THE FAMILY RESOURCE GUIDE
How Documentary
Family Sessions
Actually Work
You don't have to know what to do.
You don't have to pretend I'm not there, hope your kids behave, or somehow create ninety minutes of picture-perfect family life.
You bring your family.
We'll give them something to do.
And then we see where the story takes us.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Documentary doesn't mean
I just show up and watch.
I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions about documentary family photography.
You are not responsible for creating an hour of interesting family life while I silently stand in the corner with a camera.
And I'm not expecting your children to forget I'm there.
We give the story somewhere to begin.
Maybe that's making pancakes at home. Exploring a creek. Washing the dog. Going for ice cream. Watering the garden. Wandering through your favorite market.
Then I photograph what happens when your family gets to actually do something together.
01
BEFORE YOUR SESSION
First, we find
your story.
Before we ever worry about where we're going or what everybody is wearing, I want to know about your family.
What are your kids obsessed with right now? What does everyone love doing together? What does a really good Saturday look like?
Maybe there's a garden everyone helps with. A toddler who would live in the bathtub if you let them. A daughter who spends every afternoon with her horse. A favorite coffee shop. A backyard swing. A Sunday breakfast.
That's where we start.
Not with a Pinterest pose. Not with a list of photographs we have to recreate.
With something that already belongs to you.
NOT SURE WHAT YOUR STORY COULD BE?
You don't need a big idea.
But I've got a few if you want them.
From pancake mornings and creek adventures to dog washing, ice cream runs and letting the kids make the plan, I've put together some ideas to get you thinking.
FAMILY PHOTO IDEAS THAT AREN'T JUST STANDING IN A FIELD
02
LEAVE SOME ROOM
We don't plan
every minute.
The plan gives us somewhere to begin.
It does not give us a script.
Maybe we're making pancakes and somebody starts dancing in the kitchen.
Maybe we're exploring the creek and one kid loses a shoe.
Maybe the activity we planned lasts exactly seven minutes because your toddler has decided there are much more important things happening somewhere else.
We follow them.
The activity is the starting point. Your family decides where the story actually goes.
03
WHEN I ARRIVE
You just
start living.
There's no grand opening ceremony.
I'm not going to line everybody up the second I walk through the door and ask the kids to smile.
We'll talk. I'll probably say hello to your dog. Your kids can show me the thing they've been waiting all morning to show me.
And then we'll start.
Make the pancakes.
Water the flowers.
Get in the creek.
Having something familiar to do gives everyone a chance to settle in without feeling like they suddenly need to become a different version of themselves for the camera.
YES, I'LL HELP YOU
Documentary doesn't
mean zero direction.
You are not on your own.
I might move you toward better light.
I might suggest taking what you're doing outside.
I might give you an idea when everybody genuinely doesn't know what to do next.
I might ask you to stay exactly where you are because something really good is happening.
I'm paying attention to light, movement, composition and what's happening around you.
I'm directing the environment when it needs it.
I'm not manufacturing the connection.
05
THIS ONE'S IMPORTANT
Your kids are
allowed to be kids.
They can run away.
They can need a snack.
They can be shy for twenty minutes and then suddenly decide I am their new best friend.
They can want Mom. They can get muddy. They can change their mind.
They can refuse the exact activity everybody was absolutely positive they were going to love.
None of that means your session is failing.
I don't need perfect behavior to make photographs that feel like your family.
06
ANOTHER MYTH
You don't have
to ignore me.
Documentary photography doesn't mean everyone has to pretend the photographer is invisible.
Your kids can talk to me.
They can show me their favorite toy, ask me seventeen questions, inspect my camera and tell me an extremely long story that has absolutely no ending.
You can look at me.
Someone can even look directly into the camera.
Real life includes me being there that day.
Nobody needs to pretend otherwise.
AND YES
We'll make the
everybody-together
photo too.
Because Grandma wants it.
And, frankly, someday you probably will too.
Documentary doesn't mean I'm morally opposed to asking everyone to come together for a photograph.
We'll make a few intentional family portraits along the way.
We just won't spend the entire session trying to manufacture seventy-five versions of the same smiling photograph.
WHAT I'M REALLY WATCHING FOR
The story usually happens
in between the plan.
The activity gives us somewhere to begin. But some of my favorite photographs happen around it.
The way you carry the toddler when they're tired.
Dad stopping to tie somebody's shoe.
The little hand that reaches for yours without thinking.
Fixing hair that's fallen into somebody's face.
The look between two parents when the entire plan has gone completely off the rails.
Those aren't interruptions to the story.
They are the story.
AFTER YOUR SESSION
Then I put the
story together.
You go home.
Or, if we photographed you at home, I leave and you discover the kitchen is somehow messier than when we started.
I go through everything we made and look for the photographs that tell me what that day actually felt like.
The big moments. The quiet ones. The ridiculous ones. The things you didn't even realize I saw.
The goal isn't a gallery full of different ways to smile at the camera.
It's a gallery that feels like stepping back into this version of your family.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO PERFORM
Come as you are.
Bring something you love doing together.
You don't need perfectly behaved kids, a perfectly styled home, or any idea what to do with your hands.
We'll find somewhere to begin.
I'll help with the rest.
BUILD YOUR STORY