lifestyle photo session ideas montreal family photographer

Last time you tried to get your family photographed at the mall studio your littlest hurled THE.ENTIRE.TIME.

It was rough.  It was a disaster.

You are not doing THAT ever again.

I don’t blame you.  I wouldn’t either.

Your family portraits don’t need to be forced on your little ones.   

Family photography should be about spending time together, going on adventures, playing, laughing and having FUN – all while capturing REAL memories that you will LOVE looking back on.

I am a family photographer who loves to photograph families in their home, but I know a lot of people would prefer to do something else, or wonder about what I would photograph for 90 minutes + in their “boring” regular lives.  So, I put together a list of 50+ ideas for your next portrait session.

Have more ideas?  Please leave a comment below and I’ll add them to the list!

montreal lifestyle family baby maternity photographer

IDEAS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING FAMILY AT HOME  

  • Family playtime – let’s do all your favourite family activities!  
  • Tickle war
  • Reading stories
  • Baking your favourite cookies, letting the kids really get their hands, and probably everything else, DIRTY!
  • Painting together (paint brushes optional!)
  • Bubble bath (your tub and a whole lotta bubbles! we can accessorize with goggles or snorkelling gear!)
  • Learning how to ride a