How often do you get professional family photos done?

[Anonymous]

We get them every year and my husband wondered if this is excessive. I said I like seeing how the kids change from year to year. Little things like hair styles, teeth, height, etc.

It’s pretty normal to get them done every year, no? Fwiw, I hate the photos that their school takes. I’d rather pay someone more and get some nice posed and candid shots. The person we use does a great job getting the kids to play or interact with each other while she shoots.

[Anonymous]

Twice yearly. And yep we don’t buy the school ones because they’re cheap looking and atrocious. I have small kids and like how they change.

Side note- my older two were terrible at my newborn photo shoot this year. So bad that I don’t think I’ll ever do indoor photos again. Outdoor is best with us moving and laughing. Dh doesn’t whine but I know it’s not his favorite. But as long as he doesn’t have to do anything other than wear what I lay out and keep the kids happy- he’s okay. He’d never book them or pick out outfits.

You can always do minis if it’s too expensive for a big photoshoot.

[Anonymous]

I have never had professional photos down if my family, but I had some done when I was younger (never paid). I feel it’s a waste of money. What is the price range in DC?

[Anonymous]

Usually 1 that we use for our Xmas card. It may be a photo shoot when we are on vacation or a fall/Xmas shoot at home.

[Anonymous]

Never, unless you count my wedding, where my husband's cousin, and amateur photographer, took the pictures - since we knew her, it didn't feel intrusive or forced. The results were beautiful. I would never pay a stranger to take pictures, unless I were running for office or something.

[Anonymous]

We’ve been using Shoott! recently and like how it works. We decided to start doing 2x/yr to capture how the kids change and also give different scenery.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much never. We did for the first time ever this year- kids are 19 and 15. And that was only because DH won the session at a work raffle! I prefer our own pictures; I don't need to pay someone to get pics and see how my kids are changing year to year.

[Anonymous]

This is by far my most expensive frivolous luxury but I do it annually. I buy my kids’ school photos too, even the horrible ones, bc that is so fun!

I pay $300 a year. I treasure my pictures though, it’s worth it to me.

[Anonymous]

We never have either. My cousin who has a nice camera did newborn photos for us, and those were nice enough. And we had a pro for our wedding. That was it.

[Anonymous]

Never. Someone made a nasty comment about me and my son not being a "real" family and I should've ignored it. I just make sure we have someone take a few decent photos of us every year.

[Anonymous]

We've done them twice in 10 years. Once when DD was around 6 months old and once when we were at the beach when DD was around 7.

[Anonymous]

On good years, twice yearly. A friend is a photographer. On not so good years, none.

[Anonymous]

I would rather see an informal real shot then a posed thing with a backdrop.

[Anonymous]

It’s a huge expense and not something I spend lightly - $400 on a one hour photo session is more than my mom spent on groceries for a family of 6 for an entire month when I was growing up! But I really really value the photos. In particular, I value being able to be in them myself. I’m the photographer in my family 364 days a year (like many moms) and even when my husband tried to take photos in return, they aren’t great, haha. So for me, it’s worth it. I also like supporting our wonderful photographer as a small business owner.

[Anonymous]

*above pp forgot to say, we do 1x per year