Family photography shouldn’t be a once-a-year affair!

Look, I get it. It’s 2026 (which is weird to say, but whatever) and family photos might not be at the top of your priority list. And I’d be lying if I said that I update my own family photos on a regular schedule – life is bonkers, and it goes fast.

But there are huge benefits to making sure you have updates to your family photos taken regularly, because just like our world is always changing, so are our people! Families grow, and shift, and change, and all of those changes deserve to be documented.

Many families have sessions at various points in the year

Here in the studio at Jessica Strobel Photography, we have lots of families who come in multiple times a year for photo updates, and the collection of memories they have of their kiddos (and themselves!) is fabulous. That stretch where your daughter was missing her two front teeth? Documented. Your son’s obsession with dinosaurs on every piece of clothing? Documented. Family’s new addition? You get it, right? DOCUMENTED.

Regular family photo sessions mean you don’t have to worry about forgetting the details. But… it might sound super overwhelming to pick the when and the where and the who behind having sessions throughout the year, so we’re going to talk through some of the things you should think about when you’re scheduling your year in photos!

Creating a photography schedule that works for you, means paying attention to your calendar!

Now the first thing you need to think about might sound obvious, but it’s worth mentioning anyway. When you’re planning your year in photos, you definitely need to think about your family calendar. When is your eldest going to be super busy with sports so you’ll all have less time to use for a session? When is your littlest going to be stressed because school has just started? What about milestones? If you have a kiddo graduating or approaching graduation, you’ll want to remember that a senior photo session should pop into your calendar for the year. And if you’re going to have other people involved in that session (Like you, Mama!) then that’ll be a great moment for a quick update to family photos too!

If you have a bun in the oven, that’s another calendar element to consider. You’re probably going to want to make sure you book in some maternity photos – but those, too, can include your partner and your littles! So in another half-and-half situation, you can get updated family style images in that session too. Love two birds with one stone, right?

Consider whether holiday photos are a must for you and your clan

Another big consideration, is whether holiday photos are a must-have for you and your people. Some families are less fussed with having those themed, holiday style images – whether that’s out somewhere at a tree farm, or here in our Minneapolis studio. But that’s really dependent on how you want to use your photos, because if you guys send out holiday cards, then naturally holiday photos should fall into the schedule! And if that’s the case, then you know you’re definitely going to have a session in the autumn/winter ahead of prepping and sending out those cards.

But if you’re NOT a holiday-vibes family, that’s also totally fine! There’s nothing wrong with sticking to less-themed sessions.

Check out offerings like mini sessions!

Finally, when you’re planning your year in photos, you should also consider that not every session has to be full-length! In fact, it’s totally reasonable to have just one full session every year, especially if your kiddos are on the older side, and they’re not changing/growing as fast anymore. When they’re little, the difference six months makes is madness (been there, done that). But as we all know, that growth slopes off in the teenage years, making one big session a year closer to ‘enough’.

That means you can totally schedule one main session, and then fill in the gaps with themed mini sessions throughout the year! For example, it’s totally reasonable to schedule a big session in the summer – maybe even an extended family session, if you’re feeling up to it – and then have a spring mini, and an autumn mini!

In fact, this is my most highly recommended session schedule for most families, assuming you don’t have a new addition coming onto the scene in 2026, which shakes all that up with a maternity session, a newborn session, and maybe even Fresh 48 (because yes, those are totally different session types, and having both is NOT overkill!)

Overall, you want to make sure you’re capturing your family’s growth!

At the end of the day, I could totally outline a quiz, or a checklist, or a set of options that would work best from my perspective. But I’m not in your house, Mama! I don’t know how quickly your little ones are growing and changing, and I don’t know how your family runs. Which means I have to cop-out a little bit here, and say that everyone’s year in photos should be different, and that’s not only okay – it’s good, and important.

So if it’s time for you to create your year in photos, then let’s talk. We can plan out your whole years’ strategy, to make sure we capture every important growth moment, and that you can look back at the magical parts of 2026 with clarity, for years, and years, and years to come! Because even in the chaotic years… your memories matter.