Documentary Family Photos in Point Breeze, Pittsburgh

When this mother of two contacted me about a photo session for her family, she told me that they had just sold their home. We decided to do Documentary Family Photos in Point Breeze Pittsburgh where they had just sold their home!

They decided to sell it to move closer to the family just outside of Pittsburgh. We both decided this was a perfect reason to have family photos at their home before they moved! Also, Frick Park (the largest municipal park in Pittsburgh) is basically an extension of their “backyard” and it is also somewhere that they spent a lot of time exploring in the last five years. So this was also a perfect location for photos. We started off with photos inside their lovely home and then headed out for a walk into the park and returned to their house for a few more photos outside and on the porch.

After a client contacts me inquiring about family photos we always discuss what the perfect location would be for their family session.

My answer is always,
“RIGHT AT YOUR HOME!”

Inside your home, outside your home, on the porch and in the yard and then we can take a walk around the neighborhood if you want! I want all of my sessions to be unique and meaningful to each family that I photograph. I mean sure, we could pick a pretty local park but if this park is not somewhere that your family frequents then I honestly do not feel like it is the best location for your family photos.

I want the location of your family photo session to be meaningful to you and your family!

If you are very dead set against doing them at your home, then we can choose another location that your family is familiar with. But be warned, I have heard all of the excuses to not do them at home and I have a rebuttal for each one of them!

“Our home is too —>insert excuse here<—“

I know, I get it, you think your home may not get the best light and is too dark or too small or too messy, etc. But rest assured, it is none of the above. I have been in well over a hundred of my client’s homes and I have yet to enter a house that I found to be unfit for a photo session! Your house is the place that you took time to create into a HOME! It is the place where you all get to be yourselves and to relax. It is the place that you took the time to decorate, even if your idea of decorating is more like mine, an eccentric hodgepodge of different styles vs. something that looks like the page out of an Ikea catalog. Either way, I promise you that your home is a great location.

Like I have mentioned in other blog posts, it is also a great way to remember things about your home! Maybe you are not moving but most of us change things around in our homes pretty often. Wouldn’t it be great for the kids to have images of what their bedroom looked like when they were in second grade? Or what the 50’s style kitchen looked like before you remodeled it? I wish I had more images of the homes that I lived in throughout childhood!

I often just “click” with the families that I photograph and this family was no exception. By the time our session ended, I felt like they were old friends and I had known them for years! Their parenting style was very similar to my own and I loved their sense of adventure and wanting their children to spend a lot of time outdoors exploring the world around them. I loved hanging out with this family of four and I hope we can work together in the future, at their new home!

Another perk of having Documentary Family Photos in Point Breeze, Pittsburgh is that a family photo session like this is, no one should feel nervous or the pressure to “perform”! Everyone just gets to relax, and be their imperfectly perfect beautiful selves! I’ll chat more about this in the second part of this blog post!

This is just half of my favorite images from this documentary family photo session!I’ll be sharing another blog post soon from our walk to Frick Park and then back to the house!

When was the last time you had family photos?
What is holding you back from booking a session?

Have more questions? Concerns? 
Please get in touch to ask me anything! 

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~All images by Mary Beth Miller Photography ~

Mary Beth Miller Photography specializes in lifestyle and documentary family, newborn and Fresh 48 photography in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and many of the surrounding areas. Mary Beth has over nine years of experience photographing families, newborns and babies in the Point Breeze, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Greentree, Highland Park, and Oakland areas.  Her style is very relaxed and natural and your family session will feel like a stress-free Sunday afternoon with your family!