My Go-To Prompts for Family Sessions
First of all, let’s talk about prompting instead of posing. My goal with photography is to capture unscripted timeless memories for people to cherish for generations to come. To achieve this goal I give clients prompts instead of poses. Prompts are fun activities that create emotion and movement where posing is placing people in a specific way and saying, “cheeeeeese!” No one feels comfortable doing that in front of a camera. The best family photos are the ones with laughter and genuine non-cheese smiles and I am here to tell you a few ways I achieve this.
The Happy Jog
For parents with little ones I typically have one person holding the child on their hip while tickling or making them laugh and doing a fast bouncy walk towards me. For older kids, I have them all hold hands and tug-of-war each other's arms. Pulling each other closer and further from the other while laughing and speed bouncy walking towards me. This prompt is great for siblings and makes for fun photographs.
Nuzzles & Kisses
This is mostly for little ones. Parents will hold their child in between them, either standing or sitting, and start a kiss + tickle attack!! AHHHH!!! Lots of kisses, lots of love, lots of laughs. This prompt is not all just kissing photos. Those in between kiss moments where everyone is just laughing and having a good time always make for the best memories.
Superhero Flight
This prompt is also geared towards younger kids but trying this with older kids can make for some fun photos, just be careful! I am always able to get creative with this one. Parents both hold their child between them on their tummy and gently sway them towards me. During this I will do peek-a-boo from behind my camera to make the baby smile and all of us will e saying “woooah weeee yaaaay” while the child gets to fly! How fun is that??
Drunk Walk Bumps
Everyone grabs hands and stumbles, yanks each other in, and jogs towards me! This is great for families with teenagers. Very similar to “The Happy Jog” but geared towards teens/adults. This prompt is one of my favorites because it also works for couples sessions. I have also had families do piggy back rides while bumping into each other which was not only fun to capture but so much fun to watch. This prompt is super flexible and easily altered to whatever the family needs.
Big Squish
This is a sitting prompt. Everyone sits as close as possible and squishes in super tight. Parents can tickle their little ones or everyone can tell whatever jokes they can think of to make people laugh! I do know some funny ones so if none you know any that’s no problem at all. With little ones I also like to transition into the younger kids running back and forth from me to their parents, hugging and kissing them, while the parents stay seated. Big Squish is a great quick transition into more seated prompts and is a quick way to get sweet little moments.
