When I realized that my sweet pregnant friend, Kristina, had a look-alike (not twin) sister and that they were both pregnant only a few weeks apart, I just about BEGGED them to let me photograph them! At first I was thinking a drone shot of the two of them lounging on pool mats in a fancy pool would be AH-MAZING, but they were feeling too “pregnant-y” for that (you mamas know what I’m talking about) so we scrapped the swimsuit idea.

We ended up going to Kristina’s house and her sister brought over some dresses and we did a very casual maternity photoshoot with the two of them that probably lasted maybe 30 minutes.

My vision was to have them on the front porch together, shoes off, just enjoying each other’s company. The image I had in my head was to give the photos a current-day take on the photos we see now when we look back at our grandparent’s images - not a lot of background blur because that wasn’t really a thing yet, black & white and simply showing daily life.

We did some maternity photos like that, but then her sister also had these matching lace kimono things and I was like OH. WE NEED THESE. I pictured them with backlight pouring through, accentuating the feminine designs of the lace & the obviously feminine lines of two baby bellies.

BUT FIRST - haha! - I got there before her sister arrived, so we just hung out in her bedroom looking for good light and chatting, so I had to snap some images in there. The painting above her bed is her own! Her artwork is amazing and you can see more of her work HERE.

If you’re looking for maternity photos, let’s chat!

Warm weather is HERE and it’s time to pull out the sprinklers and pop-up pools! Summer is so ripe for photos with it’s long days of sunlight, colorful palettes and large, popsicle-stained smiles!

We want to be able to capture that summer magic in photos. It’s so fleeting and the years move on too quickly, so having memories of our summers is so important. While I love gathering all the kiddos in one big group and asking them all to give me a crazy grin, I’m REALLY a fan of candidly capturing these hot-day & warm-night moments.

Now, I am always available for a summer lifestyle session - which I fully believe more people should do!! No one ever thinks to have a summer day or night professionally captured and it’s just THE BEST!!! But, since I can’t be there for you allllll the days…

…I want YOU to be able to be the best memory keeper that you can be for your family, I thought I’d share some of my top tips when it comes to taking candid photos of your kids!

And what would photo tips be without photos?! haha! DUH.

I’m often not far from my camera, and when we blew up this darling little MiniDip pool from Target for the first time, I KNEW I had to grab it and capture the first dip of “summer!” (Summer in quotes because it’s technically still spring.) And it has shows just about all the tips I talk about!

That brings me to my tips:

1. Capture the FIRSTS. First dip in the pool this summer. First steps into the ocean. First lick of an ice cream cone. First one to cannonball into the pool without even feeling the water beforehand!

   In these images, it was our FIRST time in this adorable pool!

2. Capture the LASTS. The last one out of the pool. The last one left cleaning up. The last one to fall asleep. The last neighborhood gathering before school begins again.

3. Never ask anyone to look at you. That’s the whole point of CANDID! You don’t want to bring anyone out of the moment - it’ll stop the moment and ruin all the candid fun. Try to be a fly on the wall so that you can truly capture your kiddos all caught up having a good time (or maybe pouting in a corner - haha!)

4. Move around. Stand up. Lie down. I talk a lot about changing your point of view when shooting the same scene. Most people simple stand there at the normal height they normally and shoot normally. Normal is no fun! haha! Get high and get low and move all around!

5. Take photos of DETAILS. You don’t always have to see everyone’s face to tell your story! Don’t you love baby butt cheek hanging out of a swimsuit?! It’s the best! Take a photo of it! Wet hair, grass-covered feet, little fingers and little toes, even details of the objects that you’ll probably forget about years from now.

6. Make it so no one can see you. If it’s possible to get completely hidden, but still get some photos, this is the BEST for capturing candids! On this day, once my girls started inviting some neighbor kids over to play, I went inside and shot through our kitchen window. They had no idea! haha!

BONUS TIP: Use a black & white filter on some, especially ones that you took in bright sunlight. They look amazing and it will add a “moment in time” feel to your photo!

So, take a look at my little backyard shoot and see if you can see my tips at play!

