Behind the Scenes of a Family Photo Session at Home

It started out as an atypical photo session, right from the beginning: the person reaching out for family photos was, gasp, a man.

I’ve been focusing my blog on helping new clients find me and get valuable information about photography and how it intersects with life, to the point where I basically stopped sharing new work on the blog. Because you probably don’t want to see a whole lot of photos of someone else’s family, right? 

But you probably would find some behind the scenes info helpful. I assume. And hope. Because that’s what we’re doing today. 

We’re going behind the scenes of a family photo session at home. 

So, back to what I was saying. A man contacted me about family photography, which is atypical because usually it’s a woman reaching out. Usually, it’s a mom, harried and hurried and finally frustrated with the lack of photos of herself with her family, who fills out my contact form and says she wants family photos. This time, Mom had relayed all of that frustration to Dad, who was then tasked with finding the photographer that would fit with their family, and doing all the work to prep and complete the job, as a gift to her. 

We scheduled a zoom and I got goosebumps - the good kind - as he talked about his family and their hesitations and concerns for family photography. The house isn’t perfect, is that okay? (More than okay.) The kids are two and six months old, they won’t pose. (I wouldn’t expect them to.) Our last photos felt rushed and public. (Ah, a session at home sounds like a perfect choice.) We’re a little uncomfortable with aspects of how we look, and hesitate that those aspects might be highlighted. (You’re not alone in those feelings, that hesitation is valid. I won’t change how you look in the photos, but some angles are more flattering than others.) 

We seemed to really mesh, and I was excited when they decided to move forward, and we scheduled a session for mid-July, at home. Dad filled out my pre-session form with thorough abandon, telling me their main goals, reiterating concerns, and cracking jokes that made me snort as I learned more about their family and got prepped for our photo date.

The night before our session, there was a text. The baby was fussy and may or may not have been getting over an ear infection. I read between the lines: What if he fusses during the session tomorrow? Please don’t judge us, and also what if this ruins the session… I reassured them, giving them an out to reschedule in the morning if needed and finished packing my gear. 

It was an early session; I drank my coffee in the car. It was also already above 80 degrees when I arrived on their front porch, and I was glad for the indoors plan we had set up: time as a family in the play room, like a typical Saturday morning, then a treat of popsicles in the kitchen before heading outside for a few photos on the front porch. 

As it happens with a fussy infant getting over an ear infection, both parents had slept very little the night before, and it took a few minutes for them to make their own coffee and finish getting themselves ready. I played with the boys in the play room, the two year old showing me his favorite toys, and entertaining his baby brother, and discovering the delightful sound a camera makes when you press and hold down the shutter button. 

We bounced from play room to kitchen and back again, following the rhythm of a typical Saturday with a toddler and infant: parenting and playing, comforting and correcting. No one was fussier than their age range would make you expect, and no mood was permanent. 

We meandered to the treat portion of the session, with the baby getting milk instead of sugar, and Mom teaching her first-born how to “cheers” with a Freeze Pop. 

Mom finished first and went outside to sweep the steps, while Dad cleaned up in the kitchen and gathered the boys. We met out front (where the temperature and humidity had inexplicably continued to climb while we were inside) and laid down a blanket that had significance to their family. 

Then, the two year old did as Dad had promised during the call, and refused to sit still for a family photo. We went with it, strolling around the yard and finding nature to marvel at, and a neighbor to gab with, before the toddler made the ultimate toddler move and stripped off his pants in the front yard. 

We took that moment to refocus, and Dad saved the day, swooping his boy up into the air and making him giggle and screech. 

We retreated back into the air conditioning and I gathered my things to say goodbye. But as I got closer to the door, I noticed an inaudible sigh of relief as the pent up tension melted away, and I saw two parents relax. There had been no crazy blowouts, no major meltdowns, we had done what we planned to do, and all their hard work was done. I snapped a few photos of them together, as they exhaled. 

That was the end of our session, but not the end of our experience together, as I brought the photos home and edited, and created a gallery that made them excited to get all of the photos we made together.  

They used their print credit to order a large album to hold all of the photos, and I curated the images into the pages, with their feedback. We encapsulated our morning together in a book that the boys can look at as they grow up, remembering that in the summer of 2025, this is what life looked like. 

So, I guess the only thing that was really atypical was that I worked closely with Dad to get them the photos they wanted, instead of Mom. (So, it is possible to request photography as a gift and get exactly what you want.)

If you’d like to capture what life looks like for your family right now, nothing’s more authentic than doing what your family normally does together, while I photograph you doing it. Click here and let’s chat about what you want to remember.