Today I want to share with you my favourite tips for extended family sessions! Going into the session with these three tips will help to make your session go smoothly and love your images in the end!

But before we start, I want to share with you what an extended family session is: Extended family sessions are more than one household but all in the family. (Grandparents, their kids, their spouses and the grandkids) I recommend the biggest collection to accommodate all the different people combinations with the longest amount of time.

Now on to the tips! Here are a 3 tips to have an amazing extended family session!

• Send a family tree list
• Send a photo list of the MUST HAVE photo combos to your photographer before the session
• Coordinate outfits

Now let’s go into some details about these tips!

Send a family tree list

This will help me study the names before the session and get an idea of who is coming and who belongs to whom. 🙂
Here is an example of how to word it:

Grandma – Mary
Grandfather – John
Terry (son of Mary and John) and Sara.
Their Kids: Max (12) and Suzie (2)
Sam (son of Mary and John) and Amy 
Their Kid: Austin (6)

Send a photo list of the MUST HAVE photo combos to your photographer before the session

Creating a must have list will make sure that we won’t forget any combo that you were hoping for. If you are a client of me, you will get a questionnaire that has this in there so we don’t miss it. But if you aren’t, be sure to send your photographer a list so nothing is missed.

This is also good for photographers to know because there have been some cases where there were people that couldn’t/wouldn’t be photographed together. So to save from some awkward moments, send us a list.

Here are some examples to get you started. (Keep in mind, most photographers have a list of general combos that we will try to get, but to write it down is helpful to make sure we capture what you were hoping for.)

• Everyone together
• Grandparents with grandkids
• Grandkids only
• Each family unit individually
• Candids
• Parents only
• etc

Coordinate outfits

When it comes to choosing outfits for larger families, I recommend coordinating with one another ahead of time. Photos typically look more polished when families choose a color palette or a few colors over wearing the exact same thing.

If you want more info about “What to Wear” for family photos, you can check out this blog post here!

If you are having your photos in the winter, check out my tips on how to have a successful session in the Saskatchewan winter here at this blog post!

Bonus

Bubbles are fun! My recommendation is a bubble machine and not just individual bubbles. The machine will pump out the bubbles, giving it a fuller bubble feel. And plus, what kid doesn’t like bubbles! You can find one at Amazon here.