kids, bad coloring, etc.  BUT, every once in a while.  Every couple years or so, you will get a winner, and if you’re taking them often enough, you’ll get the winners!
• Dress neutrally every other year.  Of course, if you have a favorite color, throw it in as an accent.  If one year you have calm neutrals, then the next year you can dress in something fun or trendy or themed.  There is not so much pressure for the perfect picture once every 5 to 10 years.
• Don’t try to be perfect.  Accept where  you are right now.   Next year will be different for you, the hubby, the kids.  Sometimes we look back and say, “Man, we had it together.”  And sometimes we say, “Whew!  Glad we got past that stage!”  It’s about the memories and moments, not how perfect we are.  

So, here we go.  Enjoy my walk down memory lane, but make your own!! (And First Moments would love to help you with that!)