Family Photos First Hand
We've had our photos taken every year since we've been married for several reasons. First and foremost, I believe it's important to document milestones in our lives. Another is that I always learn something new by being on the other side of the camera and observing how that photographer works. I have to say that a photo shoot with a 6 month old in the mix probably taught me the most thus far.
Let me be the first to say: IT'S EXHAUSTING! lol :) It was super fun, but holy cow, I needed a nap afterwards. I wrote out the timeline of how our morning went down to maybe provide insight to other moms out there in preparation for their family session...
6:15am Adelaide awakes and I change her and nurse her. Thankfully, she fell back asleep.
6:45am While she (& Gerard) sleeps, I shower, blow dry (and curl!) my hair.
Finally, a good hair day!
7:15am Wake Gerard, he showers & eats breakfast while I gather some props and pack the diaper bag
7:45am wake Adelaide and dress her in bottom layers since it was chilly that day and I didn't want her to spit up on her dress/outer layer, feed her 3 1/2oz bottle to "top her off", burp and load in car seat
8:05am finish dressing myself, Gerard finishes shaving and dressing, he loads Adelaide and diaper bag in car, I make a bowl of oatmeal for myself to eat in the car, feed the dog (DOG!)-this made me remember I'd wanted Ella in our photos this year. So, I grabbed her leash, dressed her in a sweater and her harness, grabbed some treats...
8:10am out the door with Ella and basket of props, holding my bowl of oatmeal
8:27am hit a detour on our way to our session location-road was out! (recalculating...)
8:31am pull into our location and meet up with
.
8:35am arrive at spot, dress baby in her bow and outer layer/dress (spit up free!)
9:15am Austin is done working his magic after several warm-up breaks in the car to thaw out. (It was, after all, November 9th) :)
9:20am sigh in relief that Laidy stayed happy, we stayed decently warm and had the rest of the day to nap!
I hope that helps give an idea of how things might go for a family with a young one in tow. We didn't plan for anything else that day after our photos and I'm so glad we didn't! Getting our photos taken was the big accomplishment of the weekend and if nothing else succeeded, that was OK!
Feel free to shoot any questions my way. I'm always here to help!