Family Photography at Home in Portland Maine

My favorite location for family photography is your home. It’s where you are most yourselves. It’s where you spend your mornings, and gather for dinner at night. It’s where you all snuggle on the couch or crawl into bed. My favorite photographs of my own childhood are the ones where we are living our everyday lives at home. The home is the backdrop to the family story.

When I pulled into this family’s home, I was greeted by their chickens surrounding my car, and Jess calling out the window they were just finishing up getting ready for the session. Jess, Vanessa, and August greeted me out front and gave me a tour of their family home and farm. They live on a working farm where they care for ducks, chickens, and goats - while growing tomatoes, greens, potatoes, and more!

The key to successful at-home photography

We started the session in the kitchen - the family still had a couple of chores to get down. For natural family photographs that document your real life, I always recommend picking an activity to do during the session. This creates moments of connection and everyday life I can document on film. Rather than coming up with poses that don’t resonate with your family dynamics, doing an activity - such as cooking, feeding the goats, or playing outside - helps release pressure and tension during a session.

Jess and Vanessa led me to their ducklings in the backyard. It was pure chaos - the best kind - as the ducklings kept escaping the kiddie pool and heading back to their pens. Jess helped August hold the ducklings, and I looked on as they waddled across the yard into their home. We then needed to feed the goats! Jess and August handed carrots to the hungry goats as I photographed this everyday moment.

Intimate backyard family portraits

As we moved to the front yard, August fed the ducklings - a chore that has always been his! We played with a ball, while the pup raced around the yard. While I am all about letting the moments unfold as naturally as possible, my job as a photographer is to find the light! I set up the family for a couple of portraits as the last of the end of summer light filtered through the trees.

To end the session, we walked up the road to close their farm stand - Two Hands Farm in Cumberland. Their farm stand features all of their own homegrown produce - fresh carrots, beets, tomatoes, kale, and more!

The benefits of styling for family sessions

One of the ways to elevate your family photos is to intentionally pull together a cohesive look of outfits. Styling can make a major difference in conveying a mood, vibe, and connection for a family session. I adored the simple earth colors during this at-home session, which complemented their homestead, and allowed them to feel comfortable! I’ve put together a styling guide for your next session to help achieve a vision that feels like you.