A father and his young daughter laugh together with their eyes closed in these at-home family photos.

At-Home Family Photos With The Shea Family

I’ve been working with Molly for a long time, photographing both her family and her physical therapy clinics, Breathe In Motion. I get to see what she’s building in her business and then photograph the people she comes home to, AND I love being trusted with both parts of her life. (and a good friend)

This year, the Shea family invited me to photograph them at their newly built home, and this one was extra special because my husband and I are currently building our dream home, too. I know how much goes into it, how many decisions you’re making, and how often you catch yourself imagining your family doing the most ordinary things in a house that isn’t finished yet. So getting to photograph Molly and Kurt actually living that part, together in their kitchen and hanging out on the deck with their kids, made me even more excited for our own. I’ve known Molly for so long through both her business and her family, and I love that we get to share this chapter, too.

It’s so special to have a fellow mom and entrepreneur friend who understands having a brain full of work, motherhood, and house decisions, and just how much you love the life you’re doing all of it for.

We started in the kitchen, headed outside to the back deck where they spend so much time together, and finished with a walk along the bike paths throughout their neighborhood; we had so much fun!

A young boy and girl sitting together on a kitchen island for an at-home family photo. A young child reaches out to touch a small hole in the side of a light-colored house in an at-home family photo. A young girl in a floral dress jumps on a white sectional sofa during at-home family photos. A family of four poses together in an arched doorway between a kitchen and a living area for their at-home family photos. A family of four posing with their puppy in a kitchen for at-home family photos. A family of four and their golden doodle dog stand together on an outdoor deck overlooking a grassy field for their at-home family photos. A young girl and boy sit on a wooden porch swing with a goldendoodle, flanked by pumpkins for at-home family photos.

Celebrating A Newly Built Home With Family Photographs

When you build a home, you spend so much time thinking about how you’re going to live in it. You make decisions about the kitchen, the spaces where everyone will gather, and where you’ll spend time outside, and eventually you get to move in and start doing all of those things.

Being invited to photograph the Sheas at this point in their lives meant getting to document that transition. The house they had been building was now the home where we were spending an afternoon together, making family photographs in the rooms and outdoor spaces they get to enjoy every day.

I think that’s such a wonderful reason to choose that as the location for a family session; you’ve put so much into creating this place for your family, and now you get to have photographs of yourselves living in it. Years from now, these pictures will show what everyone looked like during the year the new house became home.

Starting An At-Home Family Session In The Kitchen

We began in the kitchen, which I loved because it’s a room that holds so much of family life. As a mom, I know how much time you can spend there in a single day, preparing food, cleaning up, and 10 minutes later preparing food again because someone is already hungry. 😂

Family Photos On The Back Deck And Neighborhood Bike Paths

From the kitchen, we headed to the back deck, where the Sheas spend a lot of time as a family. Knowing that made it a particularly meaningful place to photograph them because it already belonged in the story of their life at home.

I love when families tell me where they actually spend their time. It helps me understand what they’ll recognize in their photographs beyond how everyone looked that year. They’ll remember being out on that deck together, and the pictures will have a place and a feeling attached to them.

Afterward, we took a walk along the bike paths throughout the neighborhood, which gave us another part of their new surroundings to include. It was such a fun way to photograph this chapter because we could spend time together while making pictures in several places that are part of their family’s life.

A young girl with blonde hair and a boy hold hands while running through a field in these at-home family photos. A young girl and boy walk hand-in-hand through a field of tall grass in these at-home family photos. A young girl in a floral dress and a boy in a green shirt hold hands while walking through a field of tall grass during an at-home family photo session.

Why Photographing Families Over The Years Means So Much To Me

Working with someone for years changes the experience of photographing them. I already know Molly through our work together at Breathe In Motion and through her family sessions, so arriving at their new home came with a history that made this milestone even more exciting to witness.

I care about the people in front of my camera, and every time they invite me back, I get to learn a little more about their lives. Sometimes we’re photographing a familiar chapter, and sometimes I arrive at a house they’ve just built and get to see where the next several years of their family’s memories will happen.

Becoming a Mom has made me even more invested in this work. If you’ve read a little about me and why I photograph families, you know how much I love being a mother and how personally I understand wanting to remember the life you’re in the middle of living.

