Drawing at home, then catching crawfish at Babcock Mill, Odessa | "Day in the Life" with the Young family
This family of five made some spring memories happen at babcock Mill, Odessa
Believe it or not, I had to initially tell this family I couldn’t photograph them because they had one too many kids.😱
Yup.
It was back in spring of 2021, and Ryan (dad) contacted me to book a session. We talked about how much he and his wife Kim and their three kiddos love to spend time outdoors. And so of course part (or all) of the session was going to be outdoors. We planned it all and set a date…
But in some freak two weeks during which KFLA was figuring out how to apply the provincial rules to photographers, we were told that we couldn’t photograph more than 4 people. Even families of five. Who LIVE together…
So we cancelled, at first. 🥺
But I don’t give up easily. I called and emailed and gave appeals to the bylaw officers, and they decided that the rules were silly. They allowed families to be together (and not have to choose their favourite two kids to take to photo-sessions).
Eventually, we made it happen!
Picking meaningful family activities to photograph
The first question we always discuss with families is: “what should we do during our photo-session?”
Lots of families already have pretty solid ideas of what they can do to spend some time together, while I snap the photos. Some families aren’t sure. That’s okay, too. This is why we have a fun consultation before even putting pen to paper (by which I mean… booking a session 😜 no actual paper is involved, it’s all online).
With this family, we decided to do part of their two-hour session indoors, to capture some of the shenanigans the kids get up to.
And of course, that’s what I got right off the bat.
The three kids of the Young family get ready to show me all their favourite things upstairs - their rooms, toys, and their best gymnastics moves!
After rushing around trying to grab some of the fast-paced action candid shots, we head downstairs for family time. (not before snapping another action shot, of course).
Pyper and Marlowe head downstairs for dominoes & drawing time with mom and dad!
Family time during a photo-session is actually super rewarding.
For busy families, it might be one of the few times they have a chance to hang out together that week, and connect, without having anything else to take care of in just that moment.
It’s pretty precious time, actually.
The photo-session gives you the best excuse to switch off from literally everything else, and just hang out as a fam.
Sometimes, because the kids are having so much fun, they want to cycle through a bunch of different activities. I see absolutely nothing wrong with this! In fact, let’s just go with the flow 😍 It always makes for better photographs, better memories in the end.
With the Youngs, we tried a bit of train building, then went over to the coffee table to set up a domino course. Which was pretty fun. It was one of those times I immediately want to try this with my own family… Unfortunately, I’ve got about a tome full of such ideas - “nice to try with my own family”, which I will likely never try :P
The family patiently sets up a dominoes track, so we can all watch it go down later!
That was fun, right?
Well, we have just one more indoor activity to go! And believe it or not, it hasn’t even been forty-five minutes yet.🤩
This goes to show you just how many different candid moments and emotions you can capture in a brief time, when you’re not worried about posing for the camera, or orchestrating yourself this way and that.
Alright, want to see some beautiful photos of the family colouring?
Sitting down at the dining table to colour. This can be one of the best activities for all families, because even teens and adults can get into this activity :)
Some of my favourite moments are when Kim (mom) and little Marlowe looked at their joint work. (see the last photo above)
While the family was drawing, I wanted to get just the best angles possible. When everyone is still like this, it’s really easy for me to take photographs from all different vantage points.
It’s also fun later on to do edits in different way. For example, to try out some black-and-white edits in addition to the colour ones.
Here’s an example of that. What do you prefer?
The other thing I’m on the lookout for, is what the fur babies are doing.
The Young family had an adorable Cairn terrier pup called Eddie. And Eddie was really funny. He humped my leg a fair bit. And I took a lot of photos of him, doing his own thing.
Eddie the Cairn terrier, looking out the window while the rest of his family colours in pictures at the dining table.
Photographing the “in between” moments of getting ready to go places
Once all the drawing and domino-ing was out of the way, we started getting ready to head to Babcock Mill for some crayfish-catching, and wading through the water.
Getting ready to go outside gives rise to LOTS of candid moments, so I am never tempted to skip taking photos during this time. Because these moments happen:
Now, on the face of it, some of these moments might not strike you as anything extraordinary.
I challenge this.
Let’s take the candid image of Kim fixing Marlowe’s hair, while Pyper holds Eddie’s leash. So much is going on here. So much that tells us of family routines and roles. So much that will be easily forgotten, were it not saved in a photograph. To be enjoyed later.
Alright, so once everyone was ready, we stepped outside. Before heading to Babcock Mill, we took a very short stroll down the alley beside the house. Kim wanted to hang some planters, and it gave the kids a chance to burn off a bit more energy before hopping into the car for the short trip.
Simon, being silly right before we leave for Babcock Mill. Eddie the terrier got to come along as well, of course :)
Fun with Crawfish, Water Snakes, and other creatures at Babcock Mill, Odessa,
Ryan had warned me that we would likely be heading to Babcock Mill, so I had made sure to bring my rubber boots in the trunk, to change into once we got there. Because there’s calf-deep water to wade through, if you want to have a good time there!
And also water snakes :)
The Young family wades through the water at Babcock Mill Cascades near Odessa (Ontario).
Above you see some of the favourite moments we captured - a very wed Eddie, a bucket of crawfish, and happy kiddos.
It’s easy as a photographer to forget to take photographs of the little things - like the contents of that bucket - because you can get so wrapped up in the emotions of the family members. But taking a moment to capture the scene - complete with the crayfish - makes it even more meaningful as a gallery later on.
So I have to remind myself to pause and look for scene-setting details like that. So that we can tell the story of each family to its fullest.
And now I’ll take you through some of my other favourite photographs from this candid family session, because even though they don’t fit neatly into a “theme”, it doesn’t make them any less important and interesting.
These are some of my favourite images of Pyper. The first one is in her bedroom, sitting at her desk. I loved how bright and spacious her bedroom is, and this little writing nook was so wonderful.
The second photograph shows her doing a cartwheel, something I’ve always wanted to be able to do.
And in the third, she is embracing Eddie. It’s one the family ordered as a print, because we all loved it :)
And here are a couple of my favourite moments with Simon. In an embrace with dad at home, clutching onto mom’s hand while wading through the water, and hunting for water snakes (third photo).
Last but not least, a couple of honorable mention moments with Marlowe: checking something on the phone with dad, frolicking through the grass, and realizing that her dress got all wet. Sweet precious moments.
We actually got a whole lot more - believe it or not! - but it is impossible to share every moment with you here.
Documentary family photography is all about being yourselves as a family.
Even if you don’t love being photographed.
Even if you’re got kids of different ages.
Even if dad isn’t crazy about it.
No matter what you love doing together.
It’s all fine and good.
It will all give rise to meaningful memories for you and your family, for decades and decades. Contribute to your family story.
or leave me a comment below if you loved this blog! and tell me what would your family’s unique activities be. :)