Candid Chaos is GOOD | Indoor+Outdoor Documentary Family Photography Session in Kingston

Newcomers to candid family photography can be a little shy about their ‘chaos’. Even though we all have chaos at home when raising little ones, it’s totally natural to feel a bit weird about showing it to a photographer.

So this one’s for you, busy mamas.

Take Meghan’s example and embrace the ‘chaos’ because one day you’ll LOVE to look back on these moments. I promise you.

Meghan is the mom featured in this blog. When she booked her family photography session with me, she was excited to capture their busy/typical Saturday morning. Hanging out with the kids and the dogs, doing their usual fun stuff. Busy and chaotic was a good thing in her books.

Re-defining Chaos

Before we dive into the photographs, let’s first talk about what you’re so afraid of. Let’s define chaos.

Re-define it, too.

🧸 Chaos means mess, This really means there are little bodies right now inside your house. Little feet pitter-pattering, little hands grabbing things off the shelves... little minds playing & being inquisitive... There are little humans THRIVING in your house... (and sure, making some mess in the process). This is a GOOD thing.

🧸 Chaos means loud, which really means you’ve got little voices that aren’t afraid of being silenced, growing up to learn to express themselves. This will serve them well in their lives. This is a GOOD thing.

🧸 Chaos means busy, which really means that you are prioritizing from a ginormous list of things to do, to focus on the things that matter, because there’s going to be time to get to all the other things later on. You’re learning to forgive yourself, to get over your own limitations. This is GOOD.

So Chaos is actually a GOOD thing. I encourage you to be kind to yourself and take a moment to remind yourself that chaos can feel rewarding, too.

Combining Indoor-outdoor activities during your session

When families inquire with me, we go through some of the options of what they love to do. One question that comes up is: should we have our session outdoors or indoors?

The answer is: you can have BOTH!

This is another reason I chose Meghan’s family session, to show you just what that look like.

With this family, we first did some indoor stuff, then we went to the backyard, then we went back inside.

Here are my favourite photos from each of those three chunks.

Indoor fun, Part 1

A typical Saturday for Meghan and her husband and kids involves making breakfast (pancakes!) with the kids. When mine were little, I used to get impatient with them breaking the eggs and getting shells everywhere, but now I regret not letting them break MORE eggs, especially after seeing so many families enjoy this activity with their own kiddos.

Lots of shenanigans happen at all times with little kids, so look out for those moments below. To view each one, click the side scroller.

Did you notice any mischief? One of my favourite images in this gallery is the last one, where the dog walks in with the insole of a shoe in her mouth. These are the little details that this family will one day remember and laugh at.

Outdoor Fun

So we quickly headed outside after all the pancake eating was done, to burn off some energy. Here’s my favourite photos from that part:

Let’s talk about shenanigans now. That first photo of the two dogs whizzing past little Lauren is one of my favourites! And later, when the kids are playing in the deep hole dug by one of the dogs… I have a feeling this photo will be one that will make this family smile in about 20 years.

You can probably tell that there was a lot of movement covered in that short backyard portion of the session. If we had put tracking devices on the kids and the dogs, I bet they would show that they walked the entire circumference of the earth in just 20 minutes between the four of them!

That’s how chaos is good :)

Indoor fun, Part 2

Back indoors we go, to unwind and read some stories, play with legos, enjoy and relax with some coffee for mom and dad.

This portion of the day also includes the most favourites for me. From that first photograph, where nearly the whole family (save for one of the dogs) is in the frame, all doing their own thing…

To the photograph of Meghan trying to read to her kiddos, only to get attacked with kisses by her dog…

To the one where Andrew (dad) and Henry are trying to put together some legos, and the dogs are playing in their own way behind them, teeth bared as if it’s a death match.

Family documentary photographs are not like any other type of photograph you will see when you type family photography into Google.

They are rare to find online, and yet they’re right at your fingertips - in every moment that can hold magic, in every day.

If you’ve enjoyed these photographs, leave me a comment below and tell me: what does your typical Saturday morning look like. Do you have small kiddos? Are you afraid of your chaos, or learning to embrace it? And are these types of candid photographs appealing to you? If not, tell me why :)

Thanks to Meghan Engbretson & family for welcoming me into their Saturday morning routines of fun; and for donating this session to Emmett's Annual KGH NICU donation fundraiser, organized and run each year by the wonderfully talented Shayne Bampton of SB images.