Skeleton Park Family Photo-session | For All Families New to Candid Family Photography

Candid or documentary family photography is still niche outside big urban centres.

It’s still considered niche is Kingston, but it’s definitely growing in popularity!

So when working with a family who has never had documentary family photography before, it’s important to first tell them of the three big benefits.

The benefits of documentary family photography.

Each shoot begins with a consultation session. Even before a client decides to book the session with me, we’ll chat on the phone or on zoom. I want to ask them about their family: how old are the kids, and what are their favourite things to do? What do they love about their kids, and how can we best capture that?

So the benefits flow pretty naturally from that conversation. Here they are:

🧸 kids LOVE documentary family photography

Parents often worry about how their kids will act during a photo-session. Are they going to cry, throw tantrums, not behave, not look at the camera when the photographer tells them… eat their boogers? You know… regular kid stuff.

It’s normal to worry: you’re investing your time and money (and effort + patience) into having a photographer work with your family, and all you want is for the kids to get on board… right?

But the thing is…

with documentary family photography, all that goes out the window. There’s nothing REQUIRED of the kids, other than to be themselves. So they have a ton of fun. They show off their toys to me. They act like tasmanian devils, whirling and twirling in their bedroom or doing summersaults (stay tuned for a future blog). They clue in to how much fun it is about 30 seconds into the session, because I’m not telling them anything, except “wow, that’s awesome!” to pretty much anything they throw my way. (one time someone even threw a water balloon my way :P)

So yeah, that’s a biggie: your kids will LOVE candid family photos.

🧸 documentary family photography is EASY

If you’re thinking that planning and executing a successful family photo session is anything BUT easy, let me challenge you:

It doesn’t need to be hard.

You don’t need to wear matching clothes, or even clean up the house or yard. Family documentary photography is all about capturing the true spirit of your family.

And honestly, even if it feels tempting to worry about this at the time, the spirit of this has nothing to do with posting your photos on social media to see who has the best decor, or the trendiest house, of the coolest idea for an activitiy.

It’s actually about you.

And your family legacy. And the stories you’ll share together through the years.

🧸 documentary family photos add texture to your memories

One day, years from now, what will you want to remember? What will the kids ask?

When the boys are all grown, maybe with little ones of their own, what will they stop for in the family album?

When you’re all sitting around the fire with that beautiful and aged book in front of you, trailing your fingers over its pages….

What will you find there?

Memories. Full of DETAILS. The kind of details you’d forgotten long ago, so that now you’re glad to have this reminder.

Like how your older son was such a good big brother to your little one.

How your little boy screamed with joy on the seesaw, one of his favourite of all the playground things.

Or that little hat he wore, always a little off-kilter when he put it on all by himself.

Or how the boys ran around with daddy, playing tag…

One day, when that playground is no longer a daily part of your family’s routine… When years have gone by since the boys outgrew it…

Those photos will bring you right back to those days… when they were still young.

I’m getting sappy just thinking about it, but it’s already happened with my own family, so I know.

I know how fast time goes.

And I think you know, too. It’s why we take photographs, after all. Because we want to remember. Because we want to freeze time, and relive it.

So I hope you enjoy this family’s photos, and think of them as an illustration of small details of this family’s life that they’ll cherish as memories for a long time.

If you’re thinking of scheduling your very own shoot, then I’m here to help. It all starts with a consultation session, and a little bit of daydreaming. And I promise, the kids will love it and so will you.

So what do you think?

Would you have your family candid photo session at Skeleton Park? Or is there some other place that’s really meaningful to you around the Kingston area, where your kids love to play?

Or perhaps the best place to take your family photos is home.

Drop me a comment below and share your idea of where you’d love to have your most meaningful family memories.