May 30, 20192 min read

Why Photo Sessions at Home are a Great Idea | Inspired by the Howman Family | March 2019

When I was child, we had our portraits taken in a photography studio in Peterborough. I remember my mum dressing my sister and I in matching dresses, that were kind of uncomfortable, but we still looked cute. The backdrop was usually white or a solid colour, with the umbrellas around us and we had to straddle a box and turn quite awkwardly and do our biggest, cheesiest grins. As much as I like looking back on them now and seeing how adorable we were......it is quite formal. Would you agree? Most of us reading this have probably had similar photos taken when we were young or at least for our school photos. Well anyway, what I want to achieve is something a little less formal and a little more fun.

Last month I had the pleasure of photographing young Xander and his brother Josh, his sister Ellie

and his lovely parents. They asked me before the photo session where is best to have the photos,

and we decided to have them in their family home! Why? For three simple reasons to achieve really

natural photos.

Home is where the heart is

I knew Xander should (in theory) be more comfortable at home, as some children don’t

particularly like the camera pointing in their face. So at least I knew he would be chilled, he

would have his own toys and feel at ease. Not only are people the most relaxed when they're at home, it adds a strong sentimental value to your photos!

Access to the garden & great for kids!

Having your photos done at home gives you the option of indoors and outside straight away,

so no matter the weather, we’ve got places to shoot! This is handy if you have little ones who need to burn off some steam. Also, gardens, greenery & blue sky always make photos prettier!

Huge time saver!

It takes less time out of your day, you don’t have to go anywhere to have your photos done,

and it makes the whole process much more enjoyable.

So, we started inside, we used the stairs as we had some gorgeous light coming in through the front

door. Fortunately it was a beautifully sunny day and we also took some photos out the front of the house as well as using the garden. It turned out so well. Xander was nervous at first when I tried to snap a cheeky photo of him, but once he saw Mum and Dad having their photo taken he was hilarious and super smiley for the camera!

Natalie, Mum, had photos done of Ellie and Josh aged 2, and therefore wanted similar photos for her

little one. She wanted one to represent his personality in a similar style to the other two photos she

had. We managed it and I was so happy with the results.