Family photoshoot ideas

By Mariya Harley · London · updated August 2026

Families who want one good picture together, and who know from experience that getting everyone to look at a camera simultaneously is not realistic.

1. The walk

Everyone moving together, holding hands, shot from in front and behind. It solves small children completely, because they are allowed to be in motion.

2. At home, on the bed

Piled together, undressed styling, morning light. The most honest family frames anyone gets.

3. Cooking or baking together

Hands, mess, faces reacting. Nobody has to pose because everyone has a task.

4. One clean group frame

Ten minutes, everyone in coordinated colours, shot properly. Do it first, while the children still have patience, then abandon it.

5. Parents alone

Five frames of the couple without the children. Almost every family gallery is missing this and almost every couple wants it.

6. Each child individually

One portrait per child, on their own. They will be the photographs you return to.

7. The chase

Deliberate chaos — running, being lifted, laughing. Fast shutter, no instructions.

8. Detail frames

Hands, shoes lined up, a child's grip on a sleeve. The connective tissue of a gallery.

Where to shoot it

Somewhere the children already like, so the session is not their first encounter with the place. A park, a common, a beach, or your own home. Home is underrated: it needs no travel, there are toys, and it is where the family actually exists.

Choosing a location, in order

1. Meaning first. Somewhere you actually go beats somewhere photogenic you have never been — it shows in how you stand.
2. Light second. Open shade or low sun; never overhead midday light on faces.
3. Logistics third. Two locations within a short walk is realistic in two hours; three means the travel eats the session.
4. Permissions. Most London parks are fine for a small personal shoot; commercial work in managed estates and some royal parks needs a permit — ask before planning around one.