Capturing My Family

Looking through this years photos we have so few photos with all 5 of us from this year! So we had this grand idea of capturing a family photo this fall.  We set out for a quiet field with a forest backdrop near our house. It took us a while to even get out of the house, we had to run back for the blanket, the kids were crying about bikes... Maybe not such a grand idea with 3 kids under 4!

So here we are setting up the tripod and trying to get the kids to cooperate. Our grand plan was to get a family shot, one with us and each of the kids and individual shots of each of the kids. Fail.

The good news is we did get a great family shot!

This alone was enough to make my momma photographer heart smile. I love my family and I know they won't stay this small for long. We also got a few other shots of me with the kids, and each of us with our youngest. The older 2 wanted to run after soccer balls, and tear apart the tripod, and the mosquitos came out to feast on us, so we called it a night.

This is our middle son. After about 5 minutes he was done. This was after he got in trouble for tearing apart the tripod :/

5 Tips for Taking Family Photos 

(with little guys):

1. Take the most important shot first! (I'm so glad we did the whole family together first)
2. Take many shots in the same pose, and quickly... if you know how to use photoshop you can actually do some head swapping!
3. Make sure the kids are napped, fed and happy when you set out. (m&m's work well as bribes!)
4. Find a location close to your home, moving this crew anywhere takes work but somehow close to home seems like less work!
5. Set your camera up ahead of time. Find the right place, the right settings before you gather the kids. If you can use a remote shutter release, that way you can take many shots without having to run back and forth (i forgot mine this time :/)