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Three generations, one frame — an extended family photoshoot is the photo that matters more every year it exists. It’s also a genuine logistics exercise: more people, more ages, more opinions about what to wear. Here’s how to plan one that works, from a studio that photographs big groups every week.
Why the studio beats the park for big groups
- Light on every face. Outdoors, someone in a 12-person lineup is always in shadow. Studio lighting is built for rows of faces.
- Weather can’t cancel Nan. Coordinating nine calendars is hard enough without a rain contingency.
- Comfort for the bookends. Babies need somewhere to nap and feed; grandparents need somewhere to sit. A studio has both, plus climate control and pram access.
Planning the session
1. Lock the date around the hardest diary first
Usually the grandparents’ or the shift-worker’s. Everyone else adapts.
2. Tell the studio your real headcount
Group size changes how the session is planned — space, seating, lighting and the combination list all depend on it. Tell us the number when you book (and if it grows, tell us that too — it always grows).
3. Write the combinations list before the day
The single biggest time-saver. A typical extended family session: everyone together · each family unit · all the grandkids · grandparents with grandkids · the original siblings · each couple. Agree it in advance — not in the studio while a toddler’s patience ticks down.
4. Coordinate, don’t match
One palette (say denim + neutrals + one accent colour), zero big logos, and let each family unit interpret it. Full guidance in our family style guide and styling guide.
5. Schedule around the littlest people
Morning sessions after the first nap are gold. Feed everyone before arrival. Bribes are allowed — we won’t tell.
On the day: how we run it
We shoot the full group first while energy is highest, then work down the combinations list while kids take breaks. The youngest and oldest members of the group set the pace — that’s deliberate, and it’s why the final images look relaxed instead of endured.
The photo that ends up mattering most
Ask any family who’s done this: it’s the whole-group frame. It’s also the one nobody’s phone can take, because someone is always holding the phone. That’s the entire point of doing it properly — everyone in the photo.
See how POP! family sessions work → or register for a session — and tell us how many you’re bringing.
