I may be bias, but I think photos make the BEST gifts, and photos of all the grandkids together is a DREAM for grandparents.
The Simmons cousins had a great time posing and smiling as a gift for their grandma back in the fall. I wish you could have heard the littlest guy saying "CHEEEEESSSSEEEEE" the entire session. He had all of us just rolling - which, of course, made for some great photos!
Aren't they just the cutest? And don't you know this was one happy grandma to receive these photos!!
As a side note, people ask me all the time how to plan outfits for photos. That can be particularly challenging if you're dressing a bunch of kids from multiple families, like in this shoot, but they did an awesome job of making their colors and patterns work together and add to the pictures instead of take away.
Here are a few tips you can see at work in these photos:
1.) Pick a few colors to use through out. You definitely don't want everyone to be super matchy; but, too many colors will be overwhelming too. I recommend settling on three or four main colors and then fill in with neutrals like khaki and denim/chambray. In this case, we chatted ahead of time and decided on a very eye-pleasing, fall color scheme of yellow, navy, red, and fuchsia that worked great with the changing leaves in the background.
2.) Think head to toe. Some times we focus all our energy on the right top, and then forget about the rest of the body that will show in photos. Make sure to vary what everyone wears on the bottom (a good mix of jeans, khakis, and something a little more colorful - like leggings - works best). Then, use accessories like a scarf or hair bow to tie outfits together. (I love how they did that with the yellow in the two girls' headbands.)
3.) Diversify. Try to vary WHAT everyone is wearing by including button-up shirts, dresses/tunics, vests, long sleeves, short sleeves, etc. This will make your pictures seem more authentic and keep them visually interesting. Likewise, don't be afraid to mix patterns... Notice that, while there are two plaids in this group, one is more of a check while the other is a blended plaid and the other two patterns (on the oldest's vest and in the stripe) are more subtle. The key is making sure they are just different enough but still tying everything together with the color scheme mentioned above.
4.) Keep it natural. While it's totally normal to dress up some for photos, you still want to look like yourself! Don't dress your kids (or yourself) in something that makes them super uncomfortable, or that they would never wear in real life. To help with that, I recommend shopping your closet first (that way, you'll know it's your true style) and only filling in the gaps with new items to pull everything together.
It's really as simple as that, and the end result...
... is perfect.
