Have you ever considered an at home photo session? You may be asking yourself, but what would that even look like? What does that entail of me? Jessica Artice of The Blackbird Flies is here to give us the 411!
Imagine this—it’s family picture day *SIGH*…your mental load is already spilling over, now you’re in charge of making sure everyone has coordinating outfits, everyone’s hair is done, trying to find all the right shoes etc. You finally say “okay fine, I’ll just do my make up in the car on the way to the location”, which you know doesn’t make for the greatest look. Now imagine a whole different scenario – it’s family picture day – but this time, the photographer comes to you. Everyone has a casual morning getting ready and the energy is calm and easy. Then the experienced photographer comes in, takes time to meet dad and kiddos, scouts for best lighting conditions, and captures your family in your current season of life. Kids are happy and comfortable in their own home and mama isn’t trying to force smiles on anyone! I know which option sounds infinitely better in my opinion. That second scenario is exactly what Jessica Artice of The Blackbird Flies specializes in. These sessions are called in-home Storyteller sessions. From start to finish, the booking process, the preparation, everything is seamless. Jessica will bring a couple extra cute outfits for the kiddos and maybe a few cute props – but most importantly, she’ll capture your perfectly imperfect life.
An in-home lifestyle session can look a lot of different ways but for my family, it meant bare feet and jeans and watching my babies snuggle into my bed. You see, this season of life with young kids is so hard. It’s messy, there are toys everywhere, it’s constantly snacking and pulling out every trick in the book to get a genuine smile from a toddler. But! I know in just a few short years, our lives will look totally different. We won’t be surrounded by the constant reminder of our kids everywhere we look…and it will be missed. I am thankful for these photographs to turn back to and cherish forever.
Now don’t get me wrong, posed studio shots are beautiful and sometimes they can be the right choice. That’s what we chose for my oldest’s cake smash photos. However, we did not get one shot with a smile. Most will agree – the best photos are the in-between moments, the candid lifestyle moments – when your loved ones forget the photographer is even there and you get the best genuine expressions.