Family portraits are a great way to create memories for the rest of your life – and when they are passed down from generation to generation they are lovely to have as a sort of visual record of family members. Whether you want to find a studio or freelance photographer that specializes in family portraits, there are so many to choose from it could be hard to narrow down the options. Since you want your photographs to turn out beautifully, follow some of these tips when you start searching for a family photographer:

Look through their portfolio – Studios and freelance photographers will have a portfolio of their past work, and it gives you a good idea of what they are specialized in – want photographs outdoors or looking for something fun and quirky? Get a feel for their work by what you see – and ask questions! While a freelance photographer may only have a certain type of images in her portfolio, you never know if she does other forms of photography in her spare time that would really work well with what you want.

Read feedback – The Internet is a great place to find the good and bad of any business. Before meeting with a studio or freelance, spend some time looking at feedback to get a feel for how previous customers felt about the quality and service. If there are just a couple negative feedback comments, try to give the photographer the benefit of the doubt and meet with them if you like what you see in the portfolio. In some cases, disgruntled customers go to the Internet and leave terrible feedback just because they can and you’d never know what the scenario truly was.