What questions should you be asking your family photographer?

What you need to know

Family Photography is not an easy profession - this is important and a privilege - I knowi I have to get this right as these moments pass so quickly. Plus interviewing photographers can be a daunting task. Regardless of if you are hiring Matt Trott Photography or another studio, we have created a list of questions to help you find the perfect photographer for your family

1. What is your primary style?

This should be your first and foremost question as this is the style of photography that interests you. My style is very much focused on a 95%/5% rule - 95% is candid documentary photos of you whilst 5% has a degree of posing (and by posing I mean we might engineer the situation, i.e asking you to walk towards me through a naturally well-lit area or occasionally asking you to position yourself near a window to benefit from the gorgeous natural soft light).

2. I have recently given birth and I am worried about how I will be captured in photos?

Let’s face it ladies your bodies go through so much when you give birth, It is totally understood that your first and foremost thought may not be one to appear in photos. However, the dilemma you face is that your little one is growing and changing by the day. Naturally, I take photos of your little ones by themselves - to capture all those beautiful chubby details - but having photos with you involved is going to elevate your pictures tenfold. My advice is the moment trumps all - this is the essence of what we are trying to capture, the beautiful moment in your family doing what you love. If there is something however that you are particularly conscious of then just reach out to me and let me know - I shoot in a style that adds heavy blur where i don’t want the focus to be and pin-sharp where I want the focus to be, so just let me know and i guarantee you will love the final output.

3. What are the best ages to have photographs taken?

The answer to this question really is whenever you want to! Typical stages for babies and children are:

1) The sleepy newborn stage where they are wrinkly and gorgeous (think about booking something in the first few weeks after birth for these) - often my clients will speak to me and arrange this pre-birth then, of course, I can be flexible depending on when the birth is!

2) 3 months - it feels like your little bundle has grown up so much. With photos taken at this age, they are smiling, holding those gorgeous little faces up and generally a little more robust!

3) 6 months - This development leap makes the little cuties realise that sitting still is boring and they start crawling and exploring – this makes for really fun, happy and very often hilarious photos.

4) 1 year - They start walking and the adventure really begins – photos taken once they are toddlers are brilliant and I simply love it. They are so inquisitive and adventurous it really makes for some creative and lovely photo stories! I’d say after this you could aim for photos each year until they are 4 or 5 then every few years after that. But honestly, it is when you want photos of them to treasure and remember – you simply can’t have enough!

4. But my house is far from picture-perfect - how will that affect the photos - should we choose somewhere else?

The answer is simply somewhere you and your family feel comfortable and have a connection with. That can be in a particular room of your home, your garden, the park, a local festival you go to every year, your annual holiday to the beach or simply baking a cake in the kitchen. Don’t worry about having the ‘magazine’ home or a home with loads of light and windows – rest assured the majority of the sessions you see in my portfolio were typical homes, not ones from Pinterest! The real, lived-in beauty is what makes your house your home – embrace it!

5. How do we get ready for the shoot?

Don’t worry! We will be planning this together! The first thing to do is to think about your family dynamic and fill out the questionnaire I send you on booking. This will give me an idea of how you’d like the session guided. We will then have a conversation and a good old chat about this and that and then we’ll get down to sorting all the details for the shoot – I will give you lots of time before any specifics are needed, but to be honest there really isn’t much for you guys to do apart from being there, enjoy yourselves and have a blast together!

6. What is the cost and do I have to purchase any?

This is the difficult bit. After seeing all the wonderful memories captured of your wonderful family you’ll be hard-pressed not to shout out “I want them all!!!” And that’s totally ok by the way! I’ll provide you with an online low res gallery which you can share with family and friends. This will be live for 7 days so you have a chance to really look through and immerse yourself in them and make the decision about which ones you’d like to buy…..or more usually which album or wall art you wish to display them all in. I have a variety of discounted packages you can choose which hopefully give you the best of all the worlds

7. Will you colour correct my images?

Yes Since colour correction is the basic post-production, it should be used on every single image. Many photographers will not colour correct any, or will only colour correct “select” images from your gallery. This means that you may have a lot of pictures where your skin tones are orange, yellow, red or even blue as the white balance is not adjusted in post.

8. How quickly will we see the images?

I normally shoot around 300 - 500 photos on the day! After I leave you I scurry back to my workshop and work my magic editing and whittling the photos down to about 50-75 of the very best photos which I believe tell a story about your wonderful unique family. I normally say photos will be back to you within 3 weeks but often this is a lot sooner.

9. How will we get to see the photos and where will they be displayed?

I will arrange a date and time with you before sending you a link to the slideshow and gallery. The slideshow and gallery will all be watermarked, you can then go through and select which package you would like which will then guide you through selecting which photos you want printed, downloaded, framed etc. E-Matt is very clever!

10. What should we wear?

What you normally wear is absolutely fine – you don’t want to be stuck in something uncomfortable as it will show, and ultimately your story is about all of you and what you choose to wear is a massive part of who you are, so stick to things you and your kids would normally wear. One rule of thumb – all line up and stand in front of the mirror before I arrive – firstly it gives you all a good laugh - I challenge any family that does this to not start looking at each other, pointing and laughing as you line up and puff out your chests like proud peacocks, secondly make sure you are not matching – too much of the same colour may not work well in all photos. It’s totally fine for the kids to do dress up for a proportion of the shoot too if they enjoy that. Try not to be too matchy matchy and if possible avoid big logo’s - they quickly date photos.

11. How long after the event will the album or wall art be ready?

Each piece of wall art will be delivered directly to your house 4-5 days after the order is placed through your online gallery. If you have chosen a package with an album then I will design that directly and will share with you an online version - you can then go through and make any amendments you would like - swap, add, delete. Once album orders are place and approved with the manufacturer it will take roughly 4 weeks to manufacture, verify and ship.