Booking a family photography session is a wonderful way to capture memories, but you might be wondering what to expect on the day of your shoot.
From preparation to the final shot, here’s everything you need to know to ensure your family portrait experience is relaxed, enjoyable, and delivers stunning results.
1. Pre-Session Planning
The day before your photoshoot, you’ll receive a session options form which will let you browse my range of props and backdrops and make any selections of those you’d like to include in your session to make it perfect for you. It will also give you the chance to think and talk to each other a bit more about the type of images that you’d like your gallery to contain. However, it’s worth thinking about your wardrobe in advance, do your outfits complement each other? Do you want to have a more formal feel to your images or to keep things more natural / lifestyle? Or would you like to mix and match between the two – you have time for outfit changes in your session so you can definitely do both if you want to.
2. On the Day of Your Session
On the day of your session, it’s all about creating a relaxed environment so you can enjoy your session while creating your images. Here’s what you can expect:
- Arriving at the Studio: We have the studio booked for an hour which is plenty of time so there’s no need to rush. Arrive at your appointment time and you’ll be parking on my driveway so there’s always space. The studio is a short walk up a path so we’ll take everything you need for your session up with us so we have it all to hand while we create your photos. There’s a toilet and changing room at the studio with a large mirror so you have a great space for any last minute hair, outfit, and make up checks.
- Before we Start Taking Pictures: We’ll take some time to say our hellos and also to go through what you’d like to do with your session. I’ll take a peek at any outfits that you’ve bought with you and we’ll create a plan for how we move through your session.
- Relaxed Atmosphere: I get that there can be a degree of nerves around turning up to a studio to get pictures taken by a stranger (if we haven’t already met) but my goal is to create a relaxed atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable. Never been in a studio before? No worries, I’ll guide you through the session and give you all the info you need to look fantastic. Not quite sure what you want to do? There’s no problems there, I always have tons of ideas!
- Posing and Interaction: While I’ll direct the session, I encourage natural interactions. Whether it’s a smile, a laugh, or a hug, these moments create the warmth and connection that make family photos so special.
3. During the Session
I’ll work closely with you throughout the session to make sure everyone feels at ease and physically comfortable – not all poses work for everyone so I’ll be checking in with you throughout to make sure things are going as you’d like them to. Here’s what to expect:
- Multiple Shots: We’ll take a variety of shots, both posed and candid, to capture your family’s dynamic from different angles and perspectives. In each pose that we set up, I’ll be taking lots of images so don’t worry about blinking and things like that – there’s always plenty of shots to choose from.
- Movement and Interaction: You may be asked to change positions, stand or sit in different ways, or interact with one another to add variety to the photos.
- Fun and Playful Shots: I’ll encourage playful moments between family members to get those heartwarming, genuine photos that truly reflect your family’s personality.
4. The Post-Session Process
After your session, your work is done but mine is just getting started. I bring all your images into my editing suite and choose the very best of them to present to you in your gallery. There’s never any viewing sessions or sales process with my photography. As soon as your photos are ready, you’ll receive an email with a code to your private online gallery where you’ll be able to view and select the photos that you love.
You’ll have either one or three images included in your package (depending on whether you’ve selected the mini or full portrait session) and you’ll have the instructions on how to let me know your selection in your email. Anything else that you’d like to buy, you simply add to your shopping basket and check out online just like you would with any other retail site. It should all look pretty familiar but I’m always happy to help so you can just get in touch if you have any questions.
5. Tips for a Successful Session
To ensure the session goes smoothly, here are a few things you might want to keep in mind while you’re planning.
- Take Time to Plan: It doesn’t need to be a big logistical exercise, you can even just take five minutes to talk through choices on your pre-session form the day before your session, having a consensus on the type of images you’d like to create means that you’re much more likely to end up with a gallery that’s perfect for you!
- Comfort is Key: Wear clothes that make you feel comfortable and confident. There’s lot of advice about what to wear for your portrait session but none of it matters if you don’t like what you’re wearing! Avoid anything too tight or restrictive that might distract you during the session. If you’ve got small kids with you, you are likely also to be moving more than average so it might be worth avoiding anything too short so you don’t need to worry about that when you’re wrangling an active toddler!
