Sometimes we like to change it up around here by posting about a recent project or, in this case, a really fun family adventure session with the Matherne family!

This family is close friends of ours—we’ve photographed Haley and Conner’s family photos with little Beckham over the last couple of years and really enjoyed watching his personality grow and blossom. Watching our friends’ little family grow together is just the sweetest thing ever, so we were excited to do an extended family adventure session at Sugar Mill Pond—an active and engaged community development in the heart of small town Youngsville, Louisiana! We hit up the green space, pond, and playground with Beckham to let him burn off all that extra energy. He even had a chance to feed the fish from the dock and he loved it! We all had a lot of fun and it was clear from watching everyone interact and engage with Beckham, that he is the center of their world right now. Totally adorable!

When photographing family adventure sessions, especially sessions with little ones, we really try to keep the structure of the session loose, giving the kiddos more freedom and playtime. No one likes to be forced to do something they don’t want to do, so why try to make kids sit still and smile at the camera when they want to do just the opposite? By giving them the freedom to run, play, and bring toys, they have a level of comfort and it shows through the images how happy they really are in that moment. Besides, kids seldom sit still and smile anyway, right! Better to let them engage with the world and the people around them so they feel comfortable with us and our cameras. We love being invited into their little worlds, but they only let us in when THEY are happy. ☺️

A few days before the session, I get in touch with the family and ask them to bring along toys, snacks, or games the littles like to play to keep them occupied when needed. I also stress the importance of putting their kiddo in something comfortable to wear and play in and often suggest they plan activities to do together.

Beckham LOVES to swing, so we planned to end the session on a high note on the playground. Those are their favorite photos from our session—when he’s laughing his little heart out. Happy baby=Happy family. We love photographing growing families and hope to do more sessions like this soon. If you’re interested in getting together to do a family adventure session, let’s chat and make a plan to do something seriously fun!