Hudson Photography

How To prepare for your Family photographs

 

So Family photos can be either fun or extremely daunting. Here are a few tips on how to perfect the art of family photos!!

You Look Great !

 We often hear these lines

 

‘Oh No I don’t want to be that many, mainly of the kids’

‘Can you sort out my double chin?’

‘I just wish my bum wasn’t so big’

‘Try not to get me in the shots’

‘Can you fix the greys?’

‘My Make up is a mess and my hair isn’t done’

 

Look, you are you and you are beautiful. Whether you are a supermodel, A Mum, A Dad, A Bride to be, a groom to be... you are GREAT! The photographs are not being sent into a beauty contest or a judging panel; they are for you to create memories with. Especially family photographs… These are the photographs that you can look at in 10, 20, 30 even 50 years time. They will make you smile, create nostalgia and remind you of your young beautiful family!!!

 

Mums, Dads, Grannies, Granddads, aunts and uncles Take Part and have fun with it!!! Nobody is perfect... I have grown Ikea Sized Bags under my eyes; after all we are only human!!

BUT…. Adult’s one word of advice and this is MAJOR… if you are going to drink the night before try and stick to 2/3 drinks… Hangovers don’t photograph well!

 

Setting The Mood

 

Family Photos can be stressful, I Remember when I was younger getting the ‘’you better behave’’ Talk in the car before our family photographs. I HATED that phrase and let my parents know I didn’t like it by refusing to smile in the photos (My stubborn 10 year old me).

 

So My Mum tried a new tactic for the next shoot. She realised us kids enjoyed being cheeky! I mean which kid doesn’t, they think there doing something they shouldn’t be and they love it! So she made a game….

’How Many Times’- The aim of the game was to se how many times you could say a word whilst in conversation.. I liked choosing the word ‘Bogeys’ (That’s the sort of kid I was!) And we had to see how many times we could say that word whilst on the shoot! We thought we were being cheeky and the photographer caught our Smiles and giggles! It makes a great shot!

Main Point is that it is down to you guys to set the mood, be excited, be creative and be yourselves. We know that children don’t always say please and thank you and if they do have a tantrum we will be right above them with our camera documenting it!
 

Mums, Also get the dads in the mood for the photographs, let them know how important they are to you and how special they will be when you both old etc… You could even try and bribe them with Dinner!

 

Clothing

 

The BIG question is what to wear!!!

 

We can not tell you what to wear we can only make suggestions. But before you 100% decide on your outfits. Sit down and think about what you imagine your dream family photos looking like. Did you want a more romantic dreamy natural look or a more fun, adventurous and wild look!

How you dress will effect what we assume that you want!
 

• So if you dress in neutral colours, pastels, creams, beiges, caramels etc.. We would think you wanted a dreamy natural romantic type shoot. For this type of shoot remember your fabrics matter! Dreamy shoots work well with flowy fabrics, chiffons are great. Braces work great on boys also… or even an open shirt with a T-shirt underneath… Anything that will flow with the wind is great!!!

 

• If You Dress in Bright bold colours, Fuchsias, Royal Blues, Greens, Oranges, Yellows Etc… We would think you were after a wilder shoot with a bit of oomph to it. Hats are great with these kinds of shots! Even if you had consistent block colours and One Main Bright colour… Maybe making a rainbow with your family members will work for a few shots, but there won’t be a lot of variety! Co ordinate, but don’t match too much!

 

• White T-Shirt and jeans! If you dress in white and jeans we will think you as wanting a more traditional yet still natural set of photos. Ok, so the white and jeans look is a safe bet of not messing up your colour choosing! If you can keep chocolate and messy foods away from your kids and even from yourselves then go for it. If not then switch to a black or darker colour.

 

Patterns

 

 This is where it gets complicated. So Patterns are nice. Flowers, stripes, stars, checks etc… But put your patterns together carefully! If you each have a different pattern on chances are is your images will look quite messy and unorganised. There will be too much going on and it will take the focus away from your faces. So try not to mix match patterns, it really doesn’t look great.

 

If everyone is in block colours and one member of the family in stripes. This will only draw all of the attention to that one member of family.

In Some Circumstances this could be a cool trick to use. If you aren’t wanting to be the main focus of the shoot but still want to be in them, maybe putting matching patterns on the children and parent(s) in one solid block colour ill draw the attention to the right people and emphasize on the kids. So think carefully about how you would work it.

 

Most of all Be Comfortable! There is nothing worse than getting out your Sunday best, sitting in a car, getting to your shoot and excited to get home so you can change into something more comfy! We want you to enjoy yourself & be comfortable.

 

Today Of All Days

 

So we have done over a Thousand photo shoots and the amounts of ‘Today of all days’ Moments we have had is unreal!

 

Things Happen,

Your Kid Bangs their heads and has a huge graze over their face

Your baby woke up teething and now has rosy red cheeks

Your little girl got chewing gum stuck in her hair and now has a wonky fringe

Your newborn Pooped all over the backdrop

Someone decided to have a different hair cut and its gone wrong.

       Someone had a tan done and now have patchy orange legs.

in the event of these happening at the shoot or before the shoot we don’t want you to get stressed, laugh about it…These are possibly going to be the most enjoyable photographs you will have to look at in your albums! I (Stupidly) died my hair bright pink.. And I love the photos of me with the pink hair. They are so embarrassing and cringe that I love them! If that even makes sense. Like I said in the beginning … we are only human!

 

 

Keep them Clean

 

Okay so my biggest annoyance is Bogey. Kids leak from their noses… Please parents make sure you get rid of the ones that cling to the inside of the nostril as well as the ones that run… these clingy bogeys will show in every single shot unless they are taken care of! I have even resorted to using my own jumper cuff to get rid of them before. Bring along tissues and wipes for the ‘bogey situation’. There is nothing worse than getting an amazing shot, zooming in and finding a big greeny on their nose.

 

Dribbles, once again, tissue/wipes/muslin cloth. Kids dribble, when you see it, just soak it up :D I may even come at them with cloth and get rid of it (In a playful way of course).

 

Dribble is only good when baby is being lifted above the parent and a line of dribble is captured entering the parent’s mouth! Now that makes a good shot!

 

Generally we aren’t fussed on cleanliness of the kids, if they have been in the park and covered in mud or had an ice cream that is now all over their faces etc... We aren’t bothered by it. Its part and parcel of being a kid. Just be aware that these are going to be your family photos and how they are taken is how they will stay!

 

More than likely everyone will show in spotless condition and the first thing I will say is... Come on lets roll down the hill!

 

 

Last Pointers

 

• Get the kids to bed nice & early so they are well rested before the shoot. Nothing worse than a tired child!

 

• Feed the family before the shoot, nobody can be amazing on an empty stomach! If your planning dinner shortly after your shoot. Maybe a healthy snack or even a BIG MUFFIN before the shoot should be sufficient. With Children that are still breastfed, feel free to feed on the shoot.

 

• Bribery works!!!! Ice-cream, Sweets, cake or a real treat should be enough to get the kids to co-operate. I know it still works for me. (Cake makes me co-operate!)

 

• Stay relaxed and calm… a happy mum is a happy shoot.