Ahh, the beauty of morning light streaming in through the windows. Just picture it! When I photograph Huntsville in-home family sessions, I absolutely adore the way light adds such magic to photos. It’s one of the reasons I love photographing families in home.
Not only does the light play an important part, but families are often more comfortable in their own spaces, and home allows us to capture the ordinary moments that I know you’re going to want to remember years from now. There’s simply no place like home (excuse the cheesy Wizard of Oz reference, but it’s a great line!!).
When we photograph in home, there are a few important things to note. I wouldn’t be a good Huntsville family photographer if I didn’t teach you all about the process, so here are some FAQs that help my clients when planning.
Table of Contents
What if my home isn’t photo-worthy?
This is one of the biggest concerns that gets brought up. Everyone worries that if there home isn’t decorated just so or the light doesn’t stream in through the prettiest rooms, the photos won’t turn out. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. When I photograph families in Huntsville homes, we use all sorts of rooms.
Sometimes it’s the family room or master bedroom. Other times we scoot the dining table back and use a corner of the dining room. And still others we’ll use an office or guest room! The name of the room and space really doesn’t matter to me. Before your session, I’ll ask for a video walk-through of your home, and I’ll let you know which spaces we’ll use! No surprises.
And what about clutter? Since we’ve picked out the room or rooms ahead of time, you only need to pick up what you don’t want to show in photos in the rooms we’ll be using. I’m also a mom of four little boys, so I completely understand that clutter is just a part of the beautiful chaos that is life. If you need help tidying when I arrive, I’m more than happy to do that!
What time of day is best to photograph in-home?
Typically, I photograph Huntsville in-home family sessions in the morning. I find that around 10 AM, the light is usually pouring in somewhere on the east or south sides of the home. And if you don’t have a south or east-facing window, the north side is usually bright enough. If for some reason your home gets much better light in the afternoon, though, we can absolutely talk about that! Lighting is vital to creating the images you see in my work, so we’ll work around what we need to to get those magical photos!
Does the weather matter since we’ll be inside?
Actually, yes. While it may seem like Huntsville in-home family sessions can happen even if it’s raining, we will reschedule if the weather isn’t great. Some clouds can be ok, unless it’s extremely dark and overcast. But a rainy day is going to make for low light, and that just isn’t great for those dreamy, light-soaked images. So I’ll watch the weather for a few days leading up to your session, and we’ll reschedule if needed. I only take on a limited amount of sessions per month, so rescheduling isn’t a big headache.
Do we ever go outside?
We definitely can! Especially if playing outside together is a big part of your family’s story, we can spend some time in your front or backyard having a blast and capturing the memories that matter to you. Usually we do this toward the end of the session, unless you prefer to focus the majority of the session in your yard. We’ll discuss what makes the most sense for your family in our session planning call, where we iron out all the details.
If you’re interested in a Huntsville in-home family session, I would be elated to work with you! Simply contact me via my website, and I’ll reach out to you soon about getting the process started. There’s no better time than now, because this season is so short-lived. Let’s document the ordinary moments before they become a memory.
Film scanned by PhotoVision
