I don’t think any type of photoshoot can be more personal than an in-home session. In-home sessions mean that you’ll get photos taken inside and around your home. You can all cram together on the couch or head out to your front porch and backyard for outdoor photos as well. The possibilities are endless.
The point of these sessions is to capture your life as it is . . . the ordinary, the messy, the beautiful and all.
1. EMBRACE YOUR MESSY, ORDINARILY BEAUTIFUL LIFE EXACTLY AS IT IS
Most families live in ordinary homes! Social media would have you think that everyone lives in a home fresh off of Fixer upper or my personal fave, Home Town. Truthfully speaking, my home may be a timeless brick on the outside but on the inside it’s still stuck in the 1950’s! We lovingly refer to us as our 30-year Fixer Upper. (HA!)
Over the years we’ve made huge strides outside of our home. We’ve cut down trees, planted flowers and made a garden, but it still has a looooong way to go! It certainly isn’t the most landscaped yard but it’s where so many hours of our children’s lives are spent.
Your children don’t care about the latest trends. They simply love their home because it’s where mom and dad and their favorite memories are.
Rest assured, we won’t be using every room in your home. Most likely we will be sticking to the rooms with the most natural light!
2. LAY DOWN THE ENDLESS CHASE FOR ‘PERFECT’
When we bear the burden of perfection it’s really hard to connect with those around us. Instead we spend every minute anticipating a meltdown and it creates tension.
Instead I want you to lay down the endless chase for perfection and let your kids be kids. There’s this expectation that children should behave in the presence of people but I know with my own kids that’s usually when something goes down.
Being an mom and in-home photographer for nearly a decade, I know how to read a room pretty well. If a child needs a minute, I may snap a photo or two of your interactions with them because they can be really sweet, but I almost always give the child space to recenter.
Kids are kids – they’re meant to be chaotic and crazy and messy and intense in their emotions. They have super high-highs and can have the lowest of lows within a split second. It’s all part of your story, and that’s what i’m there to photograph.
So let your kids be themselves. Let them play and jump and join them in their shenanigans.
3. SHOW UP, BE YOU, AND LET YOUR UNIQUE PERSONALITIES SHINE
You know those moments when you forget about responsibility for a little while and just play? That’s who you want to be during your shoot.
Forget about the perfectly made bed and acting like an adult. Yes, keep your children safe, but also yes, jump on the bed with them, start a tickle war, throw an army of stuffed animals at them, dump a glass of water on their head.
We are here making memories here, friends – we are making a perfect day filled with fun and happiness, and lots of real laughter. Be part of it.
4. THINK OF 1-2 ACTIVITIES YOU NORMALLY DO TOGETHER
As part of our session prep we will think of an activity or two you can do around your home.
This can be making pancakes with the kids, reading together, breastfeeding your newborn, trying to find the cat, having a dance party with records playing in the background, gardening or watering your plants, chasing your dog, or anything your family loves to do..
Seriously, anything goes! And the more you keep it to normal activities you do, the more personal and real the photos will be to look back on.
If you follow these tips and focus on just letting go of perfection, we’ll be able to create incredibly special photos together! The days are long but the years are short. As I sit here today, I’d like to think that as we’re caught up in the busy, the hustle, the schedules of this world— that I encourage us all to stop and notice the ordinary moments and to photograph the hell out of it (excuse my language).
If you’re in the Williamsburg or Hampton Roads area and would like to book an in-home session with me, I would love to work with you! Just click here to get in touch with me.