My New Approach to Family Photos

A change of heart when it comes to photographing families. No, I haven’t given them up! But I have had a shift in perspective and what fuels my creativity. It’s been the expectation for decades that a “proper” family photo requires every person to give their best smiles at the camera. But this expectation of perfection is not realistic when it comes to families with children, heck even a fully grown family still has trouble smiling at the camera for 60 minutes straight! You may be asking yourself, “so if not smiling looking at the camera, then what?” Let me explain further. Your Hawaii family photos will be a combination of traditional photos with a greater emphasis on candid images.

Some Posed Photos, More Candid Ones

When we start our family photo shoot, I will focus on the traditional posed ones where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. This shot has a higher success rate early on into your session. The reason being, the sooner we can get your children’s attention the better. All kids will loose their focus fairly quickly, 15 minutes in and they’re done looking at the camera. Once we’ve gotten a few of these traditional photos, we will spend the rest of the time on more candid photos.

Are Candid Photos Really Candid

Some candid photos are truly spontaneous while others are given the space to happen naturally. The truly candid photos are those such as, when your child or children decide that life is better sprinting 100 feet across the beach. I agree little one, I agree. In the same way, when they test the waters with their toes and become entranced by the waves. These are moments that I cannot, nor the parents, force. It simply happens sometimes and I love it. Other times, I’ll create a space where guided moments are allowed to happen. These photos typically look like those where the parents get authentic laughter from their kids by way of “tickle monster attack!” Clearly, the parents were in on it and so, it isn’t really candid. But the reactions from the kiddos are real.

Parents Know Best

I rely heavily on you, the parents, to encourage authentic smiles, laughter and happy screams from your children. You know them better than I and you know exactly how to make them smile. Your connection with your them will take your photo shoot from good to amazing. Capturing the connection and interactions between parents and their kids is what inspires me. This is what I want to capture, more so than posed photos. These images have a special feeling that can’t be faked or forced. It’s a true reflection of the love you share. And in all honesty, those are the photos that my clients end up loving the most.