The Benefits of an In-Home Family Session
The Benefits of an In-Home Family Session
For some, the thought of an in-home session is the definition of a nightmare. Having to clean up, nervous about what is going to be documented forever….the dust, the dishes, the junk in the closet. Nobody reallllly wants to remember all that, right? I get it. I’m the same way.
BUT! Guess what? We photographers know how to hide all that mess.
An in-home family session is the perfect opportunity to document all the daily magic of your family.
From snack time to helping mum with the washing - there are little magical, beautiful moments that happen every single day within your home. Of course, after a while, they start to feel mundane. They lose their shine.
But in 20 years time, what will you want photos of? You’ll want genuine, authentic photos of your kids doing the things that you’ll miss one day - running around the living room with the favourite toy, jumping on your bed, crawling into the pantry for a snack, hanging washing out on the line with you.
So let’s document it! I know, I know. The beach is nice and beautiful, but so is your home. We can also incorporate a couple locations into your session! We can always start off in your home and go to your local park, beach, trail walk, coffee shop, ice cream parlour…wherever your family spends time together and makes memories. I’m all for it.
And if you ever need suggestions or have an idea that’s a liiiiittle out of the box, I’m always up for creating a moodboard for your session! This is something that I’ve just started to incorporate into my sessions and it’s been so, so much fun.
In our home, we have the kids’ heights marked on their door frames.
We may not live in this house forever. What a treasure to have those little marks documented, especially if we don’t live here when they’re teenagers. It’s those little details that make an in-home family session soooo special.
“But - my house doesn’t have great light/isn’t decorated how I want/is messy…..”
My house isn’t perfect either! But the photo sessions that we’ve had in our home are sooooo incredibly special to me. Unlike photos at the beach or in a forest, the ones we have in our home are more of a time capsule for me to look back on. I can see the heap of stuffed animals my son had on his bed at the time (he’s “too cool” for all but one special lovey now!) I can look back at the games we used to play and the way they’d climb the tree in our front yard. All of those activities will be tied to my kids’ memories as well. So when they look back on photos of their childhood home, it will spark all of those nostalgic feelings for them too. What a treasure!
My mom & brother recently traveled to California and sent me a photo of our childhood home in Riverside. Seeing that house brought back so many memories.
I suddenly remembered sitting up in the window, looking down at my dad washing his truck. And the way we’d run, full blast, through the front door and into the yard, still surrounded by the same white picket fence. Or how all three of us kids learned to ride our bikes on that street and how big those speed bumps seemed at the time.
All of those little details, tied to memories of such a special time in my life. We only lived in that house until I was 6 but it was so full of memories. So even if you don’t plan on staying in your current home forever, it’s special. It will be special for your kids to see photos of one day. And it will be special for you too - no matter how much you hate the wallpaper or the kitchen countertops. None of that matters in the grand scheme of things! What matters is the memories you’re making there together as a family. Let’s document that. Let’s bottle it up forever.
So, book the in-home family photoshoot - for your kids to look back on, for you to bottle up these special years in your family home.
If you’re worried about the bad light, the mess, whatever it might be - I promise we can find good light, photograph strategically the avoid the mess….it’s so worth it to document the place you call home. The place where all the magically mundane everyday moments happen. That’s the beauty of your everyday!