If you're considering booking an extended family portrait session, there's never a better time than the present! Capturing timeless portraits with all of your loved ones is a gift you will treasure forever.
Capturing professional portraits of your parents with their grandchildren is something some people never get to do (unfortunately I know this first hand), which makes it that much more important and meaningful. I find these sessions so beautiful and I'm here to make the entire process easy and enjoyable for you. We'll chat before your session about all the combinations that are important to you, so on the day of your session you can let me take the reigns and you can relax and enjoy a morning/afternoon with your family.
The Kieland family did just that at Powers Lake Park in Woodbury, MN. It was a bright sunny morning (we met at 9am in mid-June for their session) and they came excited and ready to have some fun. They did a wonderful job with outfit coordination, focusing on blues, greens and neutral tones throughout. This helped create a cohesive feel for their full extended family portraits but also left space for each individual family to express their own style for single family unit portraits.
What an Extended Family Session Actually Looks Like
If you have never booked an extended family session, I want to walk you through what that looks like from start to finish.
We met at Powers Lake Park in Woodbury MN and walked down one of the main paths that loops around the lake. There is a large canopy of trees on either side of the path so it made the perfect location to start their extended family portraits. I typically start with full group photos, and that's what we did here as well. The entire Kieland crew snuggled close for their first portraits. I like to let people get settled in a way that's comfortable for them, and then if needed I can make small adjustments from there. This can look like, "Dads, lets throw hands around wives and pull them close," or "find the nearest person to you and make a connection point - ie; hands on shoulders or forearms, snuggle in close." This makes for truly wall worthy images!
After the large family portraits, we moved on to all the combinations. This can look like smaller family units, moms with kids, dads with kids, just the kids, grandparents with grandchildren and everything in between. Once we felt like we got a great variety of groupings, we explored further down the path and first found a small flower field that the kids were interested in. We saw this as a great opportunity to take some photos of the cousins all together which turned out so sweet. We then came upon an opening to Powers Lake at Powers Lake Park. This made for a great spot to capture the full extended family again in a different location.
Different angles from this same spot produced a lot of great portraits like grandma and grandpa, individual headshots of the kids, and the classic all girl/all boy shot. After this, the kids had fun exploring and throwing rocks in the water which made for some great candid images of kids being kids. Finally, we ended the session with one final group shot on the dock. I love how the greenery softly frames the family here while the docks create a natural leading line to them as well. All in all, we captured a wonderful variety of images they'll be able to choose from and cherish forever.
Booking an Extended Family Session
I have captured extended family sessions at all times of the year, but warmer weather is typically preferred for everyone involved. I would recommend booking your extended family session 1-2 months in advance as this gives us time to properly plan your session and give everyone involved time to find outfits. I schedule a design consultation with all my clients before their session to ensure we have everything planned out. From location, to outfit ideas, to portrait styles and poses you prefer, and how you would like to enjoy your images. From there, we can get your session on the calendar you can relax knowing I have everything in hand for your session.
I serve families throughout Hudson, New Richmond, Somerset, River Falls, Stillwater, Lake Elmo and the greater St. Croix Valley area. I do travel for sessions so, if you're outside the St. Croix Valley area, I can definitely accommodate you. Extended family sessions are available year round, so reach out if this is something you're interested in and I can help guide you in your memory capturing journey.
Next step is to visit my contact page to check availability. I can't wait to hear more about your session!
