When we made the decision to build a new home for our family I wanted to make sure we had a lifestyle photography at home photo session and have family photos at home before moving.
I especially wanted to have the home lifestyle photography session take place as early into the building process as possible. While our current home still felt like OURS.
I wanted to capture all the special spots, the places where we made the most memories, the rooms in which we’d forever have in our dreams.
We built this home 12 years ago and throughout those 12 years, we brought home three out of our four babies. We built a life. A family. We shared laughter around the dinner table. Plenty of tears around the game table. We built treehouses and went night swimming. We lived a beautiful life and it was important to me to forever have those cherished memories captured.
All photos in this post taken by: Glori Beaufort Photography in September 2022
Lifestyle Photography at Home Tips
Building a new home or house-hunting for a home to purchase is a large undertaking and can take up a lot of time and energy.
During that process, it’s easy to begin to feel disconnected from your current home. Eager to move on. Looking for negatives in your home in order to know what changes you want for your new one.
That’s why I highly recommend having a lifestyle family photographer visit your current home as early in that process as possible to allow for the memories and moments to be captured while your home still feels like YOURS.
Here are some tips to consider when planning your family photos at home before moving:
Choose the Best Time for Your Family Photos at Home Before Moving
I’ve already mentioned to be sure to schedule your lifestyle session early on in your decision to move. Not only so you’ll still feel connected to your current home but for a few other reasons as well.
Moving in general is VERY stressful and only gets more and more stressful throughout the process, having the home session early on in that process will ensure it actually happens because let me tell you – that moving yard sale you think you’ll have before you move probably won’t!
As you get closer to your moving date your home will also become more chaotic. You’ll want to purge things, and pack things, and your home will quickly start to both look and feel less and less like YOURS.
Along with having the family lifestyle session as early in the moving process as possible, also keep in mind the time of year and weather. I wanted to be sure to capture our home with green grass. While our pool was still in swimming season.
Get those pictures taken NOW while you’re still teary-eyed about the thought of moving away…because I can also promise that as the day draws closer you will feel less emotionally attached and more ready to move on!
You may love your home best with fall leaves! Whatever time of the year you see when you close your eyes and picture your home – that’s the best time to get these special photos taken.
Once you nail down the time of year, the time of day is also important. Pictures taken indoors are difficult due to a lack of natural light.
Ask your photographer about their preference for the best time of day – every photography tip includes finding the best natural light wherever and whenever any photos are taken! They will be able to best guide you for when to schedule your session as well as locations within your home which will best pull in that beautiful lighting!
Pre-Plan Your Favorite Spots For Family Lifestyle Photos at Home
A home is a place where we spend so much time that we can not really stop and think about which areas are the most special and meaningful to us.
As a family take some time to discuss the areas of your home in which you LOVE. The special spots where you spend the most time or have the happiest memories share favorite stories or just want to make sure you never forget.
Make a list of these locations to help guide your photographer during your family session.
Along with the list of special spots – be sure to have out any special items anyone may want to have in the photos as well. Our children had some favorite things they wanted featured so we rolled with it!
Family Lifestyle Home Session Photos to Capture:
Front of Home
It may be the most obvious location for a home family photo – but it’s also one that can be easily forgotten or missed during your family photoshoot!
Backyard or Front Yard
What outdoor space at your home do you enjoy the most as a family?
While I have fond memories of waiting on my front porch for my children to come home from school, most of our family memories take place in our backyard. On my list of must-have family photography photos was to have us all sitting around our backyard pool!
Our children also have happy memories of playing on our backyard playground and building their treehouse with Daddy and even jumping on our backyard trampoline. These were important places to capture during our family lifestyle photography at home session.
Children’s Bedrooms
Typically if we were planning family portraits in our home I’d want each of the children’s bedrooms to be picture-perfect. Really when do we ever get professional photos taken in bedrooms? Maybe a maternity session or newborn session? But since my kids are no longer the baby age, I don’t think we ever take many pictures in their rooms.
I know their bedrooms in his home will forever be special to them and wanted them to have their individual rooms exactly the way THEY wanted to remember them by. Stuffed animals on the beds, a first LEGO kit set up on the dresser.
Our photographer was also wonderful at letting the children lead their bedroom photos. They posed authentically for the camera, how they felt comfortable, and did things in their bedrooms that were special to them like reading and journaling.
Master Bedroom
Where the magic happens, right? 😉 I love that our photographer had our entire family pile up on our master bed for our photo session.
Living Room and other Living Areas
Lifestyle family photography is about capturing families in their natural environments and you don’t get much more real-life family than the living room!
Our family has spent so much time sitting on our couch snuggled up together. Watching movies, opening gifts, sharing life!
The stairs are also a special spot in our home as the children went up and down them over and over again through the years!
Kitchen and Dining Spaces
Who would ever think to have portrait sessions taken in a kitchen? The kitchen is one of the most used areas in a home but it’s also usually the most messy and the one we tend to “hide” from “public sight.”
I’m so thankful we took the time during our home family session to snap photos of JUST my husband and I in our kitchen as well as our entire crew gathered around our kitchen table.
Family meals are something we highly value and I will forever cherish these images! It’s okay if your kitchen space isn’t “picture perfect” – family sessions need to be a bit messy too 😉
Other Meaningful Spots
We we building our new home so I knew going into our family photo session at home ways in which our new home would differ from our old one.
One of the big changes would be the layout of the bathrooms for each of the children. At our old home the three older kids all shared a bathroom and in our new home the girls share and the boys share.
During our lifestyle photography at-home shoot I wanted to get a photo of the three older kids in their shared bathroom space so they could remember the bickering haha!
It’s wise to take time prior to the session to think through your home – even do a walk-through – to recognize areas that are special to your family.
In addition to the kids bathroom I also had a special spot in our hallway where the kids would read books that I always wanted to remember as well 🙂
Keep The Home Session Fun and Natural
This is your home – you don’t want to have stuffy, formal photos to remember it by! So don’t let your family session time be taken up with over-thinking!
When choosing outfits for your family photos at home before moving – comfort is KEY. Make sure everyone feels comfortable during your family lifestyle photography at home.
For our family session at our home, we went barefoot and wore casual outfits. Something we’d wear on any other day but with a little intentional color coordination 😉
It’s important to let the kids lead as well – you want EVERYONE in your family to cherish these pictures. The goal isn’t to create something Christmas-card-worthy or even frame-worthy (nor were they taken for the intended purpose of this blog post either!). The goal and purpose is to capture your family living everyday life in the home you love!
During the family lifestyle photo session – don’t overthink things. Share the list of important locations with your photographer and then let the session take you where it takes you!
Family photo sessions in general can be stressful. Spending money on photos and taking time to choose outfits can make the event feel like a lot of pressure. The end result is often forced smiles, frustration and often photos you don’t even really love!
Let allll of that pressure go for this session. Lifestyle sessions are just that – a photo session capturing your LIFE. The life you truly LIVE!
The best photography tips for family photos at home? Relax. Take a breath. Let go. Have fun! Focus on each other. And enjoy creating photos to look back on after you leave the home you have loved so much!
Our Family Photos At Home Before Moving
I am so thankful for Glori Beaufort Photography and the amazing job she did in making our family lifestyle photography at home session so special and fun!
Here are the rest of the photos from our time together. I’m so glad we took the time to do this session as we now are living in our new home and the memories from our former home are ones we will forever cherish!
Huge thank you again to Glori Beaufort Photography for our family lifestyle photography at home photos.
Want to see a full tour of our home? See all the details here!
Looking for additional tips for your family photos?
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- Best Family Pictures Ideas Outside in Fall and Winter
My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.
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