When you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you might trade size for location when choosing your living space. A lot of families learn to live in smaller spaces in exchange for being close to shops, restaurants, and walkable neighborhoods. We can always still do a documentary family session in a small home, but we can always hang in the surrounding neighborhood as well. In your pre-session call we talk about what works best for your family and for some, that means spending most of our time outside.

I do always suggest doing at least a few photos at home because I feel really strongly about documenting your child’s childhood home. After hanging for a bit indoors, we can move out into the neighborhood depending on what makes the most sense for your family. 

The family below likes to take walks around their neighborhood in Berkeley and they wanted to make sure we captured some of that during our session. Despite the slight chill in the air, their kiddo was not into having a shirt on so we rolled with it. Honestly I think it improves the photos! You really can’t go wrong with a little toddler belly and leggings!

When we were planning this session, we talked about heading to a favorite nearby playground, Virginia-McGee Totland. After our neighborhood walk we hopped into the car and headed over. Let me tell you, the playground was hopping but we were able to have a great time exploring and playing, even getting a family photo in front of the ivy-covered fence toward the back of the yard. Taking photos at a playground can sometimes be tricky with other kids and families around, but generally people avoid the camera and we are able to get some fun photos of your kids living their best lives with minimal intrusion on others.

My main advice when booking a documentary family session in a small home is to bring it up in our pre-session phone call and we can devise a plan together. If you specifically want photos at home we can focus on that and I can always make small spaces work, but if you prefer to include the wider world in your session I can make that happen as well. Communication is key, so we can work together to create photos you’ll love for a lifetime!

Want to book a documentary family session in a small home or around your neighborhood? Get in touch and we can discuss the details!