- Keep the Kids Relaxed: If you have young children, we’re going to let them take breaks if they need so and sometimes it is a great idea to bring along a favourite toy to help them settle in to a new environment (favourite toys are part of the family too and can look great in some of the images!). I’ve got two decades worth of experience in working with all ages and so I’ll be working to keep things fun and fresh for them in the studio so you capture those great natural expressions. Generally speaking (and it varies according to your child’s age and personality of course) but telling them explicitly to smile will often give you some quite strange expressions so I prefer to just amp up the silliness and get them to laugh naturally. My advice would be to let your inner silliness out too and be prepared to sing / dance / whatever makes them laugh – I’m never going to judge and I definitely don’t video it so your family secret daftness is safe with me!
- Stay Positive: Remember, the session is all about capturing your family’s unique moments. If something doesn’t go as planned, don’t worry—those candid, unposed shots can often turn out to be the most memorable.
Frequently Asked Questions about Family Portrait Photography
Got questions about your upcoming family photography session? I’ve compiled answers to some of the most common queries to help you feel fully prepared and confident for your shoot. From what to wear to how to keep your little ones happy, I’ve got you covered! If you can’t find what you’re looking for here though, just get in touch and I’m happy to help!
Absolutely! You can purchase additional prints, canvases, and other products after your session. I offer a range of high-quality options, from beautifully crafted photo canvases to professional prints and frames. Once your images are ready, I’ll provide you with details on how to place an order for any additional products.
If you need to reschedule or cancel your session, please contact me as soon as possible to allow me to maximise my available studio time. Of course I understand that illnesses and emergencies happen so I’ll always do my best to accommodate you where I can. In fact, if your child is ill on the day of their shoot, it is often best to reschedule rather than push ahead and not get the photos that you want because they aren’t feeling up to it. Where you miss an appointment without giving me any notice, then you are always welcome to rebook but in this case, there would be a £30 rebooking fee before you can schedule another session.
After your session, I’ll provide you with a private online gallery where you can view all the edited images. You can select your favourite images directly from the gallery. If you prefer, I can also assist you in choosing the best options for prints, albums, or any additional products you’d like. I’m happy to help guide you through the selection process to ensure you get the most from your session!
I don’t show photos immediately after the shoot, as I like to ensure the highest quality editing and selection for you. Within 1-2 weeks of your session, you’ll receive a private online gallery where you can view and select your favourite images. This gives me time to carefully edit and prepare the photos to make sure they look their absolute best.
It’s perfectly normal for children to feel a bit shy or uncooperative during a photo session, but don’t worry! I take a relaxed approach to working with kids, allowing them to get comfortable at their own pace. I’ll encourage natural moments and use fun prompts to help them feel at ease. If needed, I can work in shorter bursts to ensure they stay engaged without feeling overwhelmed. The key is to keep the session fast paced, stress-free and enjoyable!
Due to the size of my studio, I typically recommend booking a session for up to two adults and three children or four adults. If you’d like to include extended family members, such as grandparents or other relatives, I’d be happy to accommodate within these limits. If you have a larger group, I recommend discussing it with me beforehand so we can plan accordingly, whether that means splitting the session into two or finding a different way of doing things.
My online gallery should be fairly familiar to you if you shop online but in case you need a bit of extra assistance, you can click on the button below to access a help document that walks you through how to access your gallery, choose your favourite images and place an order. Of course, if you are having problems, just get in touch and I’m always happy to help.
You need to pay for your photo shoot when you book it. If your session is more than two weeks away, then you have the option of paying a £20 deposit with the balance being due the week before your session. Otherwise the full balance is due on booking.
My studio is a short walk from where you park and up several small steps. As such, I’m sorry to say that it’s not wheelchair friendly. I’m happy to help in any other way that I can though so if you have someone in your party who needs a little special attention to make the session fun for them, then just get in touch and we can talk over what I can do to make things work for you.