Little girls! Aren’t they the sweetest?! With one toddler girl and one newborn girl, this session was not lacking in sweetness! As all my expectant moms do, this one texted me when baby Madeline had made her entrance into the world and we set up our in-home newborn session. I adore shooting newborns and their families in their homes. It’s the best way to truly document what it was like in those first couple of weeks home as the family has changed, “onlies” and “youngests” become “big sisters” and “big brothers,” and mom and dad are sweetly spent. It’s a time that goes by so quick and can be so hard to easily to recall the details of.

I started off with Olivia, from here on known as the Big Sister. It’s easy and natural for newborn to get most of the attention, so starting our shoot with Olivia showing me around her room - stuffed animals and pillows! - was a great way to make her feel not only included, but important as well. ;) AND, it let mommy finish up her makeup!

Once we got baby Madeline in the shoot, she was happy for only short periods of time without being held. She was a little fussy and, completely heartwarmingly, was calmed quickly by her dad’s hand on her back and his gentle sway and loud hum. They also had grandpa there visiting and he was loving on his granddaughters!

It didn’t take long for Olivia, in her darling blue dress and with her adorable little lips, to get completely comfortable with the camera and try to be in every photo! haha! This happens a ton with older siblings, so we all let her jump in, but daddy took her out of the room for a bit to do some reading together so that I could focus on mama and baby in the soft pink nursery. Finally, everyone got in together and snuggled up as a family of four! It was such a successful shoot, even with baby Madeline not being happy the whole time, and it helped to work with such a loving and gentle family.

This session was a series of mis-haps at first, where we simply couldn't get our schedules aligned for a newborn shoot, so eventually we threw in the newborn towel, turned it into a 3-month photoshoot and it's one of my favorite baby boy sessions ever!

Her oldest is exactly the way you'd expect a little boy - rambunctious and does his own thing all the time!  That's what I love about lifestyle sessions - it doesn't matter!  It's all about the family and how they roll, and I just snap away!  

First, we played downstairs for a little bit, but then her sweet baby was hungry so we went to the nursery for a quick diaper change and a brief feeding time.  Dad and big brother occupied their time with a fun game of "find the orange ball" and then we all headed outside!  Since everyone got out a little energy inside, outside was the perfect spot to grab some cuddle shots of everyone, and baby boy got some snuggles from daddy!  Another wonderful lifestyle photo session in the books!

Your kids.  You love them, they're the most beautiful, precious things in the world.  And you want DESPERATELY to capture them in an equally beautiful and precious photo, with them SMILING real smiles - not their current, odd, fake smile that makes them look like they kill birds in the backyard - and you want them with their arms around each other looking simply like the BEST, MOST WELL-BEHAVED, GORGEOUS children on the planet.

In short, you want this photo to completely MISREPRESENT who your kids are.  Misrepresenting kids in general, really.  Kids are wild.  They are shy.  They cry, they jump, scream, laugh.  They use their entire bodies to express themselves.  They hit their sister, hug their brother, give sloppy kisses and spit in anger.  They are uninhibited and learning about life.

I mean, right?  I have two girls - ages 4 and 7.  They are INSANE.  Smart, pretty, hilarious...and freakin' NUTS.  And while I, like everyone, will beg, plead and bribe them to stand, arms just right and smiles just lovely, it's rare that that kind of experience doesn't end with tears and anger and my youngest yelling something like, "YOU OLD RAT!" (Because she did that once.)

And the good and the bad about this?  It's ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE.  Even this time next year, or in six months, will not look like it does now.  Especially for the littlest of little ones.  

So, instead of choosing to have a lovely photoshoot in a lovely field where you aim toward the most perfect over-the-mantle canvas with some gilded ornate frame and you have lots of non-lovely feelings about your kids running wild and your husband getting all annoyed because this NEVER goes well, and you are now annoyed at EVERYONE and everyone will go home and EAT DINNER IN SILENCE BECAUSE OUR FAMILY WAS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE WE ARE LOVELY IN THESE PHOTOS AND NOBODY DID ANYTHING RIGHT!! GIVE ME THE WINE!!!

Well...what if...doing a photoshoot right...is just...letting everyone be.  Just as they are.  Kids.  Dad.  And, yes, YOU.

So, let's get into

10 wonderful reasons to want (& have) an in-home lifestyle photography session, like, ASAP (because it all changes so fast!!).

