One of the questions I get frequently asked is, “How do you get your daughter to smile for pictures?”. One day I will make a post of all the outtakes just for giggles (because let’s be real…it’s not always easy taking pictures with kids). With the holiday season quickly approaching, I know that now more than ever is the right time to share my tricks and tips on how to take the best family pictures possible.
Before we even get to actually taking the pictures, let’s start with how I plan my blog and more importantly, family holiday pictures.
- Choose a “theme” and location: Where do you want these pictures to be taken. Inside a studio? In a pretty field? Outside of your family home? Pick the location first. This will help you decide how casual or dressy your outfits will need to be.
- Timing is everything: The photographer I have worked most closely with, Mariah Fisher Photography, is amazing at aligning the time of our shoot with the natural outside light. If you are shooting outside, be sure to talk with your photographer about the best time of day to shoot. Another important callout is working around when your children are the happiest. One year, Lilly fell asleep in the car on the way to taking our holiday pictures. It wasn’t pretty. Be sure to work nap schedules into the equation when picking a good time to take pictures.
- Decide on a color scheme: I recommend picking three colors. Maybe it’s grey, white and red. Be sure to layer each color in a different, contrasting way on each family member to ensure that the same color doesn’t stand right next to each other in pictures.
Photo Credit: Mariah Fisher Photography
For example, if Alex and I were to stand next to one another in this picture, we still look like we are matching, but he’s not wearing a green top that matches my green dress. That would blend too much together in the picture and look a little strange.
Photo Credit: Corrina Marie Photography
Here’s an example of too much red standing next to one another. It doesn’t look horrible but it would look much more balanced if my dad was in a grey sweater.
- Decide on one print and one texture: I love a good holiday/tartan plaid, and if you know me well enough, you know I can’t resist a fair isle printed sweater. It’s easy to get carried away with all the fun holiday prints and textures, but my advice is to pick one print and one texture
Think about prints like stripes, plaid, polka dots, fair isle. Pick your favorite. Then look at textures like jacquard, velvet, corduroy, tweed, wool and pick one from that category. From there you will…
- Pick an Anchor Outfit: When I style clients I pick one piece of clothing that I call my anchor. The rest of the pieces that I style match or revolve around the anchor piece. You should think about doing the same thing when it comes to picking out outfits for your family’s photos. I usually let Lilly’s outfit be the anchor outfit. I start with a dress like the plaid dress she wore last year, add in a layering jacket, tights and shoes. From there I typically look at what Alex is going to wear. He often wears a similar or exact print to Lilly as a button-down then layers it with a half-zip so he looks like he matches her but the two prints do not ever touch one another. If Lilly is wearing a print, I tend to stick to a solid dress or outfit so there is not too much going on at once. Think clean, timeless, classic.
- Lay all of the Clothes Out: To ensure everything looks put together before pictures, I lay out what each family member is wearing side by side to make sure the colors are aligned and contrasting. For example, if Alex has a grey sweater, you will probably see me in grey tights because his top and my bottoms match and add balance to the picture.
- Iron, Steam, Hang: The last thing you want to have to do the day of pictures is to be stressing out over making sure everyone has what they need, that all the shirts are ironed, organized, etc. I make sure to hang every outfit up the night before and even place the accessories needed with them so we aren’t scrambling and stressing right before pictures. The less stress you have going into pictures the better. Kids sense stress and will certainly take that with them into your family pictures.
- Make it Fun: The first few years of pictures with Lilly I was so worried we wouldn’t get “a good picture”. I quickly realized that my favorites were often the ones that weren’t posed. Trust your photographer. Make it fun for the kids. Enjoy the family time together and I promise you will get some great pictures.
Below are my favorite picks of the season for holiday outfits for your family:
- For Men:
- For Women:
- For Boys:
- For Girls:
Photo Credit: Lovelight Photography
A funny backstory:
Last year’s pictures Lilly had a black-eye from running into a doorknob AND was really sick. Between our photographer’s quick thinking and just playing with Lilly instead of worrying about the perfect picture, we took some of my favorite holiday pictures.
Below are some of my favorites from our past holiday pictures.
Photo Credit: Mariah Fisher Photography
Photo Credit: Corrina Marie Photography
Photo Credit: Lovelight Photography
Photo Credit: Carrie Bussato Photography
Photo Credit: Memories by Christy
Photo Credit: Mariah Fisher Photography
Photo Credit: Corrina Marie Photography
Photo Credit: Mariah Fisher Photography
Photo Credit: Corrina Marie Photography
Photo Credit: Memories By Christy
When it comes to family, things often don’t go as planned, but that’s some of the beauty of it and always the reason for funny memories told around the dinner table for years to come.
Best of Luck!
Kalyn
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