Hot take? You don’t need a beautiful outdoor location or a perfectly styled studio to create meaningful family photos. Sometimes, the best place to document your family is right where you already spend your days. An in-home photo session gives us the chance to photograph your real routines, your favorite spaces, and allllll those little interactions that make this season of life yours.
For families, couples, maternity sessions, newborns, and even milestone announcements, your home can be the perfect backdrop. (Especially during the cold winter months, where photos feel impossible!) These pictures feel personal because they actually reflect your real everyday life.
If you’re interested in an in-home session and want to know how to prepare your space for photos, this post is for you!
Step One: Start With the Spaces You Love Most
Before your session, take a quick look around your home and think about where the best natural light comes in. You do not need to clean every single room. I promise!! It’s okay to shove everything in a closet! Instead, focus on tidying the spaces we are most likely to use.
A bright bedroom, cozy living room, nursery, or kitchen can give us plenty to work with. Take a few minutes to clear away anything that feels distracting or overly cluttered, but do not stress about making your home look like a magazine. There’s a difference between trying to create a staged “set” and just letting your home be a little lived in. Put away the stacks of mail or dirty dishes, but no need to clean up every single toy.
The goal an in-home session is for it to still feel like your home.
Two: Pick an In-Home Session Activity That Feels Like You
The best photos often happen when you are doing something together instead of simply looking at the camera. Think about the everyday moments you already love.
A few ideas include:
- Making muffins, cookies, or lunch together
- Drinking coffee or tea in your favorite spot
- Reading books with your kids
- Putting together a puzzle
- Playing with your pets
- Snuggling on the couch
- Giving the baby a bath or getting ready for the day
- Dancing around the kitchen
- Playing with your little one in their nursery
- Opening a bottle of wine and relaxing together
These simple activities create natural movement and genuine connection. They also give me opportunities to photograph all the little in-between moments, like a baby’s tiny toes, a parent laughing, or the way your partner looks at you when they think you are not paying attention.
These are the photos you’re going to cherish in ten years!
Three: What to Wear for Your In-Home Session
I love the relaxed feel of these sessions. When you’re thinking about what to wear, the key is not to overdo it. Think: soft sweaters, neutral tones, denim, simple tees, and comfortable layers. Those all work beautifully in an in-home setting. You don’t need the traditional “photo session outfits”.
The pictures can feel warm and timeless without looking overly styled, ya know!? Even a long white button up with socks can be a perfect outfit!
Four: Take It Outside
A lot of families and couples book me for in-home sessions because it’s COLD outside in the winter. But that doesn’t mean we can’t venture outside. We can embrace the cozy season indoors, and then, if there is snow outside, we can bundle up and head outside for a few photos too.
Let your pups play in the snow! Bundle up your little one! And then we could go back inside for some photos with hot cocoa. So many fun ways to create photos in the winter.
The main takeaway when learning how to prepare for your in-home session: your home does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be yours.
Because in 20 years from now, these everyday, “ordinary” moments are the ones you will want to remember. And that is exactly what makes an in-home photo session so meaningful in my book!
