It is a hard divide separating perfection from ease and reality. In a world of social media perfection whether it be on Instagram or on someone's blog post, it can be difficult to feel on par with everyone else when there are filters, tripods and photography professionals to contend with.

Hubs and I are beyond blessed to have amazingly talented photography friends who are well worth the money when it comes to special family photos. Sean and I probably spent the most on both EV and Baby D's newborn photo (I am not including our wedding or our wedding photos here as that is a whole other ballgame and potential blog post). Both babes were in the NICU and we were so blessed to have them home that having a good photographer come into our house that we considered a friend and who put our babes and ourselves at ease was something that we found to be worth it (hell, she cooed, burped, fed and snuggled when needed). Honestly you couldn't put a price on the pictures that came out of it and my unbelievably talented brother-in-law who made all of their outfits with the exception of EV's Captain America dress which we had bought months prior at Target and had no clue that he was making a Captain America outfit for D. Kismet is a thing in our family!

EV's Shoot (above) Baby D (below)

stars and strobes photography

Hubs and I have used one of our photography friends (depending on the location) for all big events; births, engagement, wedding (obvi), and pregnancy announcements (although I did D's with just EV in our backyard and loved how they came out). If I am going to spend money on commemorating an event, it is going to be on a photographer.

Recently, I purchased a cellphone tripod and a shutter remote that is bluetooth wireless on Amazon, so that I can practice taking family photos myself, but getting the tripod adjusted and the phone in the right place takes quite a bit of tinkering. I do not suggest doing this and having the kids ready at the time it takes time to adjust, so by the time that is accomplished, the kids will already be having a meltdown and will want no part of your picture taking. So adjustments first, kid wrangling later.

With Baby D rounding out our family of four and knowing that the baby train stops here having someone capture family moments has become increasingly more important to me. However, I know this can be a pricey investment to some, so I have not only have some suggestions, but how to get the most out of a shoot, especially when your baby now walks and can know longer be contained.

As mentioned, many of the family photos we have hanging on our wall, are courtesy of the Disney Photopass Photographers. However, when it comes to family photos the photographer means as much to the moment as your actual family. I will be the first to admit, that I can be and was more so a stickler of the "perfect" family photo. Everyone looking at the camera, outfits on point, smiles, laughter, keeping one's hair bows in their actual hair and not one tear. Although many of our shoots have gone this way, sometimes it doesn't (here is looking at you Epcot Santa) and those are the ones that we prepare for.

still one of my favorite photos of all time

First, you have to decide what kind of session you are doing and what the plan is for the photos. Meaning, are you using them as an announcements, Christmas photos/cards, invitations, etc. Also, you need to know your budget. Newborn photos may be more important to spend the money on then a pregnancy announcement. Determining this will help you stay on budget and get the best quality for what you are looking for. Once your budget has been established, there are a lot of websites that host photographers, their websites, and provides you the opportunity to go through their portfolio and get a feel of their aesthetic (you can also filter by price). Honestly, Hubs and I were lucky in that our friends know a lot of photographers or had great pictures done themselves so in the beginning, we received referrals that way. One thing we learned during our wedding photos was the importance of meeting with the photographer in person and not only seeing their portfolio and talking about it in person, but also seeing if there is a personality match (professional or not, I promise this is important). Just because someone is in your budget, does not mean that how they take pictures will coincide with your aesthetic or your needs. As an example, we met with a wedding photographer who was within our pricing, her portfolio looked great, but when we met with her, she had a ton of restrictions on how she preferred to take photos (very staged, she was not one for the impromptu casual shots) and was very regimented on her time (understandable, but since when do weddings run on time...at least in Florida they don't). Since these pictures would be for our wedding, we knew that the guidelines would end up stressing us out rather than make it enjoyable, so regardless of her talent, it was not a good fit. Do not feel that meeting with the photographer is something necessary all the time as this is primarily done for longer shoots such as; wedding, birthdays, newborn photos, etc.

