There’s No Perfect Age for Family Photos

By: InSite Creatives

I’ve photographed families with kids at just about every age, and one thing I’ve learned is that parents will almost always find something to worry about before their session. When they’re little, it’s whether they’ll sit still or cooperate. A few years later, it might be a child who has decided their new camera smile is the ONLY smile they’re going to give me. Then you hit the tween and teen years, when someone may be less than thrilled that family photos made it onto the calendar in the first place. I hear some version of “I hope my kids behave for you” all the time, and truly, I’m not expecting them to show up and suddenly become different kids because I have a camera in my hand.

Little kids are going to move. They might need a snack, want to be held, decide they’re done with me for a few minutes, or become extremely interested in something happening 20 feet away. That’s okay. I’d rather give them some room and find ways to keep things moving than spend our time trying to get a toddler to stand in one exact spot. We can play a little, take a break when we need one, and come back to something later. You might be surprised by how much we can get even when it feels like your child hasn’t stopped moving the entire time.

As kids get a little older, their personalities really start showing up in photos, and I love that part. Yes, I’m still going to get the family portrait where everyone is looking at me because I know you want that one. But I’m also watching for the way your kids interact with each other and with you. Sometimes the photo a parent ends up loving wasn’t the one anyone was trying very hard to create. It was just something that happened while we were together, and it looked like them. And please don’t think family photos stop being important once your kids aren’t little anymore. I know schedules get harder as kids get older. There are sports and school activities, jobs, friends, college, and about a hundred other things competing for everyone’s time. But I really love photographing families with older kids too. You get to see relationships that have grown and changed over the years, and there’s something pretty special about having photographs of your family when your kids are starting to become their own people.

I think sometimes we convince ourselves that next year will be easier. The kids will be older, schedules will calm down, everyone will cooperate a little better. Then next year comes and there’s a whole new reason it feels complicated. That’s just family life. There probably isn’t going to be a year when everyone’s schedule magically lines up and every person in the family is equally excited about having their picture taken.

So bring me the toddler who wants to run, the kid who thinks every photo needs a goofy face, or the teenager who would rather be just about anywhere else. I’m used to all of it. You don’t have to wait until your kids reach some magical “good age” for photos, because while you’re waiting, they’re still growing. And the funny thing is, the stage that feels a little chaotic right now may end up being the one you miss more than you expected.

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