Why I Used to Avoid In-Home Family Sessions and Why I Love Them Now
- Aug 12
- 2 min read
There was a time when I’d flat out refuse to do in-home family sessions.
Not because I didn’t love the idea of them. I did.
They just scared me a little.
I didn’t know what the light would be doing. I didn’t know how much space I’d have to work with. I didn’t know whether your house would have big windows, tiny windows, dark rooms, bright rooms… or whether I’d walk in and immediately think, hell, where am I going to shoot?
Give me a beautiful field at golden hour and I knew exactly what I was walking into.
I knew the light. I knew where I wanted everyone. I knew what colours would work. I could send you a styling guide, help pull your outfits together and have a pretty good idea of what the finished gallery was going to feel like.
And I still bloody love that.
I love beautiful locations. I love styled outfits. I love that dreamy afternoon light pouring through a field, None of that is going anywhere.
But the longer I’ve been photographing families, the more I’ve grown, evolved and the less I feel like I need everything to be quite so controlled and somewhere along the way, in-home family photography in Ipswich become something i genuinely started to love.
Bare feet. Kids running in and out of frame. Toys scattered on the floor, icy poles dripping down little hands in the backyard and the dog deciding they’re absolutely going to be every frame possible.
Your home doesn’t need to look like it belongs in a magazine to photograph beautifully, It just needs to be YOURS.
And there’s something really freaking cool about turning up to a family’s home with no idea what I’m going to get and finding the beauty in whatever is already there.
Your everyday is worth photographing and I think that’s the part I understand differently now.
When you live somewhere every day, you stop really seeing it. That backyard is just the backyard. That couch is just the couch. That hallway with the weird afternoon light is just the hallway you walk through 400 times a week.
But your kids are growing up there and it’s the backdrop to a huge chunk of their childhood. Years from now those little ordinary details might end up being the parts of the photos that hit you the hardest.
So… in-home or outdoor family photos?
Both. Always both.
I don’t think one is better than the other, they just tell your story differently. If you want the beautiful outfits, the open field and that delicious golden light, let’s bloody do it.
If you want me to turn up at your house while the kids run wild in the backyard and we make something out of whatever we find, I’m here for that too.
Maybe that’s the biggest thing that’s changed for me, I’m not as scared of not knowing anymore and I think not knowing might be half the fun!
Ready to let me into your chaos?
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