There is also the option of mini-sessions. Mini-sessions are typically 15/30 minutes long. Mini-sessions tend to be less in cost as they are a shorter amount of time and often will already be set up and themed, plus a location will be provided. Friends of ours have always done mini-sessions and although Christmas ones were never on our radar as our Disney ones were super cute (and free) with our passes. However, we were made aware of a local photographers sessions and her pricing was so good, it would have been ridiculous to turn it down and honestly I thought even getting a picture or two out of it would have made it worth it. In our area of Fort Lauderdale, mini-sessions typically run between $200-300 depending on the holiday (Christmas, Valentines, etc.). I reached out to Krystal via Instagram (she is not very active on it, but replied to the DM within minutes) and we selected one of the weekends she provided with the times available and a park location (this would sound super sketch for anything else lol).

Second, in dealing with a mini-session and because your photo session is within such a slim window, make sure that you are picking the best time for your family. I also suggest checking the weather forecast and asking if the photographer has a contingency plan if the weather goes south. We live in Florida, so it can be bright and shiny one day and monsooning 5 minutes later, but our weather app is pretty spot on a couple days out (checking it one-two weeks prior is useless). We chose the very last time slot she had and a 30 minute window so that we had enough time to get the kids together and keep them from having the least amount of breakdowns. I selected the last slot since it would mean that another family would not be waiting on us (is it wrong that this was my biggest concern?). Additionally, it would be right after we fed Baby D, so I knew he wouldn't be hungry during the session. You might pick a time based on what's available or what is normally the most convenient for yourself, but take the time to think about the time and make sure it does not coincide with anything you do in your normal routine and truly what will work best for the kids. It might seem like a small thing, but these are two things that can make or break the session.

Third, is the planning of how you want to look during the shoot or if you want to go with a theme. Whether it be nerdy, classic, preppy, etc., make sure it speaks to you and your family and that you are comfortable. For adults, sitting for a photo session can be no big deal, but for kids, five minutes can feel like an hour, so being comfortable is going to be key. I tend to ask EV if she is comfy so I know that she won't be pulling at herself, messing up her hair and having a meltdown later. All of this can still occur, but it lessens with her liking how she looks when she prances out the door. Although we did matching for our Christmas Disney pictures and had also done matching Star Wars Christmas sweaters, I wanted to go classic for our Christmas mini-session without being matchy-matchy (I don't even know what I a

am saying right now? Who am I?!). I am pretty sure the Hubs is beaming in these pictures because I did not make all of us twins. In deciding what to wear, I used Pinterest as inspiration as well as some of my favorite bloggers, such as Honey We're Home. When deciding what to wear for myself, I tend to look at bloggers who are of similar height and proportions, so anything I purchase, I will already have an idea of what it might look like on. Plus, during the holidays, they tend to model a lot of holiday clothing options, where to buy them with working links, and whether or not they are on sale. Because the holidays can be fraught with delivery delays, I tend to do this sooner rather than later so my outfit is not arriving the night before. You will see why this is important in one second.....

