There are certain sessions you do that you feel so blessed to have done when it is all said and done, and this was one of those sessions.

A few months back, Shane emailed me about scheduling family photos for his wife. We emailed back and forth, talking about the vision they had for their family session. He shared with me that his wife, Amy, had a vision of them all standing in a beautiful scenic location together. At the time, I had just started shooting purely in-home, but I was open to their idea & wanted to talk it through more with them.

Prior to our session planning call, Amy had filled out her client Q+A form. As I was reading it over, certain lines stuck out to me:

“We spend a lot of time at home together”

“I am grateful to stay at home with my babies and believe that motherhood is my mission”

“I think my biggest concern with professional photos is that he (toddler) takes a while to “warm up” to new faces. It can sometimes take 30+ minutes for him to warm up to someone.”

All of these sentences were sparking thoughts in my brain. I knew that with all of the things mom had listed about being important to her, and any concerns she had, that an in-home session would serve them better than being outdoor in a scenic location together.

Here’s what my brain was thinking as I read her words:

“We spend a lot of time at home together” | Their kids are already going to be so comfortable when I arrive because they are already in their safe space. They got to eat breakfast, get dressed, and then I get to come over to have a fun playdate with them!

“I am grateful to stay at home with my babies and believe that motherhood is my mission” | I remember those early days with my own kids, and I would pay a million dollars to have someone go back in time and photograph that season of my life in my home. Those days were so wonderful, but oh so long at the same time. I wish I had images with my own babies like the ones I could give to her, because it just went by so quickly, and I was in the thick of it. If I could have had someone ahead of me encourage me to freeze that moment in time for myself, I would have loved that. I want to be that person for her.

“I think my biggest concern with professional photos is that he (toddler) takes a while to “warm up” to new faces. It can sometimes take 30+ minutes for him to warm up to someone.” | Oh, I am not worried one bit; I have never met a kid who didn’t warm up to me quickly. But on the off chance that I am wrong, home is going to for sure work best for this family. He will feel way more comfortable being in his own space.

So during our session planning call, I shared all of those thoughts I had with them. We talked through the pros and the cons of doing photos in home or outdoor family photos, and I left the conversation telling Mom that she should think about it. No need to decide right now.

And can you guess by these images what they decided? 😉 In-Home.

And spoiler alert, it was perfection in every aspect of the word.

Amy and her family are the perfect example of what it looks like to work with your photographer. Brainstorm with them, bounce ideas off of each other, learn about one another! Her & I talked through every aspect of their session leading up to the day, and I truly believe that is the majority of the reason we were able to create images like these for her family.

She trusted me. That’s what it all boils down to. And as her photographer, I cannot tell you how much that meant to me.