Extended Family Photos Mean More Love to Go Around!

Jan 6

4 min read

Families come in all shapes & sizes! Check out this photo session one family had done as a Christmas gift for their parents.

Zen Coast Collective LOVES celebrating families, especially extended families who have been together through thick and thin! Lindsay and Megan are cousins who grew up together in the same small town and moved to the Wilmington area during their college days.

Though they're cousins, they are really more like sisters. So when they told us at ZCC that they wanted a larger session with everyone involved, we were pumped! At ZCC, we have A LOT of nephews and nieces, so we know the importance of capturing those multi-generational bonds before the kids grow up!

Planning Ahead

To prepare, Lindsay and I chatted about fun outdoorsy locations that would show off the Cape Fear region we all love. We batted around a few ideas including Brunswick Town (which didn't work out for this session, but we'll get there one day!), and ended up at Brunswick Nature Park, one of our favorite places to go hiking. This turned out to be an amazing spot because we found several beautiful backdrops for photos AND we felt like we were on a new adventure during the whole shoot!

Lindsay and Megan planned the family wardrobe, and we think they did an AMAZING job! ZCC is not overly restrictive concerning color choices, but we are happy to give you our thoughts or suggestions if you ask for them.

Mix-n-Match

We wanted to make sure to get as many pictures as possible of all the different subsets of this lovely extended family. To keep little Stella at her happiest and most photo-ready for as long as possible, we focused on the whole family for the first half of the shoot. Megan also brought Stella's stroller with some toys and snacks so she would have a safe space. (ZCC staff also keep candy & water on hand in case ANYONE needs a pick me up!) Then we did a mix-and-match, swapping kiddos and adults in and out and finding ways to play along the way!

Blue-eyed sisters! You may recognize them from Channing's Homecoming Shoot! Returning customers get special discounts and offers. 😉

Fun fact: in the previous photo, Stella was running around and around and around her cousins! The ZCC secret to photographing kids? Let them be kids! We love this resulting shot of all the girls together!

The next step was just adding in Chris so we could get the all-cousin photo. Is anyone else jealous of how stylish and cool kids are these days?! (You might've noticed we love photographing kids as they climb and play, but safety is always first! Chris and Channing had Stella's safety well-in-hand.)

This photo of Russ & Lindsay SEEMS sweet & calm, but this fun fam chose to get as close to the water's edge as possible so they could have that water-and-fall-foliage background. It was actually down a small incline, and this gave us a gorgeous bird's-eye angle and beautiful background reflections on the water. Sometimes to get the best shots, you have to be a little adventurous. Not to worry, though... ZCC will ALWAYS make sure you feel comfortable in your surroundings during your session!

Water shots can come from all kinds of places! This was taken on a small canoe dock.

Russ & Chris are the men of the family! Both are kind and on the quieter side. It's like Chris is a slightly taller version of Russ, as if dad hit "copy & paste" but then stretched the photo! 😂 #photographerjokes

Going Where the Light Takes Us

We planned the session for golden hour and got some really beautiful photos. But as the sun dipped behind the horizon, we moved from the dock to a nearby gravel clearing and dug in for a few final photos with twilight lighting. At this point, we made "posing prompts" into games so Stella would hang in there and have fun. And she was a CHAMP!

"Do you see the bird?!"

"Stella, how high can you jump?!"

A mama and her girls.

Red rover, anyone?!

Group Hug!

The framer.

The personality family shot (aka, ZCC's FAVE from this sesh!).

We LOVED the energy and easy joy this family embodied throughout the whole shoot. They don't have to pretend with one another. They don't have to ask one another for help. They just all step in and love & support one another in whatever way is needed in that moment. A helping hand. A joke. A hug. After all, that is what family is all about!

Your Turn!

Do you need some updated photos of your extended family? Why not let ZCC help you plan a Zen family photo session? Leave us a comment or drop us an email (zencoastcollective@gmail.com ). We'd love to hear from you!

You can also let us know that you're ready to capture the magic of your every day by CLICKING HERE to book a photo session. We can't wait to help you add a little Zen to your lives!