How Many Photos Do You Get from a Family Session?

It's one of the most common questions I get.

How many photos will we get?

The honest answer is that I don't promise a number.

That's intentional.

The number of photographs isn't what determines whether your family session was successful.

What matters is what you actually have when the experience is over.

The wrong way to measure a family session

Most photographers quote a number.

You'll get 50 edited images.

Maybe it's 100.

Maybe it's 300.

The number sounds like value because it gives you something easy to compare.

But think about what happens after you receive them.

You scroll through the gallery.

You pick a few favorites.

Maybe you post one on social media.

Maybe you change your phone wallpaper.

The rest go into a folder, where they can sit for years without ever being printed or seen again.

A hundred photographs aren't a hundred memories.

They're a hundred photographs you still have to figure out what to do with.

I don't start with a number

At Smyer Image, I don't photograph until I reach an arbitrary image count.

I photograph your family.

Every image that makes the cut is carefully edited, but the goal isn't to produce as many photographs as possible.

The goal is to create a collection with enough variety, connection and personality to tell your family's story.

The size of that collection will depend on your family, your session and what happens in front of the camera.

Your session comes with a curated set of prints

This is an important part of the Smyer Image experience.

After your session, I go through the photographs and curate the collection.

I choose the photographs that deserve to be experienced.

Those photographs are printed as a set of 4x6 prints for your in-home reveal.

You don't have to decide which photographs matter before you've seen them.

You don't have to sort through hundreds of files.

You get to hold the photographs in your hands.

You can spread them out.

Look at them together.

Notice the little things you might have missed on a screen.

The printed set is yours regardless of whether you decide to purchase artwork.

The reveal gives you a chance to experience them

At your in-home reveal, we look through the curated photographs together.

Your favorite portraits can be projected onto your actual walls at their finished size, so you can see what they would look like as artwork in your home.

You aren't trying to imagine whether a photograph will work above the sofa.

You can see it.

You can decide what you love.

You can decide what you want to live with.

There is no requirement to purchase wall art.

The photographs have already been created, curated and printed for you.

So how many photographs will there be?

It depends.

A smaller family session in one location may produce a smaller collection.

A larger family, multiple generations or a session with more variety may produce more.

I don't want to stretch a session to hit a number, and I don't want to leave photographs out simply because I've reached one.

What I can promise is that you'll have a thoughtfully curated collection to experience at your reveal.

There will be enough.

More importantly, there won't be a pile of photographs you're expected to sort through on your own.

What you end up with matters more

Instead of asking how many photographs you get, I think there's a better question.

What do I end up with?

You end up with a curated collection of photographs from your session.

You receive a printed set of 4x6 photographs that you can hold, keep and enjoy.

You have the opportunity to see your favorite portraits on your own walls before deciding whether you want artwork.

And if you choose custom wall art or an heirloom album, the corresponding digital files are included with that artwork.

The result isn't simply a folder of JPEGs.

It's a collection of photographs that has been edited, curated, printed, experienced and, if you choose, turned into something permanent for your home.

That's a much more useful way to measure the value of a family photography experience.

Your family deserves to live on your walls, not in your phone.

If you've been wondering what a family portrait experience with Smyer Image actually looks like, let's talk.