5 Reasons to hire a documentary family photographer in 2023

This photography experience is all about capturing the beauty in your ordinary life. Here are a few reasons to give it a try this year.

1. Because the kids are growing like weeds

They’re morphing right before your eyes! Each of them at different stages, each needing different things. You are pulled in a million different directions and there is so little time to slow down and marinate in the details. You love how your youngest scrunches up her nose when she’s concentrating, how your boisterous middle child is so gentle with the old family dog and that ridiculous Tik-Tok dance that they all do together while laughing hysterically. Documentary family photography captures the essence of this moment so that you can hold on to it and savor it, even though the next moment has already come, and the ways your children explore the world and express themselves has already changed, again.

2. Because your life is busy

The juggle is real. You have a to do list a mile long and family photos feel like just another thing to coordinate. Where? When? How? A traditional portrait or lifestyle session has so many variables that play into its success - from the perfect outfits to the weather, to how well the kids cooperate in your very short time slot. Your nerves, right?! Day in the life sessions capture your day to day, they slide right into your day, no preparation required. I turn your life into art, while you carry on with your to do list. There is no coordinating. Just open the front door for me and carry on.

3. Because your family has a complex story

Day in the life sessions don’t just get you a collection of pretty pictures. They tell a story about the people in the photographs, their relationships to their surroundings and to each other. The details are important. They will be the things your heart catches on in the years to come.

4. Because Mom should be in the photos too

I could write a whole essay on this one but I will try to keep it short. I know you have eleventy-million iphone pics of your kids; of your kids with their other parent, their grandparents…but what about you?

Your kids need photos of you that aren’t selfies. They also don’t care if you are all wearing matching outfits and gazing at each other lovingly. The mama they love wakes up with crazy hair and smelly breath and they want to snuggle her anyway. Give them a photo of that. The mama they love cheers them on while they learn to ride a bike, and tickles their back juuuust the way they like while they’re watching cartoons. Give them photos of those things.

What things did your mom do for you when you were a kid that made you feel loved? Don’t you wish you had a photo of it?

5. Because you want photos of their genuine smiles

I will never ask anyone to look at the camera and smile. Not ever. I’m all about real life, tears and all, and rolling with whatever happens during our session. But I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll capture some of your family’s most magnificent bubbles of glee, deep happiness and contentedness. The kind of expressions that only come with a little time, when you have forgotten the click of the camera (it happens quicker than you think) and settles into your real day in the life.