What a family session isn’t! (and why that is a good thing)

If the thought of booking a family session makes you imagine trying to get everyone dressed, everyone behaving perfectly, everyone smiling at exactly the right moment and not to mention having to deep clean every room in the house, I want to reassure you that isn’t what my family sessions are about.

Actually, there are quite a few things a family photography session “isn’t”.

It isn’t about your children sitting perfectly still.

Children simply aren’t designed to sit still and smile for an hour while someone points a camera at them. They might run, climb, laugh, hide, refuse to smile or change their minds every 30 seconds.

Rather than asking children to behave like adults, I work with their personalities and let our session unfold naturally.

It isn’t about forcing smiles.

There will probably be some smiles.

However, there may also be serious faces, curious faces, laughing, cuddles and moments where your child is completely distracted with something else.

That is what I love.

Some of my favorite family photos are not the ones where everyone is smiling at the camera, they are the ones where I can capture real personalities and genuine connections.

It isn’t about your children being “good” for the photographer

Please don’t worry if your children are energetic, shy, loud, reluctant or simply having one of those days.

You don’t need to apologise! Not only am I a photographer but I am a mum too and I know exactly how it can be.

There is no perfect way for your child to behave during our session. My job is to create a relaxed environment where they can just be themselves.

It isn’t about recreating somebody else’s photographs.

Your family doesn’t need to look like any other family or more importantly like anyone on Pinterest!

Your photographs should feel like you and remind you of this particular stage of your families story.

So, what is a family photography session?

It is capturing your family exactly as they are now, it’s capturing all of those details you might not notice everyday because you are busy living them.

Years from now you won’t remember if everyone sat perfectly still for the whole session and whether every photograph had everyone looking at the camera. You will remember how small they were, their tiny hands, their little laughs and quirks and how chaotic but beautifully full your life was then.

And from experience, more often than not it’s the photograph you didn’t expect is the one you will love the most.

If you are thinking of booking a family session, please get in touch, I would love to hear from you.