I love getting family pictures taken. It's my yearly Christmas gift. I learn something to make it a little better each year. And then, I feel like sharing it with the world, in case someone else needed the information too! So, here goes!
1. Start a tradition
We took a picture like this with Aidan our first time of taking family pictures together, because he was just starting to toddle, and it stuck. Now, it's a "must" whenever we take family pictures. As he grows, it'll be crazy to see how he changes. And then on day, he'll be going off to college, and this is all I'll have left... okay, moving on.
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| 2014 |
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| 2015 |
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| 2016 |
2. Be Flexible
We had our family pictures scheduled a week after hurricane Matthew hit, at a beautiful beach/national park outside Saint Augustine. That national park was hit harder than the rest of the area, and we didn't find out until the morning of the pictures, that we'd need to find a new location. So, our photographer, Hillary suggested a new beach. So we had our family pictures taken at Fleming Island. It wasn't what we had planned, but the pictures still turned out beautiful, the lighting was perfect, and we got all the shots we wanted, and we didn't let the change in plans ruin the day.
3. Location Variety
Choose a place that has a couple different options. We loved the idea of a national park in our area, because you can have the forest/trees, and the beach. In this case, there's also the fort!
4. Personalize
When we move to Slovenia, I want to do a ocean/nautical room for Aidan. I wanted some nice pictures to be able to display, that incorporated his love for the ocean in some way. So, I got him a little sail boat to play with during the pictures. It held his attention, and was a great way to personalize the pictures for him.
5. Use Patterns Sparingly
I fell in love with this dress at Vici a few months ago, and knew I wanted to wear it for our family pictures. (I loved how feminine it was, but not overly "girly", so I wouldn't look out of place next to my boys.) It's not an overbearing pattern, but it is a pattern nonetheless. So I knew, that for the other items of clothing, I needed to keep with solids. (I like pattern mixing, but with pictures you want it to be classic, and not have a dated feel, which often times patterns have.) So I drew inspiration for colors from the dress - brown/khaki and a couple shades of blue. So, I had Dan wear a darker blue shirt, and khaki shorts, and for Aidan a lighter blue shirt, and dark gray shorts. (So the dark and light balanced each other out.)
I'm going to take a moment to shout out to our photographer, Hillary Raulerson. Obviously, none of these photos would be so beautiful if she hadn't been the one taking them. She has taken our pictures 3 years in a row, and even our family pictures when all of my side of the family came to visit for Christmas two year ago. She does a great job of making you feel comfortable, is great with kids, does beautiful work, and is very reasonably priced. I've linked her website, but here is her Facebook page too.
I hope you enjoyed our family pictures, and maybe found some helpful tips for your photos this year!
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