What if my home...


Most of the questions I receive about in-home newborn sessions (and family sessions for that matter) start with those four words. Your home is a very personal place. It's where life happens, it's your safe space. It also is a reflection on you and your family. So it can feel a little scary to think about inviting a photographer in to memorialize your family in your home.


I don't know about you, but while I am so grateful to have a lovely home I'm always looking around and thinking, "someday we'll do X to this room" or "I wish I could change Y" or "ugh I should just hire someone to fix Z because I'm never going to get to it". We LIVE in our homes, which means we notice all the things that are wrong or that we want to change (and if we're honest, we probably notice things that guests never ever see).


We tell ourselves stories about are homes that may or may not be true, but even if they are I'm here to help you reframe those stories. Here are the top 4 questions I am asked about shooting in home and real honest answers to those questions.

What if my home isn't well decorated?


I feel this one to my core. We have three young and busy children at home and because of this, we can't have nice things 馃槀 We have some new pieces we have bought over the years, but those are mixed with hand me downs, stuff from the Facebook Marketplace and some stuff that's even left over from our business school days (no lie). Our living room couch is a brown microfiber that we got when we were poor newly weds paying for my husbands SMU tuition. Then we started our family and realized how messy kids are and how easy microfiber is to wipe clean. And since my 9 year old is still as messy at my 3 year old, I doubt we'll be getting rid of it any time soon, much to my dismay. So I totally understand this concern.


But here's what I want you to know, most of the homes I shoot in, are NOT professionally decorated. Would it be lovely if all the homes were decorated to the nines and crisp and clean with white walls and countertops? Sure. But that's not reality. Don't compare your home to everything you see in magazines and on IG. Your home is yours and it's lovely. We will find spots to take beautiful photos that focus on you and your family because that's what is really important.

What if my home doesn't have huge windows?


I get this question a lot because I'm a natural light photographer. I rely on the light coming in through your windows to create your images. Most older homes don't have the wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows like some newer builds do. So this is definitely a legit question!


I have two answers for this. One is that the latest cameras are amazing machines and can really make up for a lot of lighting situations that aren't ideal. My camera is built to handle a high ISO (camera talk for the amount of light I'm telling the camera to let in). The second is that We can find the right light even with small windows. We can shoot right up against them if need be and still have gorgeous snuggly photos.

What if my home isn't very big?


I think this questions comes mostly from the desire to have variety in a gallery. The answer to this one is short and sweet. I've shot entire newborn sessions in small homes and even in just 1 or 2 rooms of a home and we still get plenty of variety.

What if my home is messy?


If you have a job and/or children, your house is messy. I know this because Hi. 馃憢 I have three...and a job...and a huge dog... My home is messy! This is just the stage we're all in right now. We can pick up, but as soon as we do, the kids make another mess. Dodger, our labradoodle, is even worse! As soon as I pick up his toys and put them in his basket he's pulling them back out and placing them around the house!


I'm not going to lie to you, the bad news is, to have a beautiful indoor session, you DO have to pick up some. There's no getting around it. The good news is, you don't have to clean like your in-laws are coming over! Here are my quick tidying up tips:

  • Focus only on the rooms we're going to be shooting in
  • This is not the time for everything to have a place, shove clutter into drawers, closets, etc.
  • Wipe down counters and table tops (I usually pose you on them and we don't want to see crumbs)
  • If your windows have hand or do nose prints, the camera WILL see those so give them a quick wipe
  • The rest we can shoot around. You'd be surprised how many of the gorgeous images I post have piles of clutter and laundry off to the side!


The last thing I'd like to include in this section is this: Please don't feel the need to apologize about your clutter. You have a new baby, you are a busy family with young kids, your house is not supposed to be perfect now. There is zero judgement here.

Are you convinced?


There truly is no better place in the world IMO to have family photos than in your own home. I hope you take the advice above to heart and if anything I've said rings true, please email me and let me know!