Why you should have a family lifestyle session in your home

A photo session with your family is a lasting investment that you can look back on for years to come.  The time spent with your loved ones will stay with you and photography will keep those memories sharp.  One fantastic place to have a photography session is right in your own home.  Here are some reasons why.

Comfort Level: Your home is where you spend most of your time with your family. One of the toughest things about having a photography session is feeling comfortable in front of the camera.  That is completely natural, and it is also natural that most folks are most comfortable in their own home. The comfort your family feels being together in your own home will translate into great photography.

Access:if you’ve ever gone to a photo session or event and realized that you forgot to bring your blazer that tied your outfit together.  Or gone to a party only to notice a stain on the back of your pants, then you understand how important access to your wardrobe can be.  A home session also means you don’t have to load your pets or small children into a car, and drive to a remote location.  That access can really make a big difference for your family in how much you enjoy your session on the day.

Scheduling: A lot of times we make plans to have a photo session and we are jazzed about it on the day, but when the day arrives we realize we may have booked a prior engagement near the time of our session and have to cancel because of travel time or just stress.  Shooting a session in your home greatly eases the burden of scheduling.  You just have to make time to clean your house, which you were probably gonna do anyway.  

Weather: I don’t know how many times I’ve had a session planned and the weather has different plans in mind.  When shooting a family photography session at your house you always have the option to get cozy by the fire place or the living room and take great photos with no windows involved, so even a rainy day can be a great photo day. 

Setups: There are no end to great set ups that can enhance your family session within your own house.  You can do the classic cuddle up session on your couch, or you could play board games as a family. One that I enjoy is eating together at the dinner table as a family.  Whatever you can do in your home as a family will probably make a great setup for some photography.

Creativity: Being in your house really lets you get creative with your props.  If you play the guitar then bring it out and serenade your family or at least act like you are.  Those Hulk Hands that you and your brother duke it out with are up for grabs for a lifestyle shot.  Your grandmother’s good China can be carefully laid out to tell the story of an item passed down for generations.

Memories: The memories you make during your family photography session in your home are tied in with the memories you have of your home itself.  The smell of the living room table can come back to you when you look at photos of your family playing board games.  Or you can relive Christmas mornings by hanging your stockings and putting on your Christmas PJs.

Temperature:  In the south it gets hot and during the summer it gets really hot.  So having a place that you can wear whatever clothes you’d like and not have to worry about the heat helps a lot.  Also the window of time you have for outdoor photography is very slim when temperature is a concern.  You just don’t want to be outdoors for very long if it’s very hot or very cold and your home has the temp just the way you like it.

I hope you have a fantastic family photo session in your home and fill your photos with joy and laughter.  Thank you, kindly.  

-Tarver Petersen