The thing that I love about the direction photography has gone is, is that these sessions can become anything you want them to. Often, the same question comes up, “Where do you recommend we do our family session?” My answer is almost always going to be the same: Is there a place that’s special to you? Yes, family photos are about the people in them and the emotions. However, there is also an environmental element that should be considered. Where your photos take place are going to help tell your story. Let’s look at some different examples of places that I’ve photographed families and why these locations were chosen.
This family had recently purchased their home and were doing a lot of renovations. Their three girls are growing so fast and they wanted to remember them in this home together. I photographed them in their backyard, in their parent’s big tub, in their bedrooms, and in the kitchen. I wanted each room to be remembered and captured in a way that would bring the photos to life. I wanted them to be able to hold these prints and hear their little girls laughing, even when they are someday grown and moved away.
On the other side of the story above, this family was about to leave their first home, as a family. They had brought their baby home in this apartment and started a whole new life in Atlanta. They wanted to capture the very street that they walked up and down every day. We even walked to the local coffee shop and did some photos there. It was a way to forever remember that apartment and that life.
Sometimes you don’t really get to pick your “perfect” setting, but it ends up being perfect anyway. This was an adoption that I had the honor of photographing and we ended up doing a sweet family session, right after they met baby.
This family was expecting their second child and they wanted to remember their family of 3 before baby arrived. We did some photos of mom by herself, but wanted to include everyone in most of them. We chose to do these inside and keep them simple and sweet.
This family wanted to do show their true, playful selves and we opted to do them outside. This allowed us so much room to run, laugh, and play. I loved the emotions we got from this session.
This was right after these parents brought baby home. We did most of them in the nursery, as everything was so new. Whenever I do these newborn sessions, I find it so important to get little detail photos of things in the room. Parents put so much time and energy into making sure their baby feels welcome, safe, and loved. These little details are not so little when you consider the thought that goes into them.
These next two are some of my favorite sessions because these mothers decided that they just wanted a “mommy & me” session with her daughters. It was so sweet and I wish I had done something like this with my mother when I was a little girl.
This family had come down to Sea Island and decided that they wanted to do a family session while on vacation. I actually end up doing a lot of family vacation sessions (the benefit of living where most people vacation or being able to travel to them). This is such a neat way to not only remember your vacation, but also get some gorgeous family photographs.
This family was also on vacation, but this was to celebrate their parent’s wedding anniversary (I love this so much). They talked about how hard it is (and rare) to get everyone together, so they wanted photographs to remember their time together. I love extended family sessions because we get some wonderful group portraits, but we also break down into individual families for some photos. The grandparents with their grandkids always end up being some of the most special.
I hope this helps when you’re considering where to do your family session. I truly believe it should be what fits your personality and has special meaning to you. At the end of the day, just get those family photos because life is so fleeting.