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Winter is in full swing right now and there is nothing better than staying warm and cozy inside! This period is actually ideal for lifestyle sessions at home. In order to help you with its preparation, here are six tips for a successful in-home session.
1. Determine which rooms will be used
« Photography » literally means « to paint with light ». Doing the session in naturally well-lit rooms is therefore essential. For instance, you should be able to easily read a book or search in a drawer without having to turn on the light. Rooms with light walls generally give better results than those with darker walls.
The most commonly used rooms are the living room, the master bedroom and the children’s bedroom. These are often the most personal places and will allow us to create unique memories. If their lighting conditions aren’t ideal, we can use any other well-lit areas of your home, such as the guest bedroom and the kitchen for instance.
The best is to send me a few photos of the different spaces before the session. This way, I can have a better idea of your environment and determine what will work best for us.
2. Clear out windows
If your home is pretty dark, we will have to do the photos close to light sources. The best is to clear out windows to maximize the amount of natural light that enters into your rooms.
If you own blackout shades with a tricky blocking mechanism, roll them all the way up before the session. If you have a large window that’s obstructed by objects or furniture, try to move them somewhere else. It will be much easier to photograph you and give us more creative freedom.
3. Plan our appointment with your children’s sleep routine
We all know it. There is almost nothing worse than a kid who didn’t get enough sleep! When young kids are part of the session, we want them to be well rested.
As a rule of thumb, little ones tend to be in their best shape in the morning. Incidentally, houses tend to be the most luminous between 10AM and 2PM. For these reasons, I recommend doing in-home session during this period to put all odds in our favour. If your child still naps in the morning, we can begin the photos 30 minutes after they wake up. This way, everyone will be raring to go when the session begins!
4. Declutter before the session
Whether it’s for couple/engagement, maternity, newborn or family photos, I strongly suggest decluttering the night before our session.
You don’t have to remove every single object that is not « Pinterest worthy »! However, removing things that are visually unappealing will make a huge difference. This includes the tissue box, the garbage bin, the old glass of water, the body lotion bottle, the laundry basket, dirty clothes on the floor, electronic cables, remote controls, magazines, etc. Take them all and put them somewhere where we won’t see them (ex: in a closet or in the bathroom).
We might still have to make a few adjustments during the session, but doing the biggest part of the work before my arrival will make the experience so much easier!
5. Plan an activity to do together
Even though this step isn’t mandatory, planning an activity to do as a couple or a family during the session can be very fun!
I particularly enjoy finishing the session with this surprise. It allows us to end on a positive note while making everyone smiles. In my humble opinion, this is often the moment where the best memories are created and captured.
The activity is fully up to you. We can bake cookies, do a pillow fight, improvise a music show, build a fort, craft something, etc. This way, your photos will be super original and show all the joy you had together.
6. Don’t forget to enjoy the moment
Even if you follow all these tips, the bedroom may still stay messy, the baby may have a bad night and their sibling may throw a tantrum for absolutely no reason in the middle of our photoshoot. You know what? It isn’t the end of the world!
Our goal is to capture this period of your life as it is right now. If for some reason it happens to be a so-so day, so be it! This era will be gone before you realize it, so it’s the right time to fully embrace it. You will have a tangible memory of what your life looked like during this period, good and not-so-good moments included.
So take a deep breath, don’t be too harsh with yourself and enjoy the time spent with your loved ones. The worst-case scenario, it will be something funny to talk about in a few years! 😉
Would you like to book a session like this? Contact me at lisamarie.savard@yahoo.ca to do so!
Last update: February 2024
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