We finally hung curtains in our house.

I`d been putting it off for months. Every time I thought about it, I talked myself out of it - we`d just redone so many walls and the last thing I wanted was more holes. But once we actually did it, the blackout curtains went up, we started sleeping so much better, and I felt silly for waiting as long as I did.

And then I thought about all the people sitting on booking a photography session for basically the same reason.

The process feels like a lot until it isn`t. And then you wonder why you waited.

If you`ve been meaning to reach out and just keep not doing it - hi. The link is at sarahgray.com/contact. It takes two minutes and that`s the hardest part.

Can we talk about the matching family photo?

I`m not against it in principle. I`ve seen it work. But I`ll be honest with you: identical outfits can flatten the individuality of each person in the frame. Everyone ends up looking like a set instead of a family.

What I always encourage is coordinated, not matching.

Cohesion without uniformity. Everyone looks like they belong in the same photo - but each person still looks like themselves. Mom isn`t dressed like a grown up version of her daughter. Dad doesn`t look like he raided his son`s closet.

The goal is harmony, not a uniform.

A few ways to pull this off without overthinking it: start with one anchor piece - usually mom`s outfit - and build the palette outward from there. Repeat one or two colors across the group without repeating the exact same clothing. Let textures and silhouettes vary.

The result is a family photo that actually looks like your family.

It`s the night before your session.

You`ve had weeks to plan this. Weeks. And yet here you are, every piece of clothing you own spread across the bed, asking your partner if navy and olive `go together` and Googling `what to wear for family photos` at 10:47pm.

Completely normal. You are not alone. I have heard this story more times than I can count, and it almost always has a happy ending.

But if you`re in the planning phase right now and not yet in the panic phase - this is your sign to take thirty minutes this week and actually sort it out. Future you will be so relieved.

And if you`re my client, you have a lot of info at your fingertips in the Prep Guide sent to you when you booked with me.

Here`s the framework I share with every family I work with:

The location is the canvas. Your family is the subject. Your clothing is the paint.

Get the paint right, and everything comes together. Rush it, and even a beautiful Tallahassee evening can fall a little flat in the final images.

That doesn`t mean you need a stylist or a big budget. It means you need a plan and a few principles that actually hold up in real life - with real kids and real closets.

Start with a neutral base. Creams, tans, soft whites, warm grays. These anchor your palette and keep the focus on faces and connection, which is the whole point.

From there, bring in color intentionally. Neutrals with soft blues. Neutrals with blush or sage. Warmer tones in fall - mauve, khaki, olive - especially at a location like Alford Park, where the foliage does a lot of work for you.

Add texture wherever you can. A knit next to a satin blouse. A linen shirt next to a tweed jacket. Texture creates visual depth in a way that flat, solid fabrics just don`t. It`s one of those things that reads beautifully in prints and most families don`t hear about until someone tells them.

Keep patterns small if you use them at all. A delicate floral, a fine stripe, a subtle check - all great. Large, bold patterns pull focus away from faces, and that`s never what we`re going for.

Outfit planning is one of the highest-leverage things you can do before your session. I promise it`s worth the attention.