Why It’s OK To do something different for family photos!

Families, Tips for Sessions

January 16, 2024

Marietta, GA

Tired of the same old family photos? Change it up!

Photography trends come and go, but one thing will always remain consistent- the dynamic of your family! Your family and its’ personality is what it is, and that doesn’t have to be trendy. You just need to be you- whatever that might entail.

Tired of Photos in a Field?

Now don’t misunderstand me, I LOVE some pretty Marietta field photos, drenched in that dreamy golden light. I shoot a lot of that & show plenty of it on my feed and my website, but it’s not all I do or even all that I want to do, no way! I love when a client wants to change it up some. Sometimes they’re asking for something different just because they’ve done the same things year after year. Sometimes they just don’t care what type of light they get, nor do they have the desire to work around that golden evening light and the timing it involves. Sometimes they haven’t even considered the idea of doing something outside of a shoot out in nature, but I’m the one offering it as an option. No matter how we land there, I’m always excited for the opportunity to shoot something slightly more outside the box. I feel it lends itself to the opportunity to create more casual, authentic and natural images- images of your family just being your family.

Downtown Marietta Doughnuts Anyone?

I photographed this family back in November. The inquiry process went as per usual. Mom reached out, we tossed around some dates & once a date was chosen we started to think location. I offered a field (she’s done that a bunch), offered my greenhouse (she liked it but it wasn’t the right vibe this time around), suggested we meet on the Marietta Square and do some exploring, scootering or skateboarding and eat some doughnuts (she thought it was a win). We both live near this little Historic downtown area so its’ proximity was the most appealing part, but she told me her family might be moving away from this city so being photographed with it as the backdrop seemed fitting and super sentimental. I’m so glad we did it!

How It All Went

We arrived for the shoot on a dreary, chilly weekend morning. Hitting the city before all the crowds is my favorite way to roll! I laid out my game plan for mom. We’d plan to start in one location, work our way around the block and end (so long as the boys were still willing) on a parking deck rooftop for doughnuts. My plans are ALWAYS very fluid, especially when young ones are involved. You never know what you’ll get from them at a shoot, especially when it’s chilly so I come up with a plan knowing I might need to pivot at any moment. And pivot is exactly what we had to do in this case! Shortly into the shoot, at our second little stop to be exact, a fall happened and blood was present! Blood and tears!! If we were ever going to rebound from this I knew we had to bring out the big guns! Doughnuts to the rescue! Let’s scrap the idea of a parking deck at the end and let’s grab those sugary things now! So that’s just what we did. I grabbed them out of the car, walked around the corner and sat down to eat our way through the emotional aftermath of a scraped elbow.

All was right with the world again

Doughnuts made little man forget about the hurt elbow and gave everyone enough of a sugar boost to finish working our way around the block. It was a fun session- full of laughs, mess, exploration, snuggles and a few tears. It met this family exactly where they were in this stage of life- a stage where no one wants to sit still or do exactly as they’re told. It’s a time when having fun takes precedence, so that’s exactly what we did.