Written by: Pei Aui - Melbourne Family and Couples Photographer
A guide from a Melbourne family photographer who has seen it all
So you've booked your family session. Excellent decision. And now, somewhere between the excitement of finally doing the thing and the reality of getting your actual family out the door looking decent, the stress has started to creep in. What do we wear? When do I tell the kids? What if someone has a meltdown? What if my partner is in a mood the whole time? What if I look terrible in every single photo? Take a breath. You're not the first person to feel this way and you won't be the last. As a Melbourne family photographer who has worked with hundreds of real families across the city, here's everything you actually need to know to walk into your session feeling ready, relaxed and maybe even a little excited.
The Week Before: Sort the Big Stuff Early
The single biggest source of pre-session stress is outfits and it almost always happens the night before when nothing fits and everyone has an opinion. Don't do that to yourself. Decide on outfits at least a week or two out. You don't need to match. You need to coordinate and achieve a cohesive look. Pick a colour palette that feels like your family, something in the earthy, neutral, or soft tonal family tends to photograph beautifully in Melbourne's outdoor light, and then let everyone wear something they actually feel comfortable in within that palette. You may or may not want to prepare a second back up outfit, just in case something happens on the way (spillage, toilet accidents, etc)
The mum who feels good in what she's wearing will love her photos. The one who wore something she hated because it matched everyone else won't. Comfort and confidence always photograph better than perfect coordination.
A few things worth avoiding: large logos, busy patterns or bold slogans on kids' clothes, outfits that are so formal nobody actually looks like themselves, and that one family member who insists on wearing neon. You know who you are.
Once outfits are sorted, lay everything out and check it over. Missing buttons, mystery stains, the school shoes that somehow ended up in the mix. Deal with all of that now, not at 8AM on session day. Also confirm your session time, location and any details with your Melbourne family photographer this week. Melbourne's weather has its own agenda at the best of times, so checking the forecast a few days out is always worth doing. A good photographer will have a plan for changing conditions but it helps to be across it.
The Day Before: One Thing Only
There is only one job the day before your session. Prepare your snacks.
Seriously. Pack snacks for the kids, pack a snack for yourself, and maybe pack a snack for your partner too because hungry adults are basically just tall toddlers in stressful situations. Everything else should already be sorted. Outfits are laid out. Location is confirmed. The only thing left is to not overthink it.
If you've been scrolling through other people's family photos on Instagram and comparing them to what you think yours will look like, stop. Your family is not their family. Your kids are not their kids. Your photos are going to look like your people and that is exactly the point.
The Morning Of: Give Yourself More Time Than You Think You Need
Add twenty minutes to however long you think it will take to get out the door. You will need every single one of them.
Feed everyone before you leave. This is non-negotiable. A hungry toddler at golden hour is a force of chaos that no photographer, however experienced, can fully contain.
Get dressed before you help anyone else get dressed. And, don't forget to head for the toilet before putting on their shoes.
When you're talking to the kids about what's happening today, don't tell them to be good or to smile or to behave. Tell them you're going on an adventure. Tell them there's a park involved (if it is located in the park). Tell them the photographer is really fun. The energy you set on the way there will follow you into the session, so aim for excited and relaxed rather than pressured and performative.
And if something goes wrong on the way there, which it might, someone spills something, someone has a last-minute meltdown, someone forgot their shoes, let it go before you arrive. The moment you step out of the car is a fresh start. That's what your Melbourne family photographer is there for.
What to Expect When You Arrive
Most families feel a little awkward for the first ten minutes of a session. This is completely normal and it happens to almost everyone, including the ones who swore they'd be totally relaxed. A good Melbourne family photographer will ease you into it gently. You won't be asked to stand in a line and smile from the moment you arrive. You'll be given a minute to settle, the kids will probably find something interesting on the ground, and things will start to loosen up naturally.
Here's what a session with me typically looks like. We start somewhere easy, usually a walk or a moment where the family can just be together without thinking too much about the camera. I work around you rather than the other way around. While you're watching your toddler try to climb something they shouldn't, I'm already getting some of the best shots of the session.
From there we'll move through a mix of candid family moments and some gentle portrait time. Yes, we will get a shot of everyone looking at the camera and smiling. I know you want that and so do I. We'll also get the chaos, the laughing, the real stuff. Both things matter and we'll leave with both.
If a kid needs a snack break, we take one. If someone needs five minutes to decompress, we take them. Sessions with young kids in particular are fluid by design because that's how kids work and any photographer who tells you otherwise has never spent time with a toddler.
What to Do When Things Don't Go to Plan
Here is a truth that might surprise you. Some of the most beautiful family photo sessions in Melbourne I've been part of have involved at least one crying child, and one moment where everything felt like it was falling apart. And the photos from those sessions? Stunning.
If your toddler needs a moment, give them one. Crouch down, pull them in close, and just be present with them. Don't worry about the camera. Don't worry about the session. Just be their parent for a minute. Those quiet moments of real connection, a mum holding her little one, a dad kneeling down to meet his toddler at eye level, are some of the most genuinely beautiful images a family photography session can produce. I'll be there for all of it.
And if your kids are happier running around than standing still? Let them run. You don't need to round them up or apologise for them. Kids who are free to be themselves are kids who are happy, and happy kids make incredibly beautiful photos. I know how to gently bring them into the moment without it ever feeling forced or stressful. That's my job, not yours.
The kid who was sobbing five minutes ago is now laughing so hard she can barely stand up. The partner who hated being there eventually forgot to be uncomfortable. The mum who was convinced she looked terrible in photos has a gallery full of images she can't stop looking at. Your job on the day is not to manage everyone perfectly. It's to show up, let go of the idea that it needs to be perfect, and trust the process. The chaos is not ruining your session. In most cases it's making it.
The Thing That Actually Matters Most
You've been meaning to do this for a while. Maybe months. Maybe longer. And somewhere in the back of your mind you know why, even if you don't say it out loud.
The version of your family that exists right now won't exist in six months. Your baby won't be this small. Your toddler won't say that word in that funny way for much longer. Your kids are growing faster than you can keep up with and you know it.
The photos from your Melbourne family photography session are not just nice pictures for the wall. They're proof. Proof that this ordinary, chaotic, beautiful season of your family's life actually happened. Proof that you were all here together, right now, in this.
That's what you're preparing for. Not a performance. Not a perfect afternoon. Just a real record of your real people at this exact moment in time.
And that is more than worth getting out the door for.
Ready to Book Your Melbourne Family Photography Session?
Whether you're in Point Cook, the inner suburbs, the east, the north or anywhere across Melbourne, I'd love to be your family's photographer. As a Melbourne family and couples photographer based in Point Cook, I work with real families across the whole city and I'll bring the same warmth, patience and genuine care to your session wherever we shoot. I'll send you a full preparation guide before your session so nothing catches you off guard, and my inbox is always open if you have questions before then.
Send me a message below and let's find your date.