How personal In-home Sessions can be the best photo session you’ll ever have

Indoor family session

As a Los Angeles Family Photographer, This sweet mama reached out to me to schedule an in-studio newborn session. Once I saw the background of her home during our FaceTime consult, I knew it’d be a heavenly spot to do a personal in-home session. Which can be the best photo session you’ll ever have.

First off, a little about the family— This Mama is actually a pelvic floor specialist with her own practice in the South Bay! You can find her at: www.beachmama-wellness.com and see more of her magic. Most days, her boys can be found living their best lives and playing in the backyard with dad.

During our consult call and discussing her family photoshoot ideas, I noticed that her home had beautiful, natural light. It was so meticulously designed and decorated. I always push for an in-home family session. Because of all the opportunities we have to inject such genuine personality into a shoot. We planned which rooms we wanted to shoot in during our consult call. We landed on the living room, the boy’s rooms, the nursery, the bedroom, & backyard. Those were the areas of their home they used the most, so I wanted to make sure they felt lived in for the shoot.

How in-home Sessions feel

This Los Angeles in-home family photo session was so easygoing and laid-back. Mom let her boys do their thing for the most part, but we definitely bribed here and there (hence the Lolli’s, lol). I try to have my in-home family photo session galleries feel as if I’m a visitor in their lives for this short amount of time. My goal is to capture the personal essence of their home life as much as I can.

“I don’t want to fake scenarios to get an Instagram-worthy shot, I want to recreate real moments. The same ones made routinely. Bottle them up for when their days don’t seem like such a routine. They’ll get brought back to *this* season in their lives.”

Okay, but in full transparency, there are times that in-home family photo sessions can get stressful. After all, we always at least try to get a picture of all family members looking and smiling). When the moments felt tense, we’d take a break to let the boys get their energy out before re-engaging. The series of pictures of the two boys fighting over the rocker in the nursery were taken during one of these “breaks.” I call them breaks, but I also love them to capture the candids during the in-between moments. I aimed to capture the chaos that a home with (now) three boys would probably feel like.

Why you should do a personal in-home photo session with your family

In-home family photo sessions are where it’s at because they literally ooze your personal life into a session. I love in-home sessions as a family photoshoot idea! I love a beautifully styled session as much as anyone else. But there’s something about capturing a family in their bubble. Where they develop core memories, where their feelings of security are formed and molded. Where long days turn into fast years. It’s getting to press a pause button for an hour and getting to relive it every time they look at their gallery. It’s also the least stressful of locations for parents with toddlers.

Kiddos usually don’t have any walls up and are always eager to show me their rooms and toys. I’ll always ask kiddos what their favorite thing about their room is. Or what their favorite toy is and make sure I get pictures of them. I always imagine them being in their 40’s, looking back at these and coming across their favorite nook in their room. Feeling that same feeling of warmth they felt there as a kid. In-home sessions are about capturing candid moments & details, over perfection. If you’re looking for polished perfection, maybe the studio is more for you. But for me, in-home family photo sessions have a piece of my heart.

Is your home the perfect place for a personal in-home family photo session?

A lot of clients tell me they don’t have the perfect home, but as long as the lighting in their home is good, we can get amazing images. Light makes an ordinary room look like the most glorious room ever. I’ve done many in-home family photo sessions where a home isn’t “aesthetic” but parents don’t care because their main goal is to capture their home & this chapter of their lives. Any specific concerns are also hashed out during our consult call because I’ll very honestly tell you if your home will work for an in-home family photo session or if we should do it in the studio.

Things I look for when booking a personal in-home session:

No color on the walls (this includes grays & any forms of yellows, greens, or mauves), the lighter the wall, the better light reflects in the room.
I always recommend tidying up the spaces we will be shooting in, making sure no cords are showing and anything they don’t want to be shown in their images is tucked away (Sound machines, crib cameras, extension chords, things on nightstands, pile-ups in corners of rooms— I am guilty of this too, lol).
Having the furniture arranged how they want it for pics before I get there so that we aren’t spending too much time arranging furniture.

I truly hope the next time you book a session, I’ve convinced you to consider a personal in-home family photo session for your next family photoshoot ideas!

When booking a session with me just know I consider your family’s dynamic. I wish for you to have the best photos that you’ll cherish for a lifetime. I hope you love these, Peters family!

With love,

Natalie

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