Why is it more difficult to work with your family?

• Posted by Maura Nicolaita December 18, 2022 Filed in Development #christmas  530 views
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  In my previous blog post, I mentioned the fact that we are preparing for a Christmas Family Photoshoot. 

  Today, I had a Christmas family photoshoot with our whole extended family. Overall, it was a nice experience and the pictures were really nice. Everyone loved a few photos that were taken today. A local studio was rented, we went there at 12 PM to set up our gear, and went home at 4 PM. 

  

  That being said, working with family, at least in my experience, is more complex than working with strangers. You turn your back for one second and there is pure chaos. You nicely ask everyone to stay calm and no one listens. You ask them to look at the camera or a prop, but they won’t do it. You try to set up the lights in the studio properly, they move their position and the lights are off again. 

  On the contrary, when you are working with strangers, they actually listen to suggestions and work with you, not against you. I am constantly wondering why is it so hard to work with your family and I believe I have an answer. They saw you growing up, they saw you in your most vulnerable states during all these years. For some reason, they don’t believe you actually know what you are doing and they believe they know better. I heard other people complaining about the difficulty of working with their own families because boundaries, self-respect and trust apply differently.