10. No Loading Up the Car.  Isn't that grand?!  No remembering to pack this and that.  No worrying about kids messing up their hair or spilling snacks or drinks on their photoshoot-only clothes that they can only look at through glass until the day of the shoot!

9. No Photoshoot-Only Clothes or Hair.  Yes!  Save money this way!  And no fancy photoshoot-only hair which really means that kids run and scream and don't do their hair and mom and dad yell (and dad pops open a beer.  Just us?).  NONE OF THAT!  In fact, it's almost BETTER if your kid has her crazy bed-head when I or your photographer show up!  Eventually, their hair will grow out and won't stick up like that.  Why not leave it alone and brush it half-way through the shoot after getting some adorable and slightly hilarious just-woke-up shots?  In fact, your kiddo can just be in a DIAPER!  You don't have to dress them AT ALL if you don't want!  Save dressing time for the sweetest of images - after capturing some diaper-only shots, of course!

8. Snacks & Bathrooms.  ARE RIGHT THERE.  I mean, mic drop, yes?  MIC-FREAKIN'-DROP. 

7. All the Wardrobe Changes You Want!  Your kiddos can go from pajamas to a fancy dress, to suspenders, to princess high heels and boas.  Or an Einstein wig, purple necklace and a silver shield if you've got kids like I do.

6. Mama Can Take Her Time.  Now that you've FINALLY gotten your kids ready and shoved them off to hang out with Dad, you barely have the time you wanted to get your hairs all did up nice.  But with an in-home lifestyle photoshoot, I am or your photographer is likely to come and focus on the kiddos alone first, leaving you time to leisurely apply some mascara and rouge.  And you don't have to get fancy AT ALL.  I mean, if I were being photographed, I'd slap on some makeup so I didn't look like a man and then I'd go with my NICEST pair of comfy pants and fuzzy socks.  And some kind of top, too.  You know.  Don't want to make it all awkward. 

5. Dad's Love It.  I sh*t you not.  EVERY. SINGLE. lifestyle session I have EVER had (in-home and outdoors - because you can do this kind of thing outside), dads say to me, "That wasn't that bad! That was the best time I've ever had at a photoshoot!"  HA!  Winning with the dads.  And mamas, we all know we might be able to swing ANOTHER session next year if Dad has a fond memory of the last one, right?! Because in a lifestyle session, dads get to do stuff like this with their kids:

And, I'm sorry, what dad does not want the sweetest bedtime book-reading routine with his little lady documented?  Is this not something he'll look back on FOR DECADES? Like her wedding day?  And then his little girl will show HER kids one day, when she sits reading to THEM.

4. Naps & Bedtime Routines.  Ok, so it's REEEALLY unlikely that I or your photographer would be at your house for like 10 hours, so, you know, we just get sneaky sometimes and PRETEND to do a little bedtime routine, just to capture it.  And kids usually think it's super fun to get in jammies and play bedtime.  But, it can certainly be likely that we can run right into naptime.  In fact, if you have a kiddo that still naps, I love to plan it so our session ends right around then.  Because then you get this:

3. You Might Move One Day.  And if you do, it's wonderful to look back and remember your old house.  You might move when your kids are little and they won't remember their first room with their crib, and train table of toys and how they loved to open and close the shutters.  But whey they ask about it and you tell them, you can pull up these images.

2. In-Between Moments.  This is where the family magic happens.  These moments are the intimate fibers of our familial being.  Where you're enjoying a cup of coffee and the littlest wants to smell it.  Where you're about to give a horsey ride and, instead of taking the photo once your kiddo is all saddled up, you have the memory of how you used to have to LIFT him up.  And how, no matter the highs and lows of crazy that having kids can bring, you can still laugh with your spouse.

1. Home Is Where the Heart Is.  So shouldn't it stand to reason that the home is the absolute BEST place for capturing your family, the love within, the silliness, the seriousness - all of your family's whole personality and that of the individuals that comprise it?  I think so.

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Liza Hippler is a portrait and family lifestyle photographer located in Franklin, TN. She serves the Middle TN & surrounding areas including Brentwood, Spring Hill and Nashville.  She would love to talk to you about what you're looking to capture about your life now. She is available for travel.