2019 Family Photo Shoot

We started a tradition with my side of the family many years ago to gift my mom a photo session gift card every other year for Mother's Day.  Then we coordinate all 18 of our schedules to make a photo shoot happen.  My cousin is our photographer and is so sweet to manage our big crew.  It's so fun to get updated pictures regularly and then we all have pictures to use for Christmas cards that year.  Win-win!

Does your family get professional pictures taken regularly??

Big Family Photo Shoot Tips:

1. Pick 3-4 colors for your outfits
We have my mom select 3 colors for our outfits and then each mom is in charge of selecting outfits for their own families.  I usually try to find a pinterest image with all the colors in it and then we all get busy shopping.

2. Avoid the hottest time of the year and aim for good lighting in the late afternoon/early evening.  
We have done pictures in August, October and maybe even November.  October usually works out best for us.  We broke our own rules and took these pictures around noon.  It was very cloudy and it looked like our 5pm photo shoot time was going to get rained out!  We really lucked out!

3. Scout out your picture taking locations ahead of time.  
My mom and I usually walk through their yard to pick out a couple different spots that would make good backgrounds for pictures.

4. Work fast with a game plan for shooting the whole family!  
We usually start with small family pictures, whole groups, head shots, grandparents, siblings, boys, girls and then some more small family pictures in a different location.  Believe it or not, these shoots have only lasted 30-45 minutes the past couple of years.  It's been great!

5. Have dinner together afterwards with the promise of a fun treat for the kids!

Now on to some of my favorites from our 2019 shoot:

We decided this was our favorite for our Christmas card this year, but we ended up with several great family picture options.

I really loved all of our pictures this year!

The whole Heilman crew!

Mimi & Papaw with all the grandkids.

9 in a row lined up from oldest to youngest.  What a fun crew of cousins!

I hopped in with baby #10.

Olive: Age 6.

Fletcher: Age 3

If you haven't had family pictures taken in a while, I'd highly encourage you to make it happen in 2020!