5 compelling reasons to have your next photo shoot at home. Catching memories with Geelong photographer, Michelle McKay.
A lovely little family of three taking it easy in Barwon Heads, Victoria.
Shooting in-home is my very best thing.
Nothing excites me as an artist like arriving at your home and knowing I’m about to make you artful imagery that is also deeply meaningful, and exactly unique to only you.
But there are so many reasons in-home sessions should be your first pick, too.
Here are five of them.
Your kids will be at their most comfortable at home. So will you.
Look, taking photos isn’t everyone’s favourite flavour.
Not by a long shot.
In fact, when chatting to families in the lead up to sessions, it’s one of the most common things I hear; the kiddies aren’t great in settings where they’re being told what to do, mama is self-conscious about the prospect of being in front of the camera, and dad would prefer to be poked repeatedly with a blunt object over having to sit for family photos.
Guys. Same. To literally ALL of the above.
But you know where kids (and let’s face it - literally every other living human) feels most comfortable and relaxed..?
Home.
I’ve never met a kid who didn’t ooze charm and charisma and all the cheeky after showing me around their beloved and beautiful home.
We’ll make photographs that are more than a pretty picture - they’ll catch real memories, too.
Your kids’ distinctive personalities.
The way they jump form the top bunk to the bedroom floor, despite the fact you yell at them daily not to do that.
How they look as they Lego in the patch of light by the front door.
Fun and games on the tyre swing and the tree house your husband built last summer.
The way they lounge all over the dog on the back veranda, as if she’s their own personal pillow.
The way they squeal and giggle as they lie in a messy heap in the hammock on the deck.
This isn’t just stuff around which I can make you gorgeous, frame-able, hang it on your walls and in your hearts photographs.
This is the very stuff from which your kids’ childhoods are being made.
They’re memories. Guys, we are catching ACTUAL bonafide MEMORIES up in here.
You’ll have something that tells the story of this time in your family’s story, that celebrates the importance and role of this beautiful ordinary PLACE.
When I was 14 I caught the bus with a mate to her nan’s after school. We walked in from the afternoon sun and as the screen door slammed behind us I stood stunned in the cool dark hallway, shocked to stillness by the strongest sense of deja vu.
My friend’s nan’s hallway had the very same carpet as the first house in which I’d lived. I was only four when we left it, yet I can piece together the floor plan in my mind like faded pieces of a not-quite complete jigsaw puzzle.
What I would give to have photographs of myself and my siblings in that home, way back when.
What I would give to see it one more time.
You see, to you it may be just another house.
To your little son or daughter, though..? It’s the very first place in which they ever belonged.
In-home sessions can take place at any time, and regardless of the weather.
Whether it suits us or not, some days it rains. Gosh, depending on where you live, some WEEKS it rains. Logistically this can be rather tricky when you’re trying to organise a thing.
But you know where you can always just go right ahead with your plans, no matter the weather - no rescheduling necessary?
Home.
And hey, when you’re a family with littles, being able to shoot any time is rather helpful.
Shooting outdoors during summer requires meeting me right at the end of the day.
Just after bed time.
Shooting at home, though..?
We can plan your story session around your baby or toddler’s sleep schedule. We can snack on the go, and we can have it all done in time for dinner.
How. Good. Is. That?
And lastly. The BIG ONE.
When we photograph our beautiful ordinary lives, our kids learn a most important truth.
This is enough. They are enough.
Just as they are.
This home is YOURS. These crazy kids are YOURS.
That cot with the teeth marks and the sofa that was once your grandfather’s and the fridge covered in clumsy artwork? All yours.
Your don't need a perfect sun burst, fancy clothes, and everyone clean and pressed and arranged in a neat and pretty line to be beautiful.
Real..?
Let’s let it be the new perfect.
This delightful story session was made in Barwon Heads, Victoria.
To secure a story session for your own little family, reach out here. Get in touch now for gorgeous family photographs that can double as Christmas gifts for the in-laws - the remainder of the year is filling fast!
