Photographed in their home around their nap and meal schedules, these girls were fed, rested, relaxed and ready to smile!
A Closer Look at In-Home Sessions for Children
These sessions are still a bit new on the scene as in-home sessions, so not everyone is familiar with them. In this post I break down the ins and outs of what's involved and help you determine whether an in-home session could be the right fit for your child's portraits!
First we'll look at why you might opt for an in-home session over an outdoor one. As technology has progressed and equipment design improved to become increasingly portable, we now have the added flexibility and accessibility of taking professional equipment on location and setting up quickly in nearly any space. From pop-up backdrops to impressively long-lasting battery packs, it has never been easier to bring a studio on location! Now photographers can go the extra mile for clients so that they don't have to, by bringing it all to their doorstep and making incredible portraits of their children simpler than ever to achieve.
As someone detail-oriented and as a photographer who works predominantly with children, this model of business appeals to me for many reasons, which I explain below in more detail.
Climate Control
The weather often complicates outdoor sessions, requiring reschedules or shifts in timing. Virginia weather is all over the place in the spring and fall, which is often when clients are most interested in booking sessions. Kids that are cold are far less likely to genuinely smile.
You can bundle them up if it's cold, but most people don't have coordinated winter coats so you either have to lower your wardrobe expectations, shiver through photos, or purchase color coordinated winter coats. For everyone. You can of course also avoid this by scheduling outdoor photos in the warmer months, but many prefer to have photos taken closer to Christmas or Easter.
Light Control
All outdoor photographers are used to the roller-coaster leading up to a session as we keep an eye on the weather and pray it's not raining or overly cloudy, too hot–or too cold.
If we schedule for sunset and it's overcast we have to shift the session earlier. Schedule earlier to begin with, and you face the potential for harsh sunlight and have to use flash or seek shade, which can present its own complications.
There are ways to overcome these obstacles and maintain quality portraits, but none afford much control at the onset.
Attention Spans
Picture this: You're a 2 year old and you're outside in an exciting new environment. Flowers, animals, water, rocks, trees. What are the odds you're interested in sitting still and smiling at a camera? Not very high if you're anything like my kids!
Now by contrast imagine someone enters your familiar home environment, which is old news to you by now. Your curiosity is through the roof and you're far more likely to engage and interact!
Prioritize Nap
I'm a mom first, photographer second and I know how important sleep schedules are! But the situation plays out time and again: We aim for golden hour but golden hour happens to be bedtime for littles. The children were rushed through dinner (if it wasn't put off till after) and normally they'd be on their way to bed by now. Suffice it to say, they're often not at their best.
Alternatively we plan an early session and now you have to do the other dreaded option: wake them up.
With in-home sessions the timing isn't dictated by available light or the forecast, which means you tell me what time works for your children!
Prop Options
When I photograph outdoor sessions, I don't provide props. The reason for this is practical: There's often a great deal of walking involved in an outdoor session as we move from location to location. There's only so much we can carry or haul in a wagon. My sweet clients always offer their help but my gear alone is a handful!
If you want to try different props or chairs for your little at an in-home session, it's far more doable.
Wardrobe Options
I provide the wardrobe for heirloom portrait sessions! I have a children's client closet of timeless clothing specifically for this purpose. Let me know the sizes you need and I bring them to your door! No shopping, no ironing. Money saved. It's a win-win-win for you!
No Travel
As a mom, nothing truly prepared me for the difficulty and complexity of the modern carseat. As silly as it sounds, it's really a lot to get *a* child ready to go anywhere and remember to pack everything they might need (if you're a parent, I know you relate!).
Let alone multiple children! And then once they're loaded up you have the seemingly impossible task of having them look put together by the time they exit the vehicle on the other side. Leaving the house is way more of a workout as a mom than I imagined it would be, but with in-home sessions ALL of that is a non-issue. Everything your child could need is at your fingertips because you're at home!
Accessibility
This is something that I didn't readily understand until I served clients that were differently-abled, or that required greater accessibility. A lot of locations aren't conducive to wheelchairs, walkers or crutches and require a great deal of walking.
Additionally, some of my clients have health conditions that prevent them from being able to tolerate heat, cold, or wind and while I do my best to accommodate requests and recommend outdoor locations when preferred, sometimes an in-home session is ideal.
Behind-the-Scenes at an In-home Session
Typically these sessions will be booked on a Saturday, and the timing depends on your child's needs. For the session featured in this post I arrived 8:40am so that while the family was finishing up breakfast and getting prepped for the day I could set up in the playroom and be ready to go at 9. On a funny note I got held up by a turkey in the road on the way to their house! The girls were so sweet and helped me in any way they could! The oldest, Elliot, has shown interest in photography and took on the role of my assistant like a pro, and Laine held my grey card so that I could lock in my settings. Thanks again, girls!
The session was deliberately scheduled in the morning in order to catch them all at their happiest, and it worked out perfectly. We began with the youngest (Jordyn, 1 yr.) so that once she was finished she was free to go down for her morning nap while I photographed the older three. They each enjoyed their turn in front of the camera and one of my favorite moments was when Laine commented that she felt like a princess! I said she should, because after all she IS a princess!
Arrival + setup to tear down + departure was approx. 2 hours total. I was prepared to be there longer as needed depending on how the little ones responded to being in front of the camera, but they did great, and really surprised even me with how quickly we were able to capture genuine smiles. I feel strongly this was mostly due to the fact that we'd scheduled around their needs and were in their familiar home environment!
We even had time for a few extras. Miss Jordyn had an heirloom dress passed down from grandma, so we snagged a few of her in that, and a few additional fine art portraits of Elliot. Then after some silly antics with noisemakers and toys, and the incredibly difficult decision the girls had to make of choosing from the treasure chest of prizes, we wrapped up, packed up and I was on my way by late morning.
A few days after the session I sent a link to their proofing gallery and they chose their favorite 3 of each girl as well as which 4 photos they'd like to be put into a composite of the girls together. Their proofing gallery in this case (because there were four girls and we did a few extra sets) contained 64 images, so they had plenty to choose from!
Just look at that smile! How special that she's wearing her grandma's heirloom dress!
Jordyn was first as the youngest, and we planned to photograph her before morning nap so that she was able to keep her schedule while the older girls had their photos taken. It worked like a charm! Look at just a few of the precious expressions she gave us!
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Are you ready to capture portraits like these of your child? Send me a message today!
Bonus tip: These in-home sessions are a great opportunity for photographing all of your children's yearly milestone sessions in one sitting! Since I'm already at your home and each additional child is photographed at a discount. If you are part of a co-op or private school, you may also opt to host a portrait party and receive a group discount (must be a minimum of 5 children to host a portrait party). Larger group discounts are also available.
