Happy Friday, y’all! I hope you’ve been able to stay warm and cozy this week. I’ve been loving wearing sweaters and long socks and jackets, eating soup, and seeing the last of the Fall colors. Plus it’s been raining here in Northwest Arkansas a bit, so that always makes everything feel so much more cozy.
Today’s blog post features a really special family session I shot a few weeks ago for my boss (at my ER nursing job!) and her extended family. The session included 12 people – which is by far the largest group I’ve photographed a regular session for – and I can’t lie, I was a bit nervous as I prepped for it. But as it turns out, there was nothing I needed to worry about. The whole family was so kind and enthusiastic about the photos, and the final gallery turned out so beautiful.
Before the Session
Because this would be very different from the single family unit sessions I’m used to shooting, I knew I would have to prep for it a bit differently than I usually do. So after getting the specifics on who would be involved in the photo session, I made a shot list similar to one I would make for the family photo portion of a wedding day (P.S. I used “The Wedding Day Family Photo Shot List Worksheet” which is just one of several wedding planning freebies I created that are available to anyone who subscribes to my monthly newsletter. Did I mention they’re FREE?!).
Another thing I knew I would have to adjust was my shooting style. With smaller groups, I prefer to capture more candid moments than poses, but with such a large group I knew that I would be spending more time capturing posed shots than candids. So I worked out a plan for how I could get all the shots on the shot list and still get some creative shots as well, even with our limited time frame (keep reading to see how I did this!).
The final piece of the planning puzzle for this shoot was to choose a location. Due to weather-related rescheduling and the limited Fall color window, this session was the first of two I shot that day. So we decided on a favorite location of mine that was not too far from where my next session would be, giving us as much time as possible before I had to leave. And since I had just been there a few weeks earlier shooting A’s Senior Session, all the different options available were still fresh in my mind.
During the Session
One thing I love about this location is the variety of the different areas within the park. Knowing that at least one of the family members would not be able to walk very far, I chose this gorgeous spot just a few feet from where we parked our cars for the big group shots. The trees were so perfect, and even though it was early afternoon there was enough shade that we were mostly able to avoid the harsh direct sunlight.
After doing the big group shots, we split off into smaller groups. First I took “Grandma” and “Grandpa” (spoiler alert if you’re booking a session with me – I am terrible at remembering names. I work really hard at it for family sessions especially, but with 12 people there was no way I was going to remember everyone’s name. So they agreed to let me call them “Grandma” and “Grandpa” haha) off on their own to a spot that did not require a steep trail to get to but still has a beautiful view of some of the smaller waterfalls on this creek.
One thing I love is photographing older generations in the same style I photograph younger generations. Of course, because I know they like more traditional style photos, I will always get shots of them smiling directly into the camera. But placing them in a beautiful natural setting, working creatively with the lighting, playing around with different focus points, and prioritizing emotion – the same way I do with clients who are closer to my own age – creates some really interesting and, in my opinion, stunning images that aren’t as commonly seen among people their age. I love it.
Next I scrambled up the trail and down a river bank to reach the most gorgeous photo spot at this location: the waterfall. This is where I brought the two younger families for their photos, and I absolutely love how they turned out. The lighting at this spot was a little bit tricky, but so so worth it in the end!
After the Session
After sprinting back to my car, driving to meet up with my next clients (their session will be posted in a few weeks!), shooting their session, then driving home, I was so tired! And then editing photos for such a large group was no small task. But I persevered, as did my perfectionism, and I am so so so happy with how the photos turned out.
Final Thoughts
After this amazing experience with such a kind extended family, I will definitely be open to shooting larger family groups like this again in the future. But I did learn a couple of things: 1) in the future, I will schedule a lot more time for a group of this size. That way we can get the posed shots and still have enough time for the more candid shots that I love getting as well; and 2) I am so grateful that I chose this location, and now I have a more definitive list of criteria when choosing a location for a group of this size.
*All my blog posts contain a selection of images that I’ve taken. If you are interested in booking a wedding or session with me, I am more than happy to send you a full gallery upon request!
I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a portraits/elopements/branding photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook and sign up for my monthly newsletter to get exclusive wedding planning advice and access to all of my new (and old) freebies! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!
*If you’d like to subscribe to my blog so that you won’t miss any future posts, enter your email and click the button below!
The grandma and grandpa shots were my favorite 🙂