Family photos with Heidi Grace Photgraphy + tips for having the best photos taken!

I fully believe in getting family photos done yearly, if not more, and I think you'll see why when you see these photos! Heidi from Heidi Grace Photography, has been a dear friend for a couple years now and is truly one of the best photographers out there to work with. If you need a recommendation for family/child milestones/fall minis, well, she is your gal! Her work speaks for itself!

These candid shots are my favorite and Heidi does them so well!

I feel like most families would associate fall or maybe even winter as the most ideal time for family photos, but I would encourage you to get photos done all throughout the year! Don't just schedule them for those fall times, spring and summer can be absolutely stunning, especially here in Southern California! There really isn't a bad time and every location Heidi has available to choose from has dreamy sunlight, and her editing is my absolute favorite ever! It helps that she has the eye for what works best for families and always makes sure she takes photos from all different angles and her natural candid posing makes these gorgeous photos possible!

Precious details of my kids I never want to forget!

Some tips below for your best family photos:

1. Choose your photographer based on what styles YOU like and would want on your walls! If you like bright and airy or slightly more moody or you prefer bright colors, find a photographer who already shoots photos in your preferred style.

2. Clothing choices. Now, I am definitely not an expert on this subject! You should have seen how many messages I sent to Heidi asking about clothing choices for us all... She put up with a lot of my questions about this topic! I will say this- I had a shirt I picked out for Riley and a dress I sewed for Reagan and basically figured out mine and Brad's outfits around theirs! Heidi has a great blog post on this though, and I highly recommend it! Sticking to neutral colors and a couple patterns will make your photos seem timeless throughout the years! We definitely stuck to this as I was choosing our outfits.

3. Go with what your photographer suggests! If they are suggesting a pose or something that you can't quite seem to picture in your head, just go with it! I can almost guarantee that it might be some of your favorite photos once you see them. These laying down photos I couldn't quite envision but I completely trusted Heidi and her vision and went with it and they are some of my favorites from this photo shoot!

This one is getting printed in a large print to go in our entryway!

4. Makeup. This may seem like a weird one, but I fully believe you should wear just a bit more makeup than you normally wear. I like to put more blush on to make sure I look fresh and healthy in photos as I tend to be pretty pale, otherwise. Again, this is about what makes YOU feel good about yourself! If you want to wear some false eyelashes to make your eyes stand out, wear them! I received a couple comments about how my lashes were so pretty and a couple comments that were not so nice.. And my advice is to be true to yourself and what you prefer! I am absolutely in love with our photos and have no doubts about how I chose to do my makeup and hair.

5. Speak up! Heidi is pretty brilliant and sends out a questionnaire once you book a photoshoot with her with questions about your family, style, etc. But one question stood out and really made me appreciate this about her and her photography. It asked if there was anything specific you wanted to share about yourself and I let her know that I am a bit self-conscious of my chin and she absolutely was aware of it in all these photos and I felt beautiful in all of these! It definitely helps to speak to your photographer about anything, big or small. Just making her aware of one of my insecurities really helped me know she would be aware of it and her poses were perfect at concealing my "chin."

6. Be in the moment. Even though your photos may be slightly posed or your photographer asks you to do something, like look over your shoulder, or walk towards her, try to be in the moment with your family! Realizing these precious moments with my children and husband truly made me so appreciative of these photos with them which I believe is why these look so candid! It also helps when your photographer knows how to shoot so well too and Heidi is literally amazing!

What about you and your family? Are you ready to book a shoot? Heidi is ready to discuss your families needs and you can take a look at her website and Instagram!

Now, for the rest of these photos! This was also our third pregnancy announcement too!