Most families have no decent photograph with everybody in it. There is a wedding album from a decade ago and four thousand phone pictures in which somebody is always the one holding the camera.
The uncomfortable part
The portraits families come back and ask us to reprint are almost always the ones with an elder in them. And almost every one of those was booked at the last possible moment, often for a reason nobody wants to write down.
That is the least comfortable sentence on this website and it is the truest one. If you have been meaning to organise a photograph with your parents in it, do it this year.
Coordinate, do not match
Two or three complementary tones across the group. Everyone in identical white shirts photographs like a uniformed team. We talk this through before the session and are happy to look at photographs of what you are considering.
Studio, home or outdoors
Studio for something formal with controlled light. At home when you want the rooms the children actually grew up in — those age into something quite different in twenty years. Outdoors for light and space, shot at golden hour. All three work; they simply produce different photographs.
Pacing
Sessions are paced for whoever needs it most. Seating is brought into frame where standing for an hour is not realistic. The full group is photographed first while everyone is fresh, and people step out as needed after that.
Every combination, not just the big one
The whole group, each couple, each pairing, grandparents with grandchildren, siblings together. It takes an extra fifteen minutes on the day and it is the part families are most grateful for afterwards.
Pets included, and photographed properly rather than tolerated. Tell us in advance so we can plan the pacing.