What is a "day in the Life" / family documentary session?
Family documentary sessions capture the life you have built. They are not about forced smiles, the kids never have to stand in one place, and best of all - you get to be in them (do you hear that, Mom? YOU in beautiful pictures of your everyday life - and not just iPhone photos from some awful angle)
These sessions do not involve posing. The photographer becomes a "fly on the wall" of your home, and captures raw, real, beautiful moments. The moments that truly make you smile. The moments that truly make your kids smile. But the photographer also captures the moments that make your kids scream and cry - we are documenting your story, your life, so that in 10, 20, or 30 years, you can look back and remember your family's precious moments.
How do I know if I should book a Day in the life session?
If you answer yes to any of the following questions, click "Contact" and let's book a session!
- Do you always want every detail documented so that you can look back and remember how you feel in a given moment?
- Do you have 15,000 photos of your kids or dog playing in the last year on your phone, but you are only in 6 of them?
- Do you worry about time going by too fast, and your kids growing up too fast? Do you worry about forgetting those simple moments?
- Do you want to capture moments of your kids with your parents / grandparents, so that you and your kids can remember what it is like to have grandparents / great-grandparents around?
- Do you want to look back at old photos and remember the fun your family had together that day?
- Are you moving into a new house, and want to remember the feeling of moving into your first home forever?
- Do you want to have a relaxed photo session with no fancy clothes, no fancy makeup, and no wrangling of your kids to sit still?
How Do WE Just... Know what to do on the day of the session?
I know, it feels awkward to hear that there will be no poses coming from the photographer for these sessions. However, don't worry, there are a few steps we will go through in advance, and there will be some direction going into the session. We will follow the steps below for each session:
1. Fill out the contact form - we will discuss the type of session you think best fits your needs and reserve a date. Dates are only reserved once the $75 deposit is received.
2. Complete questionnaire - once the session is booked, you will fill out a detailed questionnaire for me to understand your favorite day to day activities with your family. Cooking, coloring, playing with toys, dancing in the kitchen, bath time, coloring outside with chalk, etc. We then will discuss in advance the activities that we will plan for you to do with your family during the session.
3. Session Day - we start the day's activities and have a ton of fun! For those of you with kids... don't worry, it is very easy to just follow their lead!
What if my house is messy?
You are welcome to have your house be as clean or as messy as you want. After all, we are aiming to capture your everyday life!
Why are sessions so long?
In order to get the true feel of your day-to-day life, and to have time to appropriately capture all of these moments, sessions need a bit more time than a posed session. But remember, you aren't sitting and smiling for a camera for 2+ hours, you are just going about your day-to-day life, having fun with your family!
Do you have to have kids for these sessions?
No! These types of sessions can be for anyone at all. You do not have to have kids to be a family! Documentary style sessions can be used for almost anything. Here are some examples:
- Engagement sessions - I am thinking some baking, maybe some wine drinking, how about eating pizza on the floor?
- Couples Valentine's Day sessions - make it a date night! Potentially have an in-home cooking class with me there capturing the moment!
- First home session - just buy a house? Let's capture move in day!
What are some examples of activities or moments you can capture?
Here is just a sample of some activities that can get you thinking for your session (which can be in-home or outdoors elsewhere)!
- Cooking or baking together
- Family meals (pizza party, anyone?)
- Playing games
- Coloring with the kids
- Crafts
- Playing with toys / pretend play (tea party, anyone?)
- Dancing in the kitchen
- Playing instruments
- Chalk on the driveway
- Playing outside (maybe the ice cream truck will come!)
- Family story time
- Bath time / teeth brushing / night routine
- First days at home with a newborn
- Moments in the first 48 hours of life (baby hospital session)
- Packing & moving out of your home
- Unpacking & moving into a new home
- Picnic at a park
- Walk / hike (sorry - I can't do anything too difficult!) at a park
- OR, nothing specific, just live your life at home like the photos throughout this page
Just a small sample of ideas, we can do anything :)
