There a few things to keep in mind when choosing clothing for your family or kids pictures.

1. You want to be stylist yet comfortable. You do want to dress up a little and dress your best but at the same time, I want you comfortable enough to act naturally and be able to snuggle up and play. If you show up in a tight short dress or skirt, you won’t be able to sit comfortably and snuggle with your kids. Everything will look very formal and stiff. On the other hand, if you show up in t-shirts and gym shoes, you won’t look like you have put in an effort. Somewhere in the middle is what we are going for.

2. Dress for the weather!!! This can be the single most important part of planning your clothing. No matter how cute the outfit is, if it is not weather appropriate, your kids will not be happy which will not make happy pictures. Most of you are booking months in advance so please think about what the weather might be like during your session. Hope for the best and expect the worst. It’s always a good idea to have a plan B.

3. I advise everyone to coordinate but NOT MATCH!!! You don’t want everyone showing up in the same clothes or even the same color. We want everyone to be able to show their personality. I typically recommend to pick 1-2 base neutral colors and then pick 1-2 accent colors. If your family members show up in any of those 4 colors or any combination of those colors, you will all coordinate and yet all have your own personality. Don’t know what colors to start with, pick a color that you like to see your child in and build off of that. Or, if you know you will be displaying these images in your home, select colors that will coordinate with your room.

4. If you are dressing a little one for a milestone session, pick a color that you like to see them in. I also have a variety of rompers and sitters that you are welcome to use. Just ask me for more information. I am happy to help out with your selection.

5. For newborn sessions, please dress very neutral. I have plenty of wraps for the baby but have the rest of the family show up comfortable and neutral. We don’t want any bold colors reflecting on your new little one. I also prefer these pictures to look more natural and organic.

With any session, I am always happy to help style you and are happy to give recommendations. Just ask!

1. Please try and have the kids as rested as possible for the session. If you have had a long day playing at the park and going for a bike ride, they will be tired and possibly crabby by the time of your session.

2. Please do not bring snacks to the session. If the kids know that snacks are there, they will often look for them and decide they need a snack break during the session. Typically once food has been taken out, it doesn’t ever get put back away. We then have pictures holding snack containers, mouths full of food or tears. It is a great idea to have them fed about half an hour before the session so they are full and happy and don’t need a snack. Bribes are fine but make it for something after the session. Nothing that you have with you.

3. RELAX!! Easier said than done but if you are relaxed, so are your kids. I love kids and love working with them. As my clients will be sure to tell you, I will play around with your child and make them comfortable. Yelling at your kids to smile will never work. I get that it can be stressful and by all means, if behavior is an issue, feel free to correct it. If it is just because they aren’t smiling, no worries. That’s my job 🙂

If you book a newborn session with me, I will start out by sending you a list of questions to help personalize your newborn session. A few days out from your session, I will send you over a checklist for the day of that will help the session run smooth.

If you have somewhere specific that you like to use, please let me know so I can research it and find out if a permit is required.

There are a variety of locations that I like to use so I am always happy to recommend a location. I have been doing this long enough to know good locations for specific times of year and times of day.

I, of course, always offer in-studio session at my photography studio in downtown Crystal Lake, IL.

We of course want to shoot when your child is at their best and that is a huge consideration for your session. For in-studio sessions, this is all we base time on.

For outdoor sessions, we must avoid shooting during the middle of the day hours. The ideal is sunrise or sunset or as close to both of those as possible. The closer to sunset you can get, the better your shots are going to look. Nothing beats a session at sunset. It is worth it every time!