Sometimes planning family portraits requires a bit of creativity when it comes to kids…

A 60-minute family portrait session can be challenging for many younger children and even slightly frustrating at times for a child of any age.  It’s tough to sit still, smile and wear dressy clothes for an hour (even for me!).

In the case of our featured family, Mom needed a little incentive for her boys on portrait day so she suggested a sports theme to help create some excitement for them.  It’s hard not to have fun in your baseball uniform shooting baseball card poses and chatting about your favorite Texas Ranger.  That’ll beat a boring one hour smile-fest any day.

This made the rest of the session a breeze as big sister and Mom stepped in with the guys for a more dressy/casual look with the whole family.

Here are a few tips from my experience plus our brilliant mom to help you have a successful family portrait session before you even leave the house!

• Be okay with funny pics that portray your family as they really are.  What else would you want?
• Let kids dress comfortably.  There’s nothing worse than wearing an unfamiliar dress shirt with a funny hairstyle you aren’t used to.
• Keep it casual.  Kick off the shoes if needed!
• Highlight your kids’ personalities and interests.  Allow for some shots in a sports uniform, a princess dress or even a Superman cape (or Batman if you prefer).  Bring on the light sabers and tea parties or even the family Chihuahua.  I can handle it.

Let’s just get some beautiful shots of you all being yourselves.  Somewhere in there we’ll capture the perfect smiles, hair and posture.  But I bet it’s the shot of your son wearing hulk fists or the whole family in NFL  jerseys that will make you smile…today and twenty years from now. Check out the beautiful Campbell Family doing their thing at Town Park in Mansfield, TX!