"Wrangling" Your Crew
You know me. I'm always looking for ways to make things a little more efficient.
So here are two/ three steps to do when trying to plan a photo session for your family without a lot of hassel.
1. Plan it! (Duh right??) No for real. I mean plan it around something fun, an activity or a celebration like a holiday, or a family barbecue. The idea is to plan it around a time when you know everyone will be together and festive.
Aim to plan it at least one month in advance (to give those who have to travel in town enough time to make travel arrangements).
And if everyone isn't in the same household, it will require a small amount of coordination to check everyone's availability. But in today's day and age, you can use a voting/polling app to check availability preferences, and send a google calendar invite to ensure everyone has the correct date and time saved to their calendar once the final date is set.
* My suggestion: schedule the calendar invite time for the photo session an hour and a half before the actual time of the session...because you know someone will be running late or need to make a last minute change (I'm just saying....).
2. Communicate it
Again, utilize technology. Set up a family GroupMe, email, or some kind of group messaging mechanism to provide the details and any updates.
Make sure the details are provided in a clear and succinct manner. Don't make them overly detailed or people are bound to miss something. If you really want to be clear on your message, you can also use Zoom (or something similar) to schedule a quick family meeting to make sure everyone is hearing the same message and give them time to ask questions.
Make sure to communicate:
the importance of the photoshoot
how it will be paid for
how the pictures will be divided out
and most importantly, what to wear!
*My suggestion: Make sure you are not being overly controlling when communicating what to wear. Nothing feels worse than being forced to participate in something you feel you have no control over or feel as though you have no sense of freedom or self expression. The easiest way to describe what to wear is to share a color scheme and communicate if the attire should be "dressy" or "casual". Trust me, if you get this part wrong, this may end up being your last family photo session, because others will not want to participate in the next one.
(And last but not least for my parents with small children and/or babies)
If you have little ones, it is best to plan the session when your kiddos are generally the happiest and/or are the most interactive (i.e. after nap or after they are fed). And for bigger kids, if it's during a week day and they have school- the transition from school to a photo session is a good idea too.
XOXO
Kye
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