Fourth, plan options and plan ahead. I had purchased a tulle skirt off of Amazon based on one of Honey We're Home's suggestions. I thought it would be fun and flouncy and would look super great in photos...remember hindsight is 20/20 people. On her it looked adorable and normal and something that could be worn to numerous occasions without looking like a Black Swan Cosplay ::sigh:: On me, it made my backside look like I was hiding a small country underneath it. No amount of floofing, keeping it on a hanger, wrinkle release spray or steaming helped the situation. Not to mention, I tried a bunch of tops with it and none of it had the look I wanted for the pictures (blessing in disguise I suppose). Hubs was using a red plaid shirt we had worn in our Santa pictures last year (I couldn't find mine to save my life which was frustrating and I turned the house upside down which involved a lot of expletives), EV had an awesome plaid Ralph Lauren dress that my mom scooped up thrifting and D's was purchased at Target because suspenders on a baby are always a good idea and the bowtie print happened to match EV's dress. I could have purchased something else, but we were saving a lot on our session, so I was not wanting to spend a lot where by this point I knew I was only going to wear it for the pictures (all of Targets options were flannel and ahem...we live in Florida). Strangely, in the back of my closet I found an emerald green dress with velvet leopard spots that had never been worn (I am embarrassed to say how many pieces in my closet still have tags on them and why I didn't think to go through my closet first is beyond me). I ended up loving it, Hubs assured me it was a winner, and it went will with the red that everyone else was wearing. I actually liked that the evergreen color offset all of the holiday red of everyone else. Did I also mention that the red shoes I had planned to wear literally broke as we were walking out the door? As in both straps...on both shoes...you can imagine how well that went over. I wish I could say I took it with a grain a salt...but I didn't and there is still a word that I am trying to break EV of saying (cue palm to face emojii). However, I had taken the time the night before to pull out another "just in case shoes" so I didn't have time to lament on it and put them on in the car. Lesson here is; not only give yourself enough time to put together everyone's outfit (including your own), but make sure everyone has tried on the outfit (including the shoes) so that it has the look and fit you want to achieve. It will be one less thing to worry about when other issues unplanned for arise (and trust me, its best to be in this mindset).

RIP cute red shoes (at least they stayed together for these pics)

And lastly, plan for when nothing goes according to plan (this stands true for wedding day advice too), and you just kind of want to crawl into a corner and rock yourself. Make sure to bring things of comfort (binky, blanket, lovie, etc. for you or the kids...you decide) as well as snacks and drinks (maybe a flask...kidding...kinda). Even if your kids may have just eaten before the shoot, having something to munch on or drink might help them get through the shoot as it probably won't be particularly interesting. We actually changed venues to a park that was local to us which ended up working out perfectly. Everything was already set up for us when we got there. Krystal was awesome and a young mama herself, so she took the shots quickly, knew exactly how to pose us and knew when the kids were getting restless. During this time, she let EV run around and changed photo locations so that she wouldn't be bored and it kept the photos fresh. Towards the end, EV was over picture taking, so Krystal took the time to do a just EV photoshoot (including pictures one on one with us where she could just be herself and not so posed). In having the time for this, it put her back in the mood and back in the photos with us for last shots and looks. As mentioned, for the price I honestly thought if we got away with two pictures that were amazing, I would be thrilled. Every. Single. Photo. Was. Perfection and she had to have given us at least 20/30 edited pictures (which is not a norm for mini-sessions either).

instagram: krystal__lynn__photography

The best advice I can give overall is to roll with the punches (of course I say this after the fact), sometimes the most unexpected photo sessions make for the best photos. I was so rigid originally when we got to the park (especially after the outfit fiasco and EV wanting to go back home to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and having the mindset of taking the perfect family Christmas photo especially knowing that we had a half hour limit. In the very beginning it was hard to relax and just enjoy, particularly when EV began to get restless. A large reason why we chose Krystal went beyond just the cost and her picture taking capabilities (which were exceptional), but as mentioned, she had been recommended by my girl friend who had used her. Her little girl is as active as EV, they are same age and she had told us that her daughter had quite the time wanting to settle down for pictures so instead they just let her run around and play and when I tell you the gorgeous photos that developed from this, it's putting it mildly. What may work for someone else in regards to a photographer, may not be something you are looking for, so sometimes it is these personal stories that will become the deciding factor and what will matter most when it comes time for your own photos. Luckily, it worked in our favor.

restless EV tries to eat pinecones!

The park backs into the Everglades, so there was plenty of picturesque spots.

For those that get stressed out by family pictures, I hope some of the advice soothes your mind even though I am sure in hindsight and as its occurring, it will be harder to see the outside picture. Of course it helps being married to someone that is relaxed about positively everything....annoyingly so, but it definitely helps in these situations.

#photography #FortLauderdalePhotography #ChristmasPhotos #ChildrenPhotography #christmaswithtoddlers #christmasactivities #Christmas