I’m thinking about that during all my family sessions – – and you as parents, are enjoying your children as they are now, adjusting to whatever is new, and keeping everything moving, while I get to step back and make photographs that show you what all of that looks like together. It really is teh best job in the world!

Bringing Your Family Photographs Into Your Home

Photographing a family in their home also makes me think about how those photographs will eventually live there. I love imagining an album from this session on the coffee table or a framed photograph hanging in the very house where we made it.

You get to walk past it every day and see your family during the year you moved in. As the kids grow and the house changes around you, that photograph stays there, giving you a way to revisit the beginning. That’s why I care so much about helping my clients finish the process. My in-house design specialist helps you choose your favorite photographs, design your album, and select artwork for your home, and your finished pieces arrive at your door.

I want you to have family photographs you see on purpose, in the middle of the life you love, because I know how much they can mean on an otherwise ordinary day.

Molly & Kurt, thank you for inviting me into your new home and continuing to trust me with your photographs. I loved spending this afternoon with you and getting to help you remember such a wonderful milestone.

A young boy crouching in an at-home family photo smiles while hugging a golden-brown curly-haired dog in a field. A father laughing while holding his young daughter during an at-home family photo session, her eyes closed in a happy smile. A father and his young daughter laugh together with their eyes closed in these at-home family photos. A smiling young girl with blonde hair stands with her hands on her hips in a field of tall grass during an at-home family photo session. A young boy and girl hold hands and laugh while walking through a field of tall grass during their at-home family photos. A smiling woman in a green dress holds a young child who is kissing her cheek while standing in a tall grass field for their at-home family photos. A young girl with blonde hair in a floral dress laughing while playing in a field of tall grass during an at-home family photo session. A man and woman share a laugh while embracing in a tall grass field during an at-home family photo session. A family of four poses for at-home family photos in a tall grass field, with a father carrying a young girl on his shoulders while kissing his wife, who has their son standing beside her. A family of four kneeling together in a tall grass field for their at-home family photos. A family of four crouching together in a tall grass field for their at-home family photos. A young girl and boy hold hands and laugh in a grassy field during at-home family photos. A father laughs with his cheek pressed against his smiling young daughter’s in an at-home family photo. A father kneeling in a field for at-home family photos, holding and smiling at his young daughter who is wearing a floral dress. A couple sits on a wooden porch swing while two children play on the patio in front of them in these at-home family photos. A young boy runs in the foreground, a young girl follows behind, and two adults sit on a porch swing in an at-home family photo. A young girl in a floral dress runs through a field for at-home family photos, her hair blowing in the wind. A woman in a dark green dress spins a young girl in a floral dress in a field of tall grass during their at-home family photos. A young boy with his arm around his smiling younger sister in a field, captured in an at-home family photo. A young girl in a patterned dress jumps through a field of tall grass during an at-home family photo session. A mother in a long green dress holds her young daughter’s hands as they spin together in a tall grass field during an at-home family photo session. A woman in a green dress holds the hands of a young girl in a floral dress while swinging her in a grassy field during at-home family photos. A woman kneeling in a field for at-home family photos with her young son and daughter, who are smiling at her. A smiling woman in a green dress holds a fluffy, golden-brown doodle dog in a field for at-home family photos. A woman smiling with her son and daughter in a grassy field for at-home family photos. A mother hugs her laughing son, who is missing a front tooth, in an at-home family photo. A family of four and their small dog walk along a paved path in a grassy field during an at-home family photo session. A family of four walking along a park path, with the mother carrying a young girl and the father holding a boy’s hands as he jumps, captured in the style of at-home family photos. A woman and man walk down a paved path in an at-home family photo, the woman carrying a young girl while the man swings a young boy by his hands.

Plan Your At-Home Family Photography Session with Studio 29 Photography

If you’ve recently moved, built a home, or simply love the life happening in the house you’re in now, an at-home session gives us so much to work with. We can spend time in your favorite rooms, head into the backyard, or take a walk through the neighborhood while I photograph your family together.

My Spring + Summer calendar is open. You can learn more about my family photography experience and planning your session, including the help you’ll have turning your photographs into albums and artwork to enjoy at home.

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