Last week, I kicked off a 5-part series called “Kiddo Personality Portraits” that stems from the power portrait minis I did several weeks ago.

You can check out Part 1 HERE!

The only thing people had to do to get some photos was to purchase one of Kate T. Parker’s books “Strong is the New Pretty” or “Heart of a Boy,” and they’d get a 5-minute mini session for one kiddo. I know 5 minutes doesn’t seem like a lot, but we got a TON of pure gold.

Kate’s books are all about celebrating children for who they are, just as they are. I fell in love with the images, story and heart in “Strong is the New Pretty” and wanted to share it with others. In keeping with the sentiment behind her book (and in keeping with how I prefer to work with children, anyway), I told parents to let their kids dress themselves. That meant that some came in bathing suits, some in pajamas and even one girl came in a swim cap, goggles, rainbow tutu and mardi gras beads! It was perfect!

This week we’ve got a sister & brother, another sister & brother and then their adorable new-big-brother cousin in a cape!

A shoot like this can be purchased as well if you want something similar for your children. They make great images for playrooms, kids bedrooms and common areas!

Love this sweet family! Their daughter and my oldest used to go to preschool together, and each kid learned everyone’s first AND last name, so our daughter would come home talk about each kiddo using both names, so I will forever think of lovely Miss V here as both her first and last name together! haha!

Now, they wanted a family session, but they really wanted a lot of focus on their daughter. They’d done a shoot with me a few years back and hadn’t done anything since then. I have to say, I adore shooting this age. She, like my oldest, is 8 and they have this very interesting developing sense of self where they are not game to simply smile and giggle at you anymore! They want to be serious and they want their serious side seen. And I LOVE Miss V’s serious side! Could she be any more gorgeous!

Since the focus was mainly on V and since the family wanted some more traditional “looking at the camera” shots, this went a little differently than my usual lifestyle sessions. It was a little more posed, but nothing too stiff. And V was kind of in model mode for a while, so I just embraced it!

It’s always sweet to me to photograph mom and daughter and then dad and daughter. Each relationship can be so different, but still so special. I love making sure that moms and dads have those. And having just one child makes it easy!

How is your relationship different with your kids than your spouse’s? Let me know!

Each member of this family was a TROOPER! We shot in 90-something degree heat and no one wanted to reschedule, everyone was like, “LET’S DO THIS!” and they showed up with changes of clothes and bottles of water and ROCKED IT.

That blue-eyed dad, Scott Stevens, is an awesome country musician and I KNOW you’ll be hearing him all over country radio soon, especially with the awesome team he has behind him! It was a blast to be able to photograph him, his beautiful wife and their equally-as-blue-eyed son.

Their baby boy had just turned one, so this was kind of a family/first birthday combo session, which is totally fine with me! Half family session, half kid-only session! We started out in a creek - because who doesn’t love creek photos?! - but had to move locations when baby Henry wanted to try swimming and wouldn’t stop trying to launch himself creekside, we had to go! And that’s how we roll with kiddos!

Outside is a wonderful place to have a family lifestyle session because there’s plenty of places for kids to explore and play. I don’t ever force kiddos to sit still and smile because, if they’re not in the mood, then they cry and get angry and mom gets frustrated and it’s no fun! Genuine interactions are the memories we all treasure most.

Sweet Makenna here is the youngest of three and it was finally her turn to have the spotlight on her!  I have been shooting her brother and sister now for a few years, and it was time for Makenna to hop in the fun!  After the traditional birthday photos of the three of them (post coming soon - and it has a GREAT idea to capture your kiddos each year), we got to have some cake fun!

Typically, I shoot my families and kiddos in more of a relaxed, lifestyle way, but I'm a sucker for an adorable first birthday cake smash session, so I do book these, too!

We scheduled this sweet baby girl's cake smash on a separate day from everyone's birthday photos so as not get too overwhelming for her.  We also shot in my client's home in a room with wood floors and a nice window.  This is always a great option when available so that baby and mama are right near everything they could need, from wipes and changes of clothes right up to all possible naptime equipment!  Smashing cake can wipe a kiddo out!  Haha!

Most parents don't realize that, for the most part, your newly minted one-year-old is NOT going to be that interested in smashing cake!  Isn't that funny?  They don't know what it is, or that they can eat it, and it usually feels really weird to them!  Often, mom will have to take some frosting and wipe it on baby's lip and hope they get interested!  

Makenna was no different!  She was a little skeptical and kept wanting to crawl away.  She gave us more smiles during her previous birthday session with her siblings, but we still managed to capture some crazy cute first birthday photos!  I love the "It's my 1st birthday" onesie and rainbow tutu that her mom choose!  I make sure to pick up a bright pink cake that would compliment all the colors!

What a gorgeous day for a beautiful family photography session!  This mama contacted me and all she wanted was some sweet photos of her, her adorable baby boy and his sweet, doting grandparents.  And it was so easy to give that to them because there is so much love between this group!

At first, I was worried because we each parked at different sides of the lake - and it's a big lake - so we talked on the phone and just decided to start walking toward each other on the lake's path and hope that we ran into each other before the sun dipped too far!  I love to schedule as many outdoor sessions as I can during sunset because the light is simply DIVINE, but as I walked on, the sun dipping behind the mass amounts of forest trees and fall foliage, I was a little nervous!  (Even just walking by myself with all my equipment!)  But, then BOOM!  They came walking around the corner in their palette of denim, red plaid and neutrals, and I knew it was going to be a wonderful session!

All they had to do was be with each other, and all the love came pouring out.  Can you even handle his little face and his blue eyes?! OH, MY!!!  So excited to share these photos with you!

For every lifestyle session, I create a stunning slideshow for my clients. their precious slideshow is at the bottom of the post!

follow me

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.

follow me

---

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.