This is one of two things that people regularly say to me, this and ‘I’m not very photogenic’.
Well, you’ve got to the studio and so it was obviously important enough for you to get the pictures and so you’ve already done the hard part. All you need to do when you get into the studio is just relax and let me guide you through the process of creating your images. I’m going to tell you everything you need to know to create great images, I’ll tell you how to stand, sit and pose and gently walk you through everything you need to do. It might feel a bit weird for the first couple of minutes but I promise, it will be much worse in your head and after a really short period you’ll be right in the swing of it. You might even (eek) have fun – pretty much everyone does.
Plus, as I always say, the very worst thing that can happen is that you look at the photos and don’t like them enough to look at them again. That won’t happen but if that’s the very worst case scenario, then it’s no big deal right?
It’s difficult to answer this because airbrushing means different things to different people. I edit each image to make sure it’s looking it absolute best and I’ll remove any temporary blemishes like scratches, marks or spots. I don’t remove any birthmarks of anything that is part of your because that’s who you are, I don’t digitally enhance your body shape (we’ll sure as heck be using flattering posing and lighting though) or change the contours of your face. That’s not what I’m about and you’re perfect as you are.
Most kids if you ask them to smile or say cheese will pull a face that is nothing like their normal, natural smile. For this reason, I don’t generally encourage you to do this in the studio. Instead, we will work to have some fun and get them to smile naturally – this can involve, singing, dancing, saying silly things, shouting ‘poo’ or ‘knickers’ – whatever works to get your little one giggling.
Yes, we have time for at least one outfit change during a session so you can create lots of different looks.
That’s quite a common thing that I hear at the studio and I guess it stems from a fear of those old fashioned portraits where everyone looks very stiff and formal. There’s always going to be an element of posing in the studio as I’m there to make you into great shapes and I also need to light you but that doesn’t mean that the resulting images need to look unnatural. In fact, I quite often set you up as a group and then we just let the action unfold and capture it as it goes. When it comes to kids, because of the requirements for good lighting (after all you’ve come to me for professional images), it means they can’t just run around and play with each other. Quite often this will result in lots of photos of the tops of their heads anyway so we take the same approach. We set them up with a location and then give them an activity and encourage them to interact. Don’t be shy in the studio – we will sing, dance, shout ‘poo’ and do anything it takes to get the fun going!
We have the session booked for an hour for a family portrait photo shoot. That’s actually a really long time to be shooting for so we don’t normally need all of that to get your images created but it means that we take things at a nice, easy and relaxed pace.
My studio is really flexible and I have lots of different backdrops and lighting options to choose from. They’re very easy to switch between so we can simply create lots of different styles of images for you within one session – I recommend choosing three (you’ll be able to do this from your options form the day before your visit) to create a beautifully varied image gallery.
Of course! I call this a ‘mix and match’ session. For example, if you are attending a session as two parents and two children, we can easily take images of everyone together, kids together, kids separately, parents together etc The maximum amount of images from one easy, fun session.
If someone in your party is ill, then you’re welcome to reschedule. If you can give me as much notice as possible then I appreciate it but of course that’s not always possible. I don’t offer refunds on sessions but I’m happy to hold your session fee as a credit so you can rebook at a more convenient time when everyone is back to full health.
It’s wonderful when children are really excited to have their pictures taken but of course it’s not always the case. Lots of kids feel a bit shy or nervous of being in an unfamiliar environment, and so sometimes it takes a little while for them to warm up. Gentle encouragement from you as parents, and any amount of singing, dancing and silliness generally gets the job done.
When you buy a digital file from me, the copyright stays with me as it would with pretty much all other photographers out there. However, that’s just a legal term that I retain as the creator of the image. You’re able to print and share the image as much as you’d like to – the only things that you can’t do is sell the images or claim that you took them. Other than that, they are yours to do as you wish with.
This is question that I get asked a lot and it’s a really tough one to answer as it depends on so many things. If I’m photographing a baby and they’re in a great mood, then you have lots of photos where if they are finding things a bit difficult then you get less. Gun to my head, if I had to offer an average image count, then I’d say that you can expect to find about forty fully edited images in your finished gallery but that can vary wildly so it’s probably not a very useful statistic for you.
