Blended family photos are about capturing the relationships that make your family what it is today.
If you’re planning blended family photos, you may be wondering:
- What do blended family photos even look like?
- Who should be in which picture?
- Will someone feel left out?
- Do we need every combination?
- What if my adult kids can’t come?
- How do we make this feel like our family?
Those are good questions, and there isn’t one answer that fits every family. Every blended family is different. Some families have young children, teenagers, adult children, or a mix of every stage. Some live together full-time. Others split time between homes. The beauty of blended family photos is that they can reflect the season you’re living right now.
For this session, Erin and Jake already knew what mattered most to them. Rather than trying to photograph every possible combination, Erin made a thoughtful list of what life looks like right now. That list became our guide for the evening, and I think that’s one of the best ways to approach blended family photos.
Before we get started, take a look back on Jake and Erin’s maternity session and see a picture from their newborn session on this post.
Table of Contents
You’re Not Overthinking It
Because every blended family has unique relationships, you should be intentional. That’s why I reached out to Erin before her blended family photo session and asked which combinations were most important to her. She told me she was glad I asked because she had worried she was overthinking it.
It’s important to spend a few minutes thinking about the people and relationships that naturally come together in your day to day interactions. That list may include combinations you may not think of as traditional.
There isn’t a right or wrong shot list. This was Erin’s:
- Older sister with the baby
- Older sister with all three boys
- Mom with her daughter
- Mom with the baby
- Mom and Dad together
- Mom and Dad with the baby
- Dad with each boy individually
- Two brothers together
- Dad with all three boys
- All three boys together
Photograph the Youngest Children First
If your blended family photos include babies or toddlers, I recommend starting with them.
Little ones have their own schedule. Hunger, naps, and short attention spans don’t wait until the end of a session.
For Erin’s session, we began with the family combinations that included the baby (Theo) while he was happy and engaged. Once those portraits were finished, we moved on to everything else.
Finish with Older Children and Adult Combinations
Older children and adults have much more patience during a photo session.
After the youngest family members are finished, you can move into and any other combinations on your list without worrying about racing the clock.
This simple effort often makes blended family photos feel much more enjoyable for everyone.
Don’t Wait for the “Perfect” Time
Erin made an important decision that other blended families can learn from.
Erin and Jake’s older boys don’t currently live with them. They are building lives of their own, serving in the military, attending college, living far, and preparing for the future.
These boys are just as important to their family and equally loved. But they couldn’t be there. So, Erin chose to celebrate the family members who were present.
Life keeps moving. Children grow. Families change. There will be other opportunities for photographs, but this season deserves to be remembered, too.
This is the season they’re living right now.
Let Your Blended Family Photos Reflect Real Life
Erin told me that’s what life often looks like in their home: kids running around being kids while she and Jake take a moment to enjoy each other.
That’s what made the photograph with the boys running around so special.
“This one could make it to the walls and not feel out of place without the older boys,” she said.
When your family spends time together, think about what feels familiar. Maybe it’s siblings laughing together, Dad tossing a toddler in the air, Mom reading books with the kids, or everyone piling onto a blanket at the end of the evening.
Those moments often become the photographs families treasure most because they celebrate everyday life.
Q&A with Erin
1. How long have you been a blended family?
We’ve been blending—it’s a process!—our families for four years and all under one roof for three.
2. What’s the day-to-day like in your home and how often are you all together?
Every other weekend we have all the kids together at once, with additional time with each staggered around that, and right now, we are all mostly focused on Theo when we’re together. The kids all take their turns playing with him and helping take care of him. Evy especially! She loves to be the first to get him from his crib in the morning, and she takes all the boys to the pool every chance they get.
In between, Jake and I just love giving all our attention to little Theo, which he soaks up, and he is beyond thrilled when his big brothers and Sissy come walking through that door again. We are almost painfully aware of how fleeting this season of life is, and we’re trying hard to notice it and soak it up while we’re living it. These are our Halcyon days.
3. How old is Theo and what are some of the cute things he’s doing right now?
He is 16 months, and he is non-stop busyness. He loves to climb on anything he can and empty drawers and shelves—he keeps us on our toes. The cutest things are the delightful sounds—the giggles and the babbles! He “talks” to us very serious and expressively; of course, we go right along with it.
And that smile with those chubby, dimpled cheeks! We just cannot get enough of him. It goes by so fast—too fast.
4. Tell me about your older boys (missing from the photos—but equally part of this family and loved).
They are both out of the house now, serving in the military, getting their degrees, developing serious (gasp!) relationships, and shaping their futures. My oldest is already getting his Master’s degree.
It’s all so hard to believe and much to be proud of. My heart overflows when we are ALL together, which is increasingly rare and so precious.
5. What is your best advice for blended families?
When Jake and I were dating and having those early hours-long conversations you have (you know the kind), we agreed that there was no formula for a successful life and that there’s is no “relationship math” we should all follow, no matter how much people want to try to quantify it and break it down to “7 Easy Steps” or whatever the latest clickbait says.
We are advised to do things in neatly progressive phases: get married and get your career started—check; have kids, two or three and back-to-back more or less—check; then launch your kids and you’re free—check, check, and check! It sounds perfect, right? It has its advantages, to be sure. But life is guaranteed to throw you curveballs; and what are we missing when those check-boxes are what we’re working toward, and in the end, is that really even what we wanted? The world is changing faster than we realize, and families are changing right along with it.
Our family doesn’t fit that traditional picture, and I endure awkward conversations and curious and perplexed gazes, let me tell ya’. But it doesn’t bother me because I can tell you there is something incredible about watching grade school boys teach their baby brother how to play, seeing a teenager come home to a baby brother who absolutely adores them, and realizing that every stage of life has something beautiful to offer the others. We aren’t waiting for one chapter to end before the next begins—we’re living several chapters at once.
So my advice is this: don’t try to check the boxes, and don’t spend so much time trying to make your family look like someone else’s idea of “normal” that you miss the extraordinary family you could have.
Let go of the timeline, embrace the chaos, give everyone grace as they find their place, and celebrate the unique gifts that each season and each person brings. Love doesn’t divide in a blended family—it grows, exponentially.
Tips for Planning Your Blended Family Photos
As you plan your own blended family photos, once again keep these simple ideas in mind:
- Focus on the relationships that matter most to your family.
- Remember that every blended family is different, so there is no “right” shot list.
- Decide on your priority photo combinations before your session.
- Create a simple shot list to help the session flow smoothly and ensure important relationships aren’t missed.
- Photograph babies and toddlers first while they’re happy and engaged.
- Save older children and adult combinations for later in the session.
- Don’t wait until every family member can be present to document this season of life.
- Include candid moments that reflect everyday life, not just posed portraits.
- Preserve this chapter of your family’s story rather than trying to create a picture of “normal.”
Erin said it best:
“Don’t spend so much time trying to make your family look like someone else’s idea of ‘normal’ that you miss the extraordinary family you have.”
-Jamie
Parker, CO Family Photographer
Telling YOUR Story
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