How to Get the Best Candid Photos at Your Session

Candid Lovers

If you love candid photos, I can guess a few things about you right off the bat. You value authenticity. You want photos that represent what life really feels like right now. You love a good story. A photo is worth a thousand words and candid photos speak volumes about the who & the what that make up the pages of your life. You might be a little bit artistic. Now I know some of you might be thinking, well no, I’m not an “artist.” But yes! There is an artistic bone in your body somewhere if you value the in-between moments, life in motion, maybe even a little bit of the blur that comes along with candid photos.

So, how do we get those cute candid photos that are actually, ya know, CANDID?

2 Words of Advice for Capturing Candid Moments

1. Accept that you cannot control everything.

A.k.a. let go and let God. Mamas, I am speaking to you specifically because as a fellow mom of young children I have to give myself this same pep talk every time we have professional family photos done. Let your kids be themselves! If you want candid photos that tell the real story of who y’all are, both individually & together as a family, you have to loosen your grip on how they act.

We recently had professional family photos taken and I repeated this idea to myself over and over on the way there. I had done everything I could within my control leading up to the session - I booked the photographer, picked the location, got the kids all dressed and ready, etc. But then on the way there I had to remind myself to just let them be little and ENJOY them for who they are. And the photos we got back from our photographer are some of my favorites ever! Not only are the kids precious (and HILARIOUS), but when I see myself in the photos, I see a happy mom enjoying her kids! Instead of a stressed mom trying to control all the factors. And believe me, I have been that mom before, too. The former is a much lovelier picture of who I ultimately want to be and who I want my kids to remember me as than the latter.

2. Set reasonable expectations.

For clarification of the advice I gave above, I am not saying, let them disobey or be disrespectful. Set reasonable expectations with your kids before you arrive to your photo session to let them know what you expect of them. The key word here is reasonable.

Remember, photo sessions are probably not something they are accustomed to. They might be used to you snapping a photo of them with your phone or even used to having professional photos taken at school, but that probably lasts only several minutes. The concept of participating in a photo session for 30-minutes or an hour is likely a concept they can’t really grasp (depending on their age) and truly may not developmentally have the understanding or patience for.

This is also why the flow of the session is so important. For example, my lifestyle sessions are an hour-long and at first that might seem absolutely crazy because no child, or adult for that matter, can smile for an hour straight. But that’s why we leave room for movement, play, and just enjoying one another. Yes, I will direct you all with the hope of getting a killer shot of everyone looking at the camera and smiling, but I will also give you simple prompts to just PLAY together, too! Where your kids can run & jump & be tickled & forget that the camera even exists.

This blog is a good example of a family session I did with FOUR kids that was one of my favorites, ever! It shows how they turned a family hike around their property (where the kids weren’t focused on posing) into a beautiful photo session with big smiles & lots of laughter & just so much joy! It definitely helps to have an objective of some kind that isn’t strictly about having photos taken.

An example of a reasonable expectation to set with your kids might look look a little something like this - and of course this will greatly vary depending on your kids’ personalities & ages - “Hey guys! We are going to have photos taken of us together today by this COOL gal named Suzy. 😉 We want to remember what life with y’all feels like right now because we love you SO much! So, let’s be sure to listen closely to what Suzy asks us to do so that we can have the MOST fun! We want to try to get some photos of all of us looking at Suzy and smiling our sweetest smiles and we also just want to play and have fun together, too! What do you guys think? Can you show me your sweetest smile? Do y’all have any questions?”

Tell them what they’ll be doing, why it matters to you, & what you’re expecting out of them. At the end of the day, we have to go back to advice #1 because we can’t control our kids’ every move and if we want authentic, candid photos to remember this season, we have to give them freedom & watch their personalities shine through.

Take a Deep Breath & Enjoy

Gosh, I know this is easier said than done, mama! I mean, whoa. But I hope that at your next photo session you’re able to relax a little bit. Let me, or whoever you hire as your photographer, be the one to get sweaty and look crazy trying to get your kids to laugh & you just enjoy them and your whole family dynamic for what it is. You and your kids both will be glad to look back at photos & see a mama who relished in her life & family for what it was in the present moment!

You’re doing an incredible job with your kids and I hope I can help you see it in photographs. xoxoxo, Suzy

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