It’s a good idea to coordinate outfits for your family portrait session as that makes a real difference to your finished pictures. Of course you don’t have to all wear the same (although twinning is quite in at the moment), but it’s a great idea to match colours or tones. Avoid bold patterns and logos as they can be distracting and also they tend to date quite quickly – plain colours can give you a more timeless feel. In the finished photos, you want the eye to be drawn to your faces and so long sleeves can help with that. If you have any questions, then you are always welcome to get in touch and I’m happy to help.
All of my portrait work is studio based but luckily, my husband is also a professional photographer and he does shoot portraits on location. You can reach him at VisualChaos Studios and he’ll be happy to talk over your on location portrait requirements.
My studio is quite small (but perfectly formed) and so family portraits are great for groups of up to two adults and three children or five children. If you have a group larger than this, just get in touch and we can talk over what options are available.
A family portrait photo shoot in my studio includes your three favourite images and costs £95. There’s no sales or viewing session to attend, you simply view your images and order what you would like from your private online gallery.
My prop and accessory collection do change a bit over time as I like to keep things fresh but to give you an idea, I have a ton of bunting (and that really does keep on growing as people come up with new ideas), some very cute miniature chairs, an ivory vintage suitcase and a whole Harry Potter themed mini set (complete with owl) if you are a little bit of a Potterhead.
I love dogs and they’re welcome at my studio. When you’re combining a dog and baby portrait, the only advice I have for you is to wait until your baby is able to sit up unsupported as otherwise it’s very difficult to pose them together. Probably don’t bring them if you are having a cake smash as that’s probably just a disaster waiting to happen – even the best trained dog is probably going to be unable to resist all that cake!
I keep your images for 18 months following your session date and after this point, they are permanently deleted so if you are purchasing digital copies, I can’t stress enough to back them up safely.
My studio is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm.
I present all of your images in colour and then I’ll add in black and white copies of some that I think particularly suit it. Of course, if you’d rather have an image in black and white then just ask and I’m happy to switch it over for you.
I have a range of backdrops you can use for your child at a photo shoot and you can make a choice on what you would like when you arrive at the studio. However, if you’d like to take a look in advance…
Each of your images is professionally edited and so there will be a bit of a delay before you can see your images while I get everything ready for you. This can vary according to a number of factors but generally, it’s about a two week wait before your images are uploaded to your private online gallery. I’ll be able to advise you better on exact waiting times at your session.
Sessions take place at my warm and cosy studio in Crawley Down, West Sussex. You can find out more about it including the address and directions at My Studio Page.
There’s no minimum spend or nasty pricing surprises with any of my photography. You’ll already know the price of your photo shoot and what’s included and if you’d like to order more, you simply do so from your online gallery.
I believe in complete transparency when it comes to pricing so you won’t get any nasty surprises. You’ll already know what your session fee includes in terms of images, and you can simply order more from your online gallery if you’d like to – there’s no sales or viewing session to attend.
Here are the prices for additional digital images and prints.
About two weeks after your session, I’ll have your images edited and uploaded to your private online gallery. There’s no sales or viewing session to attend. I’ll email you a link and a password and that will take you straight to your finished images.
Any digital images that you purchase will be sized at 10×8″ at 300ppi so perfect for printing up to this size or slightly larger (you have more flexibility on size when it comes to canvases as they are printed at a lower resolution).
Sorry but no. Obviously you can use your phone for making and receiving calls but I don’t allow any videography or photography inside the studio. If you are caught recording or photographing the session, you will be asked to leave and the session will be terminated without refund. All in all, that’s a horrible situation for us all to be in so please respect my copyright.
Family Portrait Photography in East Grinstead
Your family’s unique moments deserve to be captured in stunning, professional portraits. Let’s work together to create timeless images that reflect your family’s personality and connections. Whether it’s a fun, candid shoot or a more formal portrait, I’m here to guide you every step of the way. Get in touch today to start planning your perfect family photography session!
