Unposed Family Photos, Just Add Flash

“Leave the lamps on,” I told Chase. I surprised myself as the words came out. I usually tell clients to turn off all the lights before I come over for a session, so we don’t get weird color clashes between inside and outside light. But our session was on the gloomiest morning, their beautiful house was surrounded by trees full of heavy green leaves, and their first floor was painted a cozy deep forest green color (very similar to the color in my bedroom, actually). If we’d turned off all the lights, we’d be sitting in complete darkness.

You need light for photography, even if it’s artificial light.

Instead, we turned off the overhead lights to combat raccoon eyes, and I pulled out my light gear. As I played around with it to find the right combination of flash position and intensity, we chatted and got familiar with each other in our first in-person meeting. The cat wandered by and glared at me before disappearing upstairs; Hank the Bassett Hound was more than happy to see a new face, and Ryan and Chase’s nine-month-old used her new-found crawling talent to come investigate this stranger with her strange gear.

Ryan initially contacted me to help her document their life here in Richmond before they move across the country. “We’re not ‘pay for photos’ people” she told me. She wanted unposed photos at home (my specialty) and she wanted to be included in the photos (my wish for every parent) as her family played together.

After some time downstairs and a break for a snack, we went up to the baby’s room to play with different toys and eat read some books. The flash bounced around the room and highlighted the joyful pink and white stripes of the nursery, while the baby bounced around her crib and echoed that joy with her parents.

We finished our session outside, where the rain was mostly holding off. We wanted to get a few photos on the front porch - one with the house number, for posterity - and I wanted to include some natural light photos in our photo gallery.

Ryan sent me a text after they received their gallery - “We are blown away by the pictures! they are more than what I hoped for… we will cherish them forever, thank you!”

I’m so thrilled when I can help a family get exactly what they need - and maybe convert non-photography people to pro-photography people on the way. ;)

I’d love to help you tell your family’s current story through photos! If unposed photos at home sound more fun than posed photos in a field, you’ve come to the right place. Learn more on my family photography page.