Well it's that time of year when I'm preparing for my Black Friday sale and putting together gift certificates for the holidays. Extended family photography sessions are usually my top sellers for holiday gift giving as they're pretty popular for a gift for your parents/ your kids grandparents who already have everything else.
So, thought I'd share a little info with you all on how to best prepare for these sessions and what to expect from your session.
Scheduling
This is usually the trickiest part of all because we all know how hard it can be to find a date that works with everyone's work schedules, kids sports and extra curriculars and so on. For this reason, it's important to schedule your date pretty far in advance so that everyone in the family can plan for it. So, if gifting this for Christmas, start talking about dates right away for the following spring, summer or even fall.
Location choice
This is something we often overthink. All we really need is a nice open space that is accessible for all family members and has little distractions for the littles. For example, it's better not to pick a park with fun play equipment and then expect our little ones to fully engage with family photos when they would much prefer to get over to the swings. Its great when we can use a family home that has a little bit of land or just a lovely yard. That way the location is meaningful to all. Or, I also love photographing extended families at one of our many beautiful wineries here in Niagara. Keep in mind that when we shoot at wineries there is most often a dinner or something alike booked after our session and always are arrangements made with the winery for permission to use their space. This session featured below was at the gorgeous Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery prior to this families dinner they had arranged to celebrate a milestone anniversary. Of course, there are a few local parks/gardens that work wonderfully as well that I will be happy to recommend to you.
What to expect at your session
On the day of your session you can plan to be with me for around an hour to an hour and a half. After so many years of offering these extended family sessions I pretty much have it down to a science at this point. Here's the typical flow of the session. First we start out with the whole group. This is the most important image of the session so we get right to it before the kids get all cray. After this I like to work on images of all the kids with their grandparents (if present) and then all the kids/cousins together. Then, just the grandparents and then grandparents with their adult children and any chance for a 3 or even 4 generational photos usually happens in here too. The goal is always to have the youngest kids and the grandparents done first. From here, I move onto a little mini session for each family there including siblings and individuals of the kids. And of course...some fun candids along the way. So, we get a lot done in theses sessions to say the least.
What's included with the session fee
Your fee includes your on location session, all of your digital files available for download in high resolution AND 5 matted prints available in your choice of a variety of sizes.
