I am constantly talking with friends, clients, etc about life and their kids and homes etc. and I see it all the time: misunderstandings about what things need to be done for a photo shoot, or things that exist in their everyday that they feel the need to erase…. Let me give you
5 Things You Don’t Have to do for an In-Home Family Photo Shoot
#1 You don’t have to erase writings on the wall.
I was at a friend’s house recently and I saw on the trim in a doorway, little pencil scribblings, marking heights of various children as they have grown over the years. I stopped and touched it, moved emotionally, and she said “Oh gosh, I really need to clean that!” and I immediately, said “No way, thats history. The history of your children, your time in this home, their growth, the changes of life, their childhood. Don’t you dare ever get rid of it” and She immediately sat in her response and realized, I was right. Please don’t erase historical, meaningful things from your home for the sake of perfection/order/cleanliness.
#2 Dress up.
Have you ever worn something you hated and had to act happy about it? Kids feel the same way. The best way to make kids hate photo shoots is to make them wear certain clothing. Does your toddler NEED to wear his too small Spiderman costume? LETS DO IT. He will cheer up and we will make amazing photos that not only exude joy and peace and love, but also remind you of when you had a 3 year old boy who was obsessed with his costume.
#3 Behave.
Your kids don’t have to be PERFECT during our time together. I want them to feel human, and themselves. So if your 9 year old daughter brings out her sass, Im all about it. She will likely make some faces you see EVERYDAY and I then can capture that! So you can always remember when she was 9 and super sassy.
#4 Extreme clean the house.
What I tell clients is, if it’s the normal amount of messy, leave it. If it’s messier than normal, tidy it up a tad. But please don’t make it extraordinarily clean for the session. When your kids look back on the photos (or family film), I want them to be reminded and that won’t happen if they see video and photos of their home in an unusual state. I want the mess there that they saw on a daily basis. That is after all, their childhood.
#5 Feel rushed.
One of my favorite parts of these in-home sessions is that there is no rush. In fact, I allow a lot of time for kiddos to get out of the initial performance and or shy stage, so that they can get settled into forgetting I’m there so that I can adequately tell the story of your life together. Time is truly our friend and it allows for everyone to get into their natural element.
If you want a session like this, please reach me here!
