The goal of in-home sessions is to capture your family in your natural habitat, where you’re most comfortable! Let’s do what you’d do on a Saturday morning: you can play with trains, read books, bake cookies, or snuggle on the bed – I’m game for anything. We can shoot in the nursery, your bedroom, or any combination of rooms with great natural light.

If we’re shooting outdoors, we’ll get the best light if we start our session around 1.5 hours before sunset. Make sure you arrive on time, since we’ll be working against the clock to use the dreamy golden hour light! Keep in mind that if you’ve chosen two locations that require travel between them, the commute may mean we’ll miss part of golden hour to travel.

If we’re shooting in your home, the best light depends on where your windows are! If you have east-facing windows, we’ll want to do a morning session; if you have west-facing windows, afternoon may be best.

Don’t sweat it! There’s almost always some light somewhere that we can work with! I usually stick close to the windows and doors to help with light. And no, you don’t need to clean the whole house before I come. Clutter doesn’t bother me at all (I know that you actually live there) and I’ll help you move things around as we go.

We usually have time for one outfit change during your session. A few guidelines to help you choose:

Choose a color palette. Pinterest is so helpful for this! Earth tones tend to photograph best because they’re flattering and don’t reflect harshly onto your face. Instead of Crayola marker colors, try:

Red –> burgundy
Orange –> rust
Yellow –> mustard
Green –> sage/forest
Blue –> dusty blue/navy
Pink –> mauve
Purple –> plum
White –> cream

Avoid the Sears Portrait Studio all-white-shirts-and-jeans matchy-matchy look and go for complementary coordination instead. Also stay away from logos, neons, and really bright orange/red tops, since they can reflect a reddish hue onto your face that’s difficult to remove.

Add layers and/or accessories: Layering will bring dimension and color to your images, so in colder weather, feel free to add a scarf, vest, kimono, etc.

Consider the patterns: If you choose a pattern, have only one of you wear a pattern at a time (or two for a large family). Avoid teeny-tiny stripes or checkers, since cameras can have a hard time registering them.

If you’re looking for additional outfit inspiration, I’ve put together a Pinterest board of some of my family sessions here!

Absolutely, the whole time! While my goal is always to help you look natural, I coach all my couples and families through the entire session. I’ll never tell you to just figure something out! I’ve got your back. All you need to worry about is showing up!

That’s okay! New clients often swear that I got nothing usable because the kids were running wild, and then freak out when they see that it wasn’t true! I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve to help get the whole family giggling. The best thing you can do as parents is to keep a smile on your face throughout the session – there’s nothing worse than capturing a rare smile from a baby, only to see that mom or dad was frowning with stress! We’ll also do breakouts of individual combinations to give everyone a chance to rest and recompose.

That being said, it’s totally okay for not every moment of the session to be picture-perfect. I’m there to capture your family as you are, and in fifteen years, I think you’ll cherish the photos of your children that show the full spectrum of their personalities.

Yes PLEASE! I’d just ask that you bring a friend or family member along to hang out with them while I get photos of just the humans. Bring some favorite treats to help me get his or her attention! And don’t be surprised if I howl to get your dog to look at me. It works, I promise.