Picture Perfect??

I remember each day that we’ve had family pictures. Our first was of course with just our oldest son and he was about 6 months old. Just the three of us and he was such a good baby. We were done in about 20 minutes with too many great photos to choose from. 

I take each of my children to get their photos done when they are newborns, 6 months, 1 year and each year after that until they’re 5 and then I hope they take cute school pictures. I get family photos done about once every couple of years or when we’ve had a new baby added to the crew ( so in other words we’ve had quite a few family photo-ops ). 

If the timing is right before or around naptime, it’ll be bad. For Will’s 2 year pictures he fell asleep on the way to the studio and didn’t wake up in the happiest mood. Plus he was all kinds of the terrible two’s. 

I bought an 8×10 of this photo. This picture captured what my life was like that year with this strong-willed toddler and his new born baby brother. I don’t want to remember it any different. Today, Will laughs at it hanging in a frame on the wall and shows his friends. 

For infant pictures, plan your pictures for right after a feeding. Most photographers will give you plenty of time for this as well as diaper changes. Babies sleep super good before a feeding and then
are wide awake right after they eat. Keep that in mind.

Of course each time a new kid is included, the picture-taking experience gets a little more difficult. 

Unbeknownst to us Rhett had a fever and roseola on this picture day. He was grumpy and whiny and this was the only smile we could get out of him by the end of the session. ( and I’m tickling the crud out of his inner thigh ). Notice the tired, ‘sick of this’ smiles on the older boys’ faces. But this had to do! 

We’ve used a couple of wonderful outdoor photographers as well as in-store studios like Sears and JCPenney. Obviously the latter two are a bit cheaper especially if you use their coupons and other promotions. But it’s a toss up whether you’ll get a good ‘photographer’ that day or not.

If it’s warm outside for outdoor photos be ready for whiny kids and an equally grumpy husband. For this picture, the outdoor photographer had the huge job of getting all six of us including two toddlers and our dog to look at the camera.

Big secret: Rhett’s face is photoshopped into this picture from another one that he took that day. We were all a sweaty, hot mess at the end of this June session and Daddo couldn’t get back in the A/C car fast enough while wrangling Sunni Lou. Sooooo there were no Momma/Daddo romantic pictures that day 🙂

In the indoor studios, I’ve gone before where the person was in tune to what kind of pictures I wanted and she moved fast and came up with great ideas. I’ve had some that were hilarious behind the camera and captured some of my kids’ cutest smiles. And I’ve also had those that kept saying ‘So what do you want to do now?’ between each picture, moved incredibly slow and kept answering the studio’s phone in the middle of our photo sitting. That’s the most annoying. 

If you go to a studio that makes appointments every 45 minutes to an hour, then try to get an early morning slot. Most sittings take longer than the allotted time and you’ll find yourself waiting for your turn while your kids quickly go from happy and cute to tired and disheveled. 

Like I say for almost everything: Take snacks. Fruit snacks and crackers with juice or water. When you see them getting cranky and sick of having to take instructions and smile cute, a tiny dose of sugar and some hydration will get you a few more minutes of good pictures.

I am not a professional photographer at all, but I’ve taken enough group shots and kid pictures that I can come up with prop ideas and different sittings easily. I move fast. I act like an absolute crazy person behind the photographer trying to get the kids to look at the red light and smile a cute smile.

Our most recent pictures we took this summer, we were done in less than 30 minutes. That included the four kids together, Cora alone, Rhett alone, Daddo and I alone and then all six of us. I had a mental plan going in, had a fast moving photographer, and we had an early appointment and only waited the few minutes for her to set up the camera and lights. But I forgot one super important thing that day. The snacks. I didn’t even pack sippy cups. Even Daddo was like, ‘You messed up.’ 

Thank goodness all of the other ‘good photo-day requirements’ fell in line or we wouldn’t have gotten the great shots we did. 

Even if all of those things happen, you’re still dealing with individual personalities like the stubborn one (Rhett), the bad picture-taker (Cole), the crazy hyper toddler (Cora), and the older kid who has his own picture opinions and argues about his pose (Will).  

But through it all, if the adults in the pictures can keep it together and keep a picture-smile on their face the entire time for any chance that all the younger people are doing what they need to do, then a shot can be caught. Just toughen through the mouth cramps. If they hear you complain or whine one little bit, it’s over. 

That’s right. Just fake it. 

Life is perfect, no matter what, in a family photo.