When you’re planning a family photo session, you probably have dreams of what you want your portraits to look like - joyful smiles, lovely lighting, a beautiful glow surrounding your skin and hair. As you’re planning how to bring your dream portraits to life with your family photographer, many families ask: should you look for inspirational photos - other people’s family photos that have looks and styles you like? As your trusted Bucks County, PA family photographer, I’m sharing my thoughts on this common question.
Should You Have Inspiration Photos for Your Family Portraits?
Having inspiration photos for your family portraits isn’t suggested but it isn’t necessarily advised against either. I love getting to know my clients and learning your aesthetic style! Sometimes inspiration photos can help, but they typically don’t make much of a difference unless there’s something very specific that you want, like a specific family pose. Ultimately, it comes down to this: if you happen to see a family portrait that you particularly love or that has a detail you like, feel free to bring it into our planning chats, but you don’t need to spend time looking for inspiration photos.
Considerations for Family Photo Inspiration Portraits
There are pros and cons to using inspiration photos when planning your family photo session. If you do see some portraits you love, keep these considerations in mind:
Each photographer’s work looks different. Photographers are artists and we each have our own aesthetics. As a result, unless your inspiration photo was taken by your photographer, don’t get too set on the idea of matching a style you’ve seen or re-creating a certain look. Make sure you choose a photographer whose style you already love rather than hoping they’ll be able to mimic someone else’s style.
Many factors affect how a photograph looks. When you bring an inspiration photo to your hairstylist, your hair won’t look identical to that photo because each person has a different hair color, hair texture, head shape, and so on. The same is true for family portraits! There are so many factors that affect the way your finished portraits look, from your kids’ ages to your photo shoot location to the exact time of day the photo is taken and so much more. Keep this in mind because while some aspects of your portraits will look similar to your inspiration photo, others won’t.
Your family is one of a kind - your family photos should be too! As wonderful as it is to have a strong idea of how you want your family photos to look, what makes family photos truly special is their ability to capture your family’s personalities. As a photographer, I’m passionate about making sure your family portraits are unlike any other!
When I plan family photo sessions with my clients, the planning process is collaborative. You and I have the same goal - to create stunning custom artwork featuring your lovely family - and when we combine our visions, that’s when the magic happens! To start planning your dream session, contact Samantha Wilson Photography and let’s chat.
