When the kids are grown up…

…But you still would love to have a family photo…

The M. Family

I love big families. I was raised in a family of 5 and always knew I wanted to have at least 4 kids so that my family would be “big” according to the American standard at least. As you may know I have 8 children which put me in the “huge” family category!

The M family has 7 members, and only one is under 18. They are lively, funny and definitely love each other in a fierce way that you can feel when you hang out with them.

When you have some children at home and some who are grown up, it’s not too late to have a beautiful updated portrait for your home. Here are some tips for having a grown up family portrait session:

1. What’s the perfect time?

It depends on your family. Think about when you know all of your adult children will be in town for a few days. For some families this may be at the holidays. If you have kids who are in college check with each of them at the beginning of their year to see when each has their school breaks and then look and see when those overlap. Summer, or Spring break, Thanksgiving or Winter Break are all great times to check and see where your kid’s schedules can line up.

I keep a family Calendar. It’s still a great way to manage family togetherness time even once your children move out for good. Ours is though our apple phones and each person can add and edit the family events. Google Calendar is also something each member can subscribe to and edit easily making picking a range or a certain date for your family’s easier.

I also know many families with all grown up children who use apps such as What’s App to hold family group chats. These apps are a great way to plan out a trip, gathering or even a “grown up family” photo session.

When you know the date: contact your favorite photographer to check availability. The further out you can book the more likely that that photographer will have a spot for you within the range. Most photographers have limited shoot days, and their schedules fill during busy times so even though it may seem awkward to book out 3 to 6 months if you know what date or range works, do it.

2. What’s your favorite place?

You don’t have to pick a park for your family shoot? Survey those grown up kids of yours: They might have a lot of ideas. Remember with me you don’t have to have a “perfect” place thought out to book. I will be posting some examples of all my favorite spots in the Pittsburgh area. When you book you will have some samples of my work to see from each of those areas before you have to make your decision.

Send those links to some of the older kids in your family and see what they think. They may even prefer to have a session on your property or inside of your home. All of my sessions are “on location” and I give your family up to one hour of my shooting time: and will head right to your favorite spot, anywhere in the greater Pittsburgh region.

3. How do you show the happiness and joy of a family who’s mostly adults in portraits… without making them seem forced or awkward?

I’ve learned SO much about family photography this year. Each of my earlier sessions held major learning curves and this one was no different. I remember the anxiety I felt before this session. The reasons were these people are grownups, and there are a lot of them!

For me, I am a naturally goofy person: and little kids I can normally bring to a hearty giggle just by being goofy. I also personally love teenagers, and love a good challenge: it’s part of why I love working with seniors. I find when you are authentic and down to earth with teens and kids the meet you in that, and their authentic personalities come to the surface.

I strive to be myself. I am a dork, I’m goofy. I make people even 25 year olds “fake giggle”.. it works I promise. I come to every shoot with the need to make a connection with each human there. I don’t need you to smile to get an amazing portrait of you. I also don’t struggle to get each person fake smiling and looking into the camera for every shot.

I tell you to look at your family. I don’t need you to look into my lens to capture your love: and connection with your family: and that’s what I want for each client. I want them to have authentic photos that show their families love and personality. I want them to have a piece of Art in their homes that caught for them.

I love this set of photos. I hope the M family loves them as well, and that they represent their family in a beautiful way.

Posted by

heidiiliff