When it comes to choosing which family photo session is right for your family, there are a few options and I thought it might be helpful to go into more detail about each option so that you can decide which is the right choice for you.

Family Story Photo Session

The Family Story Photo Session is a great place to start to see if a lifestyle photo session is the right choice for your family.

It’s a 1-2 hour session that can take place in your home, out and about at a special Edmonton location, or a combination of both (in your home and then out for a bike ride, for example).

During a Family Story Session, I’ll spend time documenting your family as you engage in activities you love. The activities do not have to be complicated! Things like baking cookies, going for a walk in the neighbourhood, reading books together, having a fire in the backyard, building lego towers, playing catch with the family dog, or heading out for ice cream at your favourite ice cream parlour are all excellent options.

Worried about what you’ll do? Don’t be! This is what we discuss at the pre-session meeting and I’ll help you come up with ideas that will work well for photos and for your family.

At some point during the session I’ll make sure that we capture some casual portraits of you all in the same frame. These won’t be stand-and-look-at-the-camera type portraits where everyone is fussy and stressed. The portraits will involve slight direction from me to ensure you’re in the best place and position possible, but will still very much feel natural and like your family.

Family Story Photo Sessions are also a great choice if you’re wanting an extended family photo session with more than just your immediate family – such as including aunts/uncles and grandparents.

Half Day In the Life Photo Session

The half day in the life session is exactly as it sounds. It’s a day in the life. That means I take much more of a ‘fly on the wall’ type of approach to your session, documenting what an actual day in your family looks like. These sessions are 4-5 hours long, generally documenting either the morning or evening routine.

This is the session for you if you’d like to have a true visual diary of what your daily life looks like at this moment in time. The morning routine, the way your family all laughs while playing charades, the way your daughter swings her feet off her chair while eating lunch, the sleepy way your son snuggles into you while he’s drifting off to sleep before an afternoon nap, how you can all cuddle into a twin bed and read the same bedtime story for the 8 thousandth time.

During our time together I’m always happy to set aside a few minutes for casual portraits if that’s what you’re after. Or, if you want a true documentary session, with zero posing, then we do that instead.

Day in the life sessions are also a great option if you have a larger activity that you’d like to document that can’t be summed up in one hour. For example: your family camping or the whole family at the lake cabin.

Many families that I work choose to start with a Family Story session one year, and then venture onto a Half Day In the Life the next year – once they see how low stress my photo sessions are. 😊  It’s also quite common to alternate Family Story sessions and Half Day In The Life sessions each year so that you continually have the best of both worlds.

If you have any questions about either of the session options I’m always happy to answer them. Send me an email or fill out the contact form and I’ll get right back to you with the different options and what might be the best fit for you and your family.

Fiddle Leaf Photography offers in-home lifestyle and documentary family photos sessions in Edmonton and surrounding communities including Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Leduc, Fort Saskatchewan and Spruce Grove.