Documentary Style Photography Session
REAL memories REAL life
The Photography Session for AUTHENTIC moments of your real life and memories
You know all those fun, playful family moments in between your family portrait? That’s what my Documentary Sessions capture.
It’s as low key as a home hang out in the backyard or at a favorite park.
We’ll brainstorm your favorite things to do together and come up with a plan to capture them.
These are NOT family portraits, but they can be A COMPLEMENT or REPLACEMENT for your family portraits. I’d be happy to do a few posed portraits for you at the start or end of our session.
*THE* EASIEST Session
You can stay at home and dress up or stay casual. You don’t need to pose, talk to me, chit chat, or even look at the camera if you don’t want to. It doesn’t get much easier. And it’s great for littles and adults who really don’t enjoy having pictures taken.
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory”
Family Memory Sessions FAQs
Are these family portraits?
No, they are more like your family stories. In portraits, we find a pretty place, and you wear your best outfits and you focus on being happy together.
In documentary sessions, we find a meaningful place that you love and feel comfortable in. You can wear whatever you want, and you can do whatever you want.
Is this the right fit for my family?
Do you love photos that just feel authentic and unique? The photos are all about your relationships and personality? I think that’s what comes out in these sessions. You spend time lots of time just being together, but you don’t really have those photos where you are all there and present. Mom or Dad is left out being the photographer. These photos are about capturing the whole family dynamic, your family’s life together.
What kind of images can we expect?
You can expect a broad range of images that tell your story. It might include pictures of where you live, what your family likes doing together, your relationships, personalities, and even a few traditional portraits too if you’d like.
What do you do with these images?
Families like to make photo albums with them. And I highly encourage you to do so. I offer custom album design.
What’s the plan?
1. Set up a chat with me to find a date
2. Make a Plan
We can brainstorm all the activities that your family loves doing together and make a plan. Or I can just show up, and we can go with the flow. I have some ideas for session structure below too.
3. The Session
I show up and we get to know each other more. I then fade into the background more as you spend time as a family. It’s a 2 for 1 - family time and family photos.
4. Your Gallery of Images
After our session, I’ll work on hand picking and editing the images that tell your family’s story. You’ll receive this set of images with nothing else to do on your part. You’ll receive a digital gallery of images to download.
5. Make a Family Album
If you’d love to keep your images in a family photo album then I’d be happy to design one for you. You can help me, or I can design it for you.
Document Session Ideas for Families
Here are some ideas for what to capture as a family:
Backyard Play Time
You can create a session to highlight all the playful fun you have right in your backyard together! There are games to play, water fun in the summer, swinging, riding bikes and scooters, taking care of the garden, or maybe a backyard picnic.
Weekend Family Time
You can create a session at home to capture what a day is like in your family life right now. When you choose a full day you’re sure to get the a wonderful variety of emotion and moments from your family. We can shorten this to a morning, afternoon, or evening in your life instead of a full day.
Playground and Park Time
We can meet at a playground and capture you playing with your little one(s) exploring the playground. You can add on a picnic too if you like!
Family Day Trip or Vacation
I can come and capture your special family time together on an excursion.
Mom and Me
We can do a session focusing on your role as a mother and what that means to you. You’ll choose the activities that are special for you!
Dad and Me
We can have a session focusing on fatherhood and all the fun, playful moments for you as a father.
Sweet Siblings
Sibling love is special. I love capturing all the sweet moments, but even those struggles are worth capturing too. We can have a session just focusing on the sibling relationship.
Grandparent “Generations” Session
If you have family close by or coming in to visit then that’s a wonderful time to capture your little ones with their whole family.
Special Activity
There are many special activities that you could do together. I have a list of ideas to choose from.
Your Special Holiday Traditions
Family holidays and traditions are a wonderful time to capture together.
Family Gathering
Any family gathering is a great opportunity to document and remember.
Any Idea
I’d love to create a custom session to document exactly what your family loves to do.
I’m here to chat about your family’s photography needs! Please don’t hesitate to reach out. There’s no hard sell here. If we aren’t a good fit then I’ll try to find someone who is.
You can reach me at 650-564-4195 or at deborah@deborahlordphoto.com.