Maybe you missed all the fall mini sessions or maybe you put off getting family photos all year. Well, it might not be too late. Here’s why you should book a holiday family photo session.
1. Your home, your memories.
Your photos should not just be about your people, but they should be about your places as well. The environment is the setting in your family story, and what better time to capture that environment than the holidays. The details that make your house your home are what will cling to your memory and take you right back to that time and place in your family history years from now. Close your eyes and think about what your home looked like decorated for the holidays as a child. What details do you remember?
2. Think of all the fun things you can do.
The holidays inspire fun family activities, and there are endless possibilities for photos. From baking cookies, to decorating gingerbread houses. From cutting down a tree, to drinking hot chocolate. There are tons of ways to make memories worth capturing. And if you find yourself playing some reindeer games, I’ll be happy to photograph those too.
3. Cause traditions.
Traditions are an important part of family history. They get passed down from generation to generation or started anew. They are what make your family yours. They say, “This is what we do as a family during the holidays.” Traditions are what the kids look forward to year after year, and they are what you work so hard to make happen because it wouldn’t be the holidays without them. Your traditions are worth capturing and remembering for you, for your kids, and for your kids’ kids.
4. It’s time you get to spend and celebrate with your family.
One of the best parts of having documentary family photos is that it’s time you get to spend being present with your family. It’s not another thing that you have to go do or check off a list. Instead, it’s your life that you get to live for the day with just the intention of being together as a family. Plus, there’s no pressure to pick up your phone and photograph the experience, you get to just be in the moment as your baby explores how a pine tree feels for the first time or as you enjoy the muffins and hot cocoa you all just made together.
5. You can include the extended family as well.
The holidays are all about family and often not just your immediate family. Why not document a big family gathering? Including cousins, and grandparents, and aunts and uncles is a gift that will become even more meaningful in the years to come.
6. There are every day routine moments that happen as well.
Real life doesn’t pause for the holidays. It’s still a documentary family photo session, so it’s still unposed and unscripted even though you may know what activities you want to do. With the documentary approach, you are going about your life as your fun holiday selves, and I get to capture whatever moments unfold before me. Those include the moments in between the activities as well, the moments of you doing the hard work of parenting like washing hands or letting them know they need to stop eating the muffin batter or pulling on the dog’s tail.
7. And we can still get that portrait for the Christmas card or for Grandma if you want.
Even if you’re not into posed portraits, it’s always nice to have a photo of everyone together. We will do the portraits quickly, so you can get on with the fun day you have planned. If you want Anna to be in the picture too, it’s totally fine with me. Anna will add context to the time and place of the portrait in later years. Personally, I like portraits when they are loaded with personality and full of feeling. If you are looking for that perfect portrait though, I’m probably not the photographer for you…or maybe you need to just, “Let it go.” Sorry. I had to.
