Book a Family Photoshoot
in Vézelay

This happens all the time, and our family photographers are prepared for it. The secret is that the best family photos don't come from asking kids to pose — they come from play. Your photographer will turn the session into a game: racing along the beach at Biarritz, feeding ducks in Annecy, hunting for gargoyles on Paris' old churches, storming the towers of Carcassonne. Tantrums and shy phases get waited out with a break and a pain au chocolat, and sessions are scheduled around naps and meals. Even a session that feels chaotic in the moment produces wonderful genuine images — often better than the ones where everyone behaved.

There's no wrong age — each stage photographs differently and beautifully. Babies bring quiet, tender close-ups; toddlers bring motion and hilarious candid moments; school-age kids love the adventure of exploring châteaux and beaches on camera; teens relax once they realise nobody is forcing stiff poses. Multi-generation shoots with grandparents are among the most treasured bookings we see, especially on family reunion trips to Provence or the Loire. The one practical tip: with children under five, book morning sessions when energy and light are both at their best. Your Photo France photographer adapts the pace and games to the ages in your group.

Aim for a coordinated palette rather than identical outfits: two or three soft colors that everyone wears in their own way. Creams, soft blues, sage and sand tones look wonderful against Paris' pale stone, Provence's ochre walls and the Atlantic's grey-green sea. Skip big logos, characters and neon shades. Dress kids in clothes they can move and play in — the session will involve running, climbing steps and sitting on beaches or lawns. Bring a change of clothes for little ones (French fountains and beaches are irresistible) and comfortable shoes for cobbled lanes. Your photographer will send simple styling tips for your specific location and season when you book.

Professional photoshoots in Vézelay start from €310. Packages vary by duration and the number of edited photos — an hour covering the village street, the basilica and the terrace behind it, or two hours that add the Cure valley and a Morvan lake. Most couples book 60 to 90 minutes; the village itself is small enough that an hour covers it comfortably on foot.

Rue Saint-Pierre climbing between ochre-rendered houses and stone lintels to the top of the hill. The basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, outside for its Romanesque west front and inside for the striped nave and the light coming down it. The terrace of the old abbots' château, which opens over the whole Cure valley. And the wooded reservoir lakes of the Morvan, half an hour south-east.

Before ten in the morning the street is genuinely empty and the low sun runs up it from the east. Late afternoon suits the terrace, when the Cure valley goes warm and hazy. For season, late spring and September are the honest recommendation: July and August bring coaches by midday, and in winter much of the village closes and the hill is often in cloud.