Episode 96: Play-Based Family Portrait Sessions - Jenna Cole

Do your family portrait sessions tend to feel stiff and over-posed?
In episode 96 of the Bokeh Podcast, Jenna Anderson of Jenna Cole Photography describes her take on play-based family portrait sessions. Listen in as she shares the steps she takes to not only create a fun environment for the kids, but capture memories that will last a lifetime for the family.
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Jenna’s Aha Moment: She can enjoy being a photographer without the fame, the following, or being booked up all the time. Enjoy the process you’re in and how you’re growing from it.
Technique for Free Time: Slowing down her business goals and setting up structure has allowed for her to find focus on the tasks at hand without distraction. This also allowed her to set up boundaries around life and work.
The Gear Bag: Her Canon AE-1 that her mom learned film photography on.
Play-Based Family Portrait Sessions: These sessions are set up to capture how a family would normally engage with one another, without every client’s session coming out the exact same.
Steps to Creating Play-Based Family Sessions: 1. Once booked, reach out to the family for names, ages, and a photo of the family so you can think about the family and how you can use their features to interact with each other. 2. Capture the “Grandma Photo,” the photo grandma wants of everyone looking and smiling. 3. Play games with the kids that will get the fun started:     a. Shark Attack: where the child secretly gets to be a shark and go attack by kissing the ears of the unsuspecting parents.      b. The Sushi Roll: everyone is facing the  same direction and standing in a row, when one person rolls in, pulling the rest of the family into a “sushi roll.” 4. Sometime you’ll just need to play games with the kids before the session to make them feel comfortable.
Photographers Mentioned in this Episode: Samantha Kelly Yan Palmer - "The Fall Apart"
Links: Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk - Danielle Krysa Paradox of Choice - Barry Schwartz Tony Robbins Website: jennacole.com Instagram: @jennacolephoto Facebook: Jenna Cole Photography