I swore I would never shoot extended family sessions, and for a long time I didn't. They were too chaotic, too much work, and just not my thing. Years later, they’re one of my favorite sessions I offer. Introducing the generational session: A re-imagined extended family session.
My heart for capturing the different generations together has grown as my own family has, and as I’ve seen just how precious it is to have photos of all our people together. These images become heirlooms that get passed from generation to generation, and the thought that long after I’m gone, those images will keep being handed down is my favorite thing.
So what was wrong with the traditional extended family session?
My biggest struggle with them was the chaos honestly. Trying to fit a hundred different variations into a single hour session just often makes you feel rushed and the photos feel inauthentic. It’s been really important to me, stepping back into offering them, to go about that differently. The thing I love about shooting family sessions is capturing those genuine moments of connection, and you just can’t do that focused on a shot list. I always want my focus to be people. Removing the traditional time limit from these sessions is absolutely essential so that I can remain people focused, and really capture what’s most important, which is you and your family.
Learning family dynamics and names in such a short period of time is often a struggle as well, which is why all sessions that book starting in January will be asked to fill out a small questioner to help me get to know you better. Learning sweet details about your family ahead of time ensures that I can tailor the session to you and really bring out what makes your family unique!
Something else that’s really unique and I think special about these sessions is the option to have them done at home, especially, at your grandparents home. Getting to document your family together is so special, but getting to also preserve those details of their home and daily life just adds another level of sweetness for me. I can still describe my grandma’s home from childhood. The way I loved running down the hall to her back room to pull out a large box of wrapping paper and tissue she’d let me play in. The way she always had little glass bottles of martinellies applejucie. I loved looking at her feather collections, and all the cactus in her yard that she’d let me help her water. I even loved the awful green carpet because it was hers.
Those memories are so deeply engrained in my mind, but I still wish I had photos of them. I wish I could show my children what it looked like when I was a child there. How much all those little details helped form me into the person I am today.
With the option to do these Generational Sessions in home, you can have exactly that. A tangible experience of your parents or grandparents in their homes, perfectly preserved so that one day your kids can show their kids what it was like to visit grandma and grandpa.
