Family sessions are always special. As a mom I can tell you that I know how much those in between moments matter. And I also know how fleeting they are. Which is why family sessions will always have my heart. I love giving parents galleries that freeze those moments in time in such a beautiful way that will carry on through generations.
But those moments aren’t always the easiest to capture. Photographing large families can sometimes be stressful and seem daunting for photographers. It’s a lot! You usually have just a few people in front of your camera and now you’re looking at 3+ kids plus the parents.
Don’t stress. Large family sessions aren’t as scary and difficult as you’ve made them out to be in your head. Here’s a few things to remember the next time you’re photographing large families.
1. you don’t have to get everyone in every single frame, every single time
Put yourself in those parents shoes. They have several children now, but it wasn’t always that way. They all came one at a time and so did their relationships with them. It’s okay if some shots are just mom and two of the kids, it’s okay if some are just mom and dad and the oldest. Don’t pressure yourself to deliver an entire gallery full of photos that include everyone. Life wasn’t always (and probably isn’t always) like that for that family, it’s okay if their photos reflect that too.
2. try to do less posing and more observing
Large families are beautifully molded together — older siblings often take on somewhat parental roles to the littles, mom and dad do their best to be present for (and keep track of lol) all of the varying interests and activities, younger siblings naturally follow in their older siblings footprints and often don some sort of hand-me-down clothing.
The love that grows in a family dynamic like that is pretty effortless. So don’t try to pose all of them together, don’t make them stand still, don’t force prompts on them or ask them to do any silly actions for the sake of photos of them laughing together. Step back and watch those things happen naturally. Observe them as a family together instead of forcing them into posed positions.
3. don’t freak out about your settings
I get this question so. often. by my mentorship girls. “How do you keep everyone in focus?”
This might ruffle some feathers but the answer is rather simple: YOU DON’T. And you shouldn’t worry about it either. Because if you stop to think about what you’re seeing, your eyes don’t always focus on everyone all the time.
Say you have five people staggered out in front of you; it’s impossible for you to look at the person closest to you and the person five people down from you at the same time and keep them both in focus in your eye.
So don’t put pressure on your photos to do something that we don’t even naturally do as humans ourselves. Don’t ask yourself if everyone is in focus, but instead ask yourself if the focal point is intentional and if it makes sense as the viewer of the photo.
4. don’t forget to pull the parents aside for some one on one time
I have two boys and I feel insanely busy with them. I can only imagine having more than three kids and how easy it is to just get wrapped up in trying to keep track of everyone. One of my favorite photos to ask my parents is when the last time was they had photos taken of just the two of them. Often times the answer is “our wedding day”.
So at the end of the session when the kids have clearly had their fill of photos and just want to go play, pull the parents aside for some time just to themselves. Make sure you get at least a few good ones in and then let them go be with their kiddos. You never know how much those photos (that you can easily take in 30 seconds) might mean to them. After all, they are the two responsible for creating the people who make up that beautiful family you’ve been chasing around for the last half hour.
