Once you have sat down with your favourite photographer and decided on an outdoor photowalk for your family photographs, there are a few preparations you can make to ensure that the day goes as smoothly as possible and that the resulting photos will be ones you will treasure for many years to come.

Choosing the location can be one of the most important aspects for a successful photowalk. Your professional photographer may well have some suggestions and ideas that you might want to consider, as he will have experience in finding beautiful outdoor backdrops. But even more important than a beautiful backdrop, is choosing a place that has some significance or meaning to your family. It is all well and good finding a beautiful lake surrounded by trees to look pretty behind you in your photographs, but if the place has no importance to your family it will be simply a backdrop, and forgettable. A good photographer will be more than willing to let you lead when it comes to choosing the location for your shoot, such as your local park, your favourite picnic area, that spot on the beach your family goes to time and again, even the field where you and your family walk the dog - and feel free to include the dog, he is part of your family too! Your children, particularly if they are young, will find these familiar locations comfortable and will be relaxed and act as they normally do, allowing the photographer to capture those candid moments of play.

Towards that end, it is helpful to choose a location where there is something for your family to do, or items with which they may interact, such as the play structures at a park, or a path full of autumn leaves, or a sandy beach. Bring the toys and equipment you would usually bring for a day out with the family - the picnic blanket, or the shovel and bucket, or the Frisbee. Don't forget your child's favourite doll or blanket. All of these props can add to the candid, real-life look of your photos. In a familiar place, surrounded by their own things, your children will quickly forget about the photographer, leaving him to truly capture the feeling and spirit of your loved ones. A picture of you and your family building a sand castle together on your favourite strip of beach, professionally shot and edited, will stay in your hearts and minds for a long time to come and will bring back memories of many days shared together.

Once the location and props have been settled on, it's time to think about clothing. Be yourselves, be relaxed, let your outfit reflect that perfect location you chose. A fancy dress and a suit and tie at the family play park? Of course not. You want to look your best in your photos, naturally, but you also want to capture the true essence of your family. Put your children in shorts or a cotton dress for the beach, or snuggly sweaters and wooly scarves for an autumn walk among the leaves. Try to coordinate, so everyone looks good together in the photos, without clashing colours or a lot of jarring, competing prints. You don't have to dress in identical sweaters and jeans (unless you want to!), but make sure everyone's outfits mesh together in a pleasing way, with similar or complimentary colours.

Whatever you wear and wherever you choose to have your photowalk, your professional photographer will capture a special moment in your family's history in ways that no casual snapshot or stiffly posed studio photograph ever could. These photos will hold pride of place on your wall or in family albums for many years to come.

Alexander Soloviev is a family photographer based in Wiltshire, UK. Alexander does a wide variety of photography related to people and their activities - family, parties, weddings, events, personal profiles, nurseries, schools - you name it! Pet (especially horses) photography is another object that tightly connected to everyday human life. Visit his SASNN-PHOTO site for more information.

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