Backyard Family Session | Natural Lifestyle Family Photographer

Did you know that you schedule a session for family portraits right in your own home? My style of photography is not really about the location, but rather, centered on capturing you having fun with your children. Your home is the perfect location because your children will feel at ease, you don’t have to waste time traveling and it allows me to capture your family authentically.

I was elated when this mom contacted me and said she wanted to schedule a lifestyle session in her Garden City home. The goal of her session was to capture her family playing in the yard in which they spend much of their time. These types of moments are exactly what I like to capture for families.

The minute I stepped foot in their home, I knew the session was going to be special because their home was filled with love. While the kids were still warming up to me, I snapped a few quick “formal” family portraits on the front stoop of their house and then we went back into the yard.

My goal for family sessions is to keep the session stress free for everyone involved. I do not do a lot of poses in which the kids are required to sit still and look at the camera. As we all know, toddlers under four do not like to sit still for long. Instead, when photographing toddlers I keep my sessions playful. I do not force children to sit still and smile; we play games and during that play, I am able to capture really natural, candid moments, but I can also sneak in some posed portraits.

We packed a lot of activity into this session; the kids picked flowers, played on the swings, climbed in the playhouse, played with their parents, had races, and then we played with bubbles. You will see that the session is filled with a lot of action, which I love because that is the reality of living with toddlers. I was also able to sneak in some really sweet and cuddly moments. Those are the images that will pull on mom’s heartstrings and, for me, are really important to capture.

I really had so much fun with this family and the time flew by. Here are my favorites from the session.

If you are interested in a session, contact me.