Looking back on family photos still provides us with a warm feeling inside. There is something built into the human psyche to want to know about where we come from and what our genes looked like in former generations. Unfortunately photography is still a relatively modern medium and goes back no more than a couple of generations. Only the high class of the past, with large painted portraits proudly displayed on mansion walls have a clear record of their ancestors, the rest of us have to make do with poor quality family snaps, thrown into a, often, badly conceived family album.

Family snaps become more sentimentally valuable over time, as loved ones pass on; their photos trigger fond memories shared with them. Those photos become irreplaceable (check out The True value of a Photograph). The photographs taken today will be viewed in the same way by your children and your children’s children.

Professional photo shoots are a great excuse to get the family together. This not so difficult with young children, however there is a temptation to delay a photo shoot until next week, which becomes next month, which becomes next year. All the while those young children grow into older children who get to an age where they spend less time at home and maybe head for university or their own lives and then getting them together really can become problematic. They say tomorrow never comes, and children are not children for so long, and from my own experience this is so true. My advice ‘just do it’

Once you get the family together, a professional photo shoot can be a fun thing to share, getting into poses you wouldn’t normally conceive can become a great memory. Shared experiences are what makes life enjoyable.

While the family is together, why not make a day of it, go out for some lunch and if you’re a mature family take the chance to catch up. If there are grand kids, they will love to chance to meet up with cousins.

As well as having a great family experience, you get to have a memento of that experience to display with pride in your home. Professionally finished images are done to the highest quality, and are designed to last for years to come. Get them on your walls and show them off. Be proud of loved ones and the people closest to you, and show them to the world.

Modern digital photography makes photos much more shareable. Many photographers now provide digital versions of their images to share on social media platforms such as Facebook. Have your family proudly displayed as your profile image.

Professional photographers have the best quality lighting set-ups available, and these lights are specifically designed to make you and your family look your best. Sometimes a little airbrushing doesn’t help too

For the shyer members of the family it is a chance come out of their shell. They will be shown by the expert photographer to pose in a way that flatters them and gives them a greater sense of themselves. We all like good pictures of ourselves. It’s the not so flattering ones we don’t like to see. Professional photography will bring that inner confidence to the surface. It is there deep inside the shyest of us.

If the list of reasons for having a photo shoot is not enough to convince you, then this one might just change your mind. Having a professional photo shoot is a great excuse to get yourself a new wardrobe. Well maybe not a full wardrobe but a new outfit at the very least. What greater excuse do you need than to capture that all important family portrait session?

Getting the best from a professional photo shoot is about preparation. Young children should be well rested, well fed, and not made too much fuss of. Older members should be well rested, well fed and not made too much fuss of, and the ones in between should be well rested …. You get the idea. Don’t delay and get your family captured and future proofed.. What are you waiting for?