Once a year. That’s the short answer, and if you stop reading right here you’ll still be ahead of most families.
But how often should you take family photos really depends on how old your kids are, how complicated your Saturdays have gotten, and whether you actually like the pictures already hanging in your house. A family with a six month old and a family with a sixth grader are solving completely different problems. Here’s how I’d think about it, after nearly two decades of photographing families in Farmington and around Connecticut.
The Short Answer Is Once a Year
A year is roughly how long it takes for a kid to noticeably change. Hair changes. Faces lengthen. The gap-toothed thing happens and then unhappens. Parents change too, just slower and with considerably less enthusiasm about it.
An annual rhythm also keeps the decision easy. You’re not weighing whether this is the right year to book, you’re just booking the thing you book. Families who photograph once a year tend to keep doing it. Families who wait for that perfect time tend to realize that it never really comes.
Once a year is the rule of thumb, so if you’ve never booked at all, that’s where to start. Everything else in this post is a variation on it. (For the full walkthrough, here’s how a family photo session in Connecticut actually works.)
How Often Should You Take Family Photos in the First Year?
The first year is the exception to the “once a year” rule.
A baby changes more in those first twelve months than in the five years that follow. At three weeks they curl up like they’re still in the womb. At seven months they sit up, make eye contact, and laugh when you make silly faces. At a year they’re walking away from you, usually toward something dangerous. Each milestone is unique, and one annual session misses two of them.
Most families in that first year land somewhere around four sessions: maternity, newborn, a sitter session around six to nine months, and something for the first birthday. That’s a lot of photography for one calendar year, which is exactly why my First Year Membership exists.
The First Year Membership
The First Year Membership isn’t a sign up once and forget it thing. You tell me which milestones you’re interested in, and I follow up when the time actually comes. Newborn sessions get scheduled around a due date. Sitter sessions depend on when your baby decides to sit up on their own. Locking all of that to a calendar in advance was never going to work.
When you book one of those sessions, the rate comes down. Book more of them and it comes down further, so the more of the first year you photograph, the better the math gets. Nobody has to commit to a full year of photography while they’re still pregnant and guessing.
Who ends up in the frame varies by session too. Maternity and newborn usually include everyone, partners and older siblings and all. Sitter sessions and cake smashes tend to be just the baby, because a nine month old has a limited tolerance for group coordination and so, frankly, does everyone else. Plenty of families close out the year with an outdoor session around the first birthday and bring the whole crew for that one.
If you’re expecting, the First Year Membership is the simplest way to keep year one on track without planning the whole thing at once.
Once a Year Holds Up Until School Does
Through the toddler and preschool years, taking family photos once a year works fine. You have one schedule to manage, and it’s yours. (Surviving family photos with a toddler is a separate skill set, but the scheduling part is easy.)
Then school starts, and all of a sudden weeknights and weekends are filled with homework, soccer games, and birthday parties. Getting four people clean, dressed, and in the same room on a Saturday afternoon stops being a simple task. This is where a lot of families quietly fall off the annual rhythm. Scheduling gets hard, and by the time you find a date when everyone is available, the moment has passed.
Pushing through is worth it, though. A series of sessions photographed the same way year after year gives you a cohesive set of images that tells a story when displayed together, which matters if you want albums, prints, and wall art instead of a folder on your laptop.
Mixing It Up: A Studio Session for the Kids, Plus a Holiday Mini
When schedules get crazy, a plan B is often needed. Here’s what a lot of my grade-school families do instead of booking an annual outdoor family session.
They book a studio session with just the kids. No parents, no coordinating four outfits, no negotiating with a teenager about a collared shirt. Then they add a holiday mini in November for the Christmas card and an updated photo. Two easy things in place of one complicated thing. Since the kids are changing fastest anyway, a personality portrait session is the perfect way to capture those missing teeth or that sudden growth spurt.
I run holiday minis in my Farmington studio every November, and session dates are pretty consistent from year to year. That piece can easily be penciled into the calendar months in advance.
The outdoor session for the whole family doesn’t go away entirely. It moves to every two or three years, with kids’ sessions and minis woven through the gaps. You still get a photo of everyone on a regular basis, but with a lot less scheduling stress.
Or Space Your Sessions 18 Months Apart
If you really love outdoor sessions, the other option is to stop booking annually and start booking every eighteen months.
Do the math and you get a spring session, then a fall one, then a summer one, then back around. Roughly the same frequency, completely different look each time. Your wall gets a little variety instead of being five versions of the same trees in the same October light.
Outdoor sessions run from late spring through early fall, and families tend to lock into whichever end of that window they picked the first time. Scheduling your session every eighteen months breaks the pattern.
When to Book More Often Than Your Usual Rhythm
A few things earn an extra session no matter what your normal cadence looks like:
- A new baby. The group changed, so the photo should too.
- A major milestone. Those things that happen only once, like sitting up for the first time or missing front teeth, deserve to be documented.
- A big age gap between kids. Your oldest and youngest are in completely different phases at once, and one annual session can miss both.
- A last year at home. Senior year, or the year before a big move. You’ll want everyone in one frame while they’re still under one roof.
You only regret the photos you don’t take. Book the session!
Frequently Asked Questions
For most families past the baby years, yes. A year is enough time for kids to visibly change, and an annual rhythm is realistic enough that people actually stick to it. The first year of a baby’s life is the exception, since a newborn and a one year old barely look related.
No. Plenty of families alternate, photographing the kids on their own some years and doing a full family session every two or three. Sibling-only and single-child studio sessions are common, especially once school schedules make group coordination harder.
As early as you can. Holiday minis run in the Farmington studio every November and the dates are limited, so they fill up while the fall rush is still going. Galleries take about a week to deliver, so booking early in the month leaves you plenty of room for a holiday card.
Studio sessions usually need about two to three weeks of notice. Fall is the tight one. If you want a fall date, and especially an October weekend, book by early August. Spring and summer outdoor sessions are much more flexible.
Pick a Rhythm You’ll Actually Keep
How often should you take family photos comes down to what you’ll realistically follow through on. Once a year, every eighteen months, or a full family session every few years with kids’ portraits and holiday minis filling the gaps. All of those work. The version that doesn’t work is the one where you mean to book and then don’t, for six years.
Ready to get on the calendar? Here’s how sessions run with a Connecticut family photographer based in Farmington. And if outfits are the thing stalling you, start with what to wear for family photos.
Kelli Dease is a Farmington, Connecticut newborn and family photographer specializing in timeless, light-filled maternity and newborn portraits, baby and children’s photography, and family portraits. She offers a relaxed, full-service experience for growing families, creating in-studio and outdoor portraits with a focus on simplicity and ease. Clients receive access to a curated studio wardrobe, thoughtful guidance throughout the planning and session process, and digital images, with the option to add fine art prints and albums. Please contact Kelli Dease Photography today to find out about session availability.
Kelli Dease Photography serves families throughout Farmington, Avon, Simsbury, Canton, West Hartford, Burlington, Granby, and the surrounding Farmington Valley, Hartford County, and central Connecticut areas.
To see more of Kelli’s photos, please follow her on Instagram.
