Hey friend!
It is not a secret that I love family photography. And I SUPER love Seattle Family Photography because I love the people in this city! They are for sure my people.
Family photography is what I would say is my speciality, my zone of genius. I love it. But I will admit, there was a time when I was telling my friends... "I think I am going to give up on family photography and stick to newborns and seniors." You guys! I suck at seniors. And while I do love newborns, at that time it was posed newborns I was talking about. This couldn't have been further from what I love or what my heart wanted. It was what I thought was easier.
So what gives?
Well, I hated family photography because I was trying to make my families look perfect. I was scouring the internet trying to find the perfect poses and then trying at every shoot to pose my families in these perfect ways which was making me feel totally defeated. It would make anyone feel that way. Sound familiar?? Please tell me I am not alone. ;)
So let me tell you three things you can do RIGHT NOW to improve your family photography and whats more is that it will make it more satisfying for you too.
1. Give up perfection. Let it go. Today, stop trying to make your families look perfect. Instead, focus on capturing connection and emotion. Family is anything but perfect and there is no rule book that says we have to make them look that way. Put your own twist on it.
2. Use movement in your family work. Ask them to sing, dance, spin, run, tickle, tell a story. Anything to get them engaged and moving. You will love the results.
3. Tell the parents over and over again NOT to look at you but instead to look at each other. This will make the images more meaningful and more emotive. They need lots of reminding about this as they have been trained to look at the camera their whole lives but it will be worth it.
Give these tips a try and let me know if even these simple tips help you make a change. Family photography is very in demand so don't give up!