An honest, behind-the-scenes look from a St. Louis family, motherhood, and newborn photographer
As a St. Louis motherhood, family, and newborn photographer, I hear this question a lot: what can I expect during a family photography session? Maybe it’s your first professional family session, and you’re just not sure what to expect.
Let me reassure you. Some people have their first family session with their firstborn newborn. Others have their first professional family session ever when their kids are older, maybe 8, or even teenagers.
So I want to start by saying this: there are no rules. The rules are fake when it comes to family and newborn photography sessions. If you’re worried you haven’t booked a session yet and your newborn isn’t a newborn anymore, it’s not too late. If you’ve never booked a family session and your kids are older, it’s not too late. There’s never a perfect time. It’s always a good time to book a family photography session, and there’s no one-size-fits-all session, either.
It Depends on Your Photographer
What you can expect from a family session varies from photographer to photographer. Just as there are many experts to choose from in any service industry, there are many photographers to choose from, and each one offers different sessions, with different approaches, visions, and offerings.
My recommendation: start by writing down what you’re hoping to get from your photography session. Are you the family that wants a quick, updated, beautiful portrait? Everyone smiling, a classic, traditional photo? Write that down, and then begin your search for the photographer who aligns with your vision.
If a photographer captures photos where everyone is standing and looking at the camera, you might not expect much play or movement. If that’s the kind of session you’d like, that’s perfect for you, and that’s what you should look for. Every photographer has a different style. It really comes down to this: what do you want captured and remembered? What style are you drawn to?
As a family lifestyle and documentary photographer, my approach is different. Rather than the traditional portrait of everyone looking at the camera, a session with me is a totally different experience.
It Starts With Getting to Know Your Family
After you book, I’ll ask you detailed questions about your family. What do you do together? What are your traditions? What are your rhythms? Do you make pancakes on Saturday mornings? Play soccer in the yard? Swim in summer? Play board games? Take family walks, ride bikes, go to the park? There are a million ways families spend time together, and so many things that are special and unique to each one.
Once I get to know who your family is and what’s special to you, I’ll also ask: what do you want to remember about this season? What are your children doing right now, and who are they right now, that you don’t want to forget?
The Little Details You Don’t Want to Forget
Sometimes it’s something really simple. This summer, my youngest daughter was really into peaches. She just loved eating fresh peaches. And it connected to something else: our family loves Roald Dahl’s stories, especially James and the Giant Peach.
That’s something you might not even think to tell me, but it’s something you might want to remember. It was something I wanted to remember. So I took a picture on film of her hand in artistic light: the small details of her little 10-year-old hand, holding a peach. I can frame it on the wall, and I’ll always remember the story of a peach and what it meant to me.
Maybe it’s something really small that seems unimportant, but it’s a detail you don’t want to forget. The more detail you give me, the more I can spin it into art. I ask my families: what do you want to remember 20, 30, 50 years from now, when you look back on this season of your family life, their childhood, and your parenthood?
What do you want to remember 20, 30, 50 years from now?
That’s the kind of experience you can expect with me. I’ll ask questions, and then I’ll spin the story of your family and your children into an artistic, detailed experience, so you can look back on photos that tell your story.
I’ll Guide You Through It
During your session, I help guide you. Maybe you want a session at home, and you make pancakes on Saturday mornings. Then you make pancakes together, and I photograph it, and you’ll always remember the story of making pancakes together.
Maybe you’re also the family that goes to your favorite playground on Saturday mornings, just around the corner. A favorite park near us is Drace Park, with a beautiful playground and beautiful light. So we could do both: make pancakes at home, then head over to the park, play on the playground, and get some really pretty photos in that pretty light.
Expect Play and Movement
I believe children need autonomy, and they need to play. As a former early childhood teacher, I know children learn through play, and their little bodies need to move. So why would a photography session be any different?
With young children, I always encourage play and movement. And parents, you should enjoy this session with your children, too. I encourage lots of play, movement, and connection, with you following your children’s lead in however they love to play best. It makes for such genuinely beautiful, connected images.
If we’re somewhere other than your home, I’ll bring a few things your children might love to play with. Maybe they love bubbles, or silk scarves, or dancing. At home, we can pull their favorite toys into the beautiful light, and you can play together.
Play Doesn’t End When Kids Get Older
Everyone loves to play. With older children, play might look different. Maybe you’re walking together, or doing an activity together like baking or cooking, or going to your favorite coffee shop or ice cream spot and just enjoying the moment. Play comes in many forms, and families need to move, play, and be creative.
Real Sessions, Real Stories
Three generations and a family ravioli recipe. One of my favorite sessions was with an Italian family with older kids. Every Sunday, they make pasta sauce, and every Christmas they make really special ravioli. They make the dough from scratch, roll it through the pasta press, cut it, and fill it with cheese. It’s such an art form. The grandmother, who is so special to their family, came, and we had three generations making this family recipe together. It was a way to capture an art form within an art form, and it was true to this family.
Because the kids were older, they could still play and do something meaningful together, and I documented it all at home, where everyone was comfortable. I also captured the kids in their own rooms: one teenager putting on makeup, another who loves music playing her guitar, and a son who loves his animals, holding his bearded dragon.
A new chapter at the Jewel Box. With younger children, it depends on each family. One family wanted photos at the Jewel Box, because that’s where they got engaged and took their wedding photos. When it came time to celebrate the adoption of their little girl and their growing family, they wanted a session that captured this new story in a place with special meaning.
They told me their little girl loves princess dresses, Frozen, and the story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. So they brought the book and read it to her, and I documented it. She wore her beautiful dress for the family portraits, then changed into her princess dress, and her mom played with her little princess in the grass.
So, What Can You Expect?
A session with me is completely custom, built around you. At any age and stage, I always encourage an activity. Play and movement help everyone get out of their minds and into their bodies, feel comfortable in front of the camera, and focus on connection: your family, doing something meaningful to you, together.
That’s how your story becomes art. And that’s what you can expect from a family photography session with me, your St. Louis family photographer.
If this sounds like you, I would be honored to tell your story.
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