Documentary Photo Session Ideas

With the documentary approach, it’s all about documenting your family’s real life, the little things that make up your day or week that may go by unnoticed or normally undocumented. But you still might be wondering, “What does that actually mean? What should we plan for and what will you photograph?” Below are just a few ideas of moments/events/things that could be part of your sessions.

While we never need to have a schedule for our time together, I hope this list helps you consider the possibilities of things that could be documented during your session! There’s really no limits to what I can capture for you. I become your family’s historian for the day and hopefully future as well.

Maternity/Before Baby:

• Shopping for baby 

• Decorating/setting up baby’s nursery

• Baby shower

• Daily walk

• Cooking with family

• Hanging out with older kids at home or at the park

• Your normal Saturday routine

• Early prepping of food for your family postpartum

• Check up with your midwife (out of hospital)

• Building any new baby furniture (crib, rocker, changing table)

Newborn/Babies:

• First bath at home/general bath time

• Skin to skin time

• Tummy time

• Trying first solids

• Nursing

• Pumping

• Meeting/Snuggling with siblings

• Meeting/Snuggling with grandparents

• Walks around the neighborhood

• Story time at the library

• Snuggles with mom and dad

• Napping with mom and dad

• Playing with extended family (aunts/uncles)

• Morning/Bedtime routine

• First Birthday

Family:

• Breakfast

• Waking up

• Morning routine

• Lunch

• Dinner time

• Bath time 

• Brushing teeth 

• Bedtime books

• Family game time 

• Playing together in the yard/outside 

• Trip to a playground

• Trip to a museum

• Trip to the farmers market

• Trip to the library

• Trip to the grocery store

• Trip to the aquarium 

• Practicing musical instruments

• Playing sports outside together

• Making cookies/treats in the kitchen

• Cooking a meal together

• Grandparents visiting

• Playing with the family pet/walking the dog

• First day with new family pet

• Yard work/raking leaves/planting trees

• Gardening 

• Blowing bubbles outside

• Building legos together

• Building a fort together

• Salmon watching

• Mushroom hunting

• Exploring the beaches and natural wonders of the puget sound

• Holiday family traditions

• Birthday/Family milestone

• Making crafts together

• Moving into a new home

• Backyard camping

• Backyard fire and s’mores

• Backyard movie time

Ready to book your documentary session?

5 Reasons to Document Baby's First Year!

You may be thinking, do I actually need a reason to document their first year? I mean come on! Look at those tiny toes! Well here are a few reasons you may not have thought about and why the documentary approach might be the right fit for you.

1. They change so fast. No seriously they do. If this is your first baby, ask anyone who has older children. That first year, one day you wake up and realize they’ve grown and changed seemingly overnight. You can’t go back in time. By the end of their first year they will be a drastically different small human.

2. You won’t be in the photos you take everyday on your phone. Read that again. Yes, I know you’re taking a million photos of your baby on your phone, what parent doesn’t?? But beyond the occasional selfie, are you in those photos? Will your baby be able to see you and how much you loved them, held them, cuddled them, and perhaps even superhuman multitasked with them, when they are grown and looking back at photos? Documentary photography allows you to get in the frame.

3. You’ll be busy. We all live busy lives, throw in a newborn and it goes up a huge notch. Planned documentary sessions throughout the year allow me to pop in, document, and let you keep on doing your own thing. There’s no outfits to coordinate, location to drive to, or stress of if baby will be in a good mood that day. You get to release all that for the entire year and just be a present parent.

4. The Baby Book dilemma. How many of us buy/bought a baby book for baby’s first year and never finished it? [Raising my own hand.] Think of this as a made-for-you baby book. Highlights from your sessions will all be printed in a book for you at the end of the year. Meaning no homework for you! If you are a journaler, upon request, I can even leave room for you to write notes in your book for each session, milestones that have happened, or things you’d like to remember about that time.

5. Your child will thank you later. Yup. Some day when they are older they will look through the photos taken and get to see YOU and THEM during that first year of their life. If you are like me, those photos of our parents and our family only grow more valuable over time. Not only will you be enjoying the photos as your baby grows into a child, a teen, and then an adult, but they will someday be thanking you for the photos that allow them to see a time they do not remember.

Whether you chose to only document those newborn days or opt for a larger First Year Package that includes multiple sessions throughout the year, you won’t regret having the time documented to relive later down the road.

Ready to document your baby’s first year?
I offer not only a First Year Milestones Bundle but can also customize any Year in the Life package to a First Year in the Life package.

A Fun First Birthday Documentary Family Session - Bothell, Wa

No matter how you celebrate, a first birthday is a big deal! You as parents have survived one whole year with this little person; who you’re still very likely in awe of everyday. Your baby is not as much of a baby any more, although I won’t tell you that in person ever because I know first hand it would have caused me to break into tears if someone would have told me that. And finally, this little person is now super active, learning everyday, and growing! It’s a whole new chapter in their life and yours too.

Mara’s parents planned a nice low-key evening with visiting family to celebrate her first birthday. Surrounded by family she tried some cake, but wasn’t a huge fan this time around. She was way more excited to just hang out with everyone, find Mario on her cake plates, and investigate some new toys during her birthday gathering!

Happy first birthday little one!

Alain & Gen's Family - Day in the Life Session

This is a session from September 2019.
Yes, I’m that behind on blogging but trying to catch up by posting my favorite sessions.

What makes a successful day in the life session?
A glimpse of the absolutely normal everyday stuff and a family that invites me in to see it. That’s it. And it’s magic.

I arrived right when their girls were waking up. I was there for the early morning snuggles in bed bathed in early morning light. Most families think, oh we need to get ourselves ready before you come over. No you don’t.

Next it was onto a bit of dress up, breakfast, and getting ready for the day. Finally one quick impromptu dance party before the girls were off to their own Saturday morning dance classes. (Did I mention both Gen and Alain are dancers too?)

After dance classes were over they walked down to a corner cafe grabbed a snack and joined some friends at a neighborhood park.

Then a quick stop at a little free library and back home to relax. That’s it!

A normal Saturday routine captured in a way they’ll be able to relive for years to come.

Thanks to Alain and Gen who graciously welcomed me in and trusted me completely to be there for all the little moments.

Check out their entire session through the slideshow below.

Jayna & Allie's Woodinville High School Prom 2020

When your high school’s prom get cancelled, along with every other prom around the country, you throw one at home with your favorite people.

In the height of the pandemic and lockdown, Tricia Price reached out to her Woodinville neighbors on facebook asking to borrow a prom dress. Her daughter had her heart set on prom and was devastated that it wasn’t going to happen. She wanted to give her daughter a prom experience, even if it was just getting dressed up for a day and taking some photos. Offers of dresses to borrow soon emerged from neighbors. When the county moved into the next opening phase, the green light was there for a small home prom for her daughter Jayna Price and her best friend Allie Krech and their boyfriends, Aldo and Jacob, respectively. Jayna’s younger siblings also got to join in on the prom night fun. It was an unforgettable and fun night for two beautiful graduating seniors, in that way, not to different from any other prom.