3 Tips for Extended Family Sessions

You may be thinking that taking a portrait with your own immediate family is hard enough so why would you even try to make a multi-generation family portrait happen?! I know the thought of an extended family session can be daunting but I promise it’s not as impossible as you would think and it’s well worth it in the end. It’s so special to have everyone from grandparents to babies together in a professional photo to be passed on for the generations to come. During these family sessions I always photograph all combinations of people – the entire group, each individual family, just the kids, and everything in between so it’s a great way for everyone to get their photos done in one sitting.

This session above was done in only 20 minutes and ended with a beautiful gallery of 40 photos. The Overend family was on vacation in Newport but only had a small window of time to get their photos done. I don’t normally shoot in the morning for lighting purposes but I chose a park location with lots of shade in order to accommodate their schedule. 

If you are hoping to make an extended family session happen in 2019, my biggest piece of advice is to get it scheduled as early as you can. It works well to plan a session while you are on vacation because you know that everybody will be in the same place at the same time without work, camps, and other activities getting in the way. If that is not an option, consider what season of the year best lends itself to getting your family together. May/June tends to work for those with kids as school ends but summer activities haven’t yet begun. 3 day weekends like Memorial Day or Columbus Day are a great time, too.

The scheduling aspect definitely gets harder when kids get older and work schedules come into play, especially if you have a large family, but keep in mind that even a 20-30 minute window of time is enough to get some beautiful photos.

Once you have your portrait session scheduled, the next question that comes to mind is what does everyone wear? As you can see from the photos I have shared here, blue and white is a popular color combo for large groups. It really is perfect – everyone has blue or white and it works with any background, whether you are on the beach or in the park. My suggestion is to choose a palette of 2-3 colors for your family to choose from to incorporate into their outfit. Don’t worry about everyone having the exact same shade. Some people like to do a “girls in white, boys in blue” type thing but it doesn’t have to be set up that way.

My last piece of advice is to prepare a shot list for your extended family session. This is a list of all of the smaller combinations of people that you would like to have photographed together. Ex: Grandma and Grandpa themselves, kids with Grandma and Grandpa, siblings alone, siblings with parents, etc. It doesn’t need to be super organized or fancy. Just jot down your must have shots on a piece a paper for you and your photographer to refer to through the session.

Whether a Rhode Island local or someone vacationing to Newport, I would love to create these timeless images for you and your family. If you are interested in scheduling a session, please click over to the Contact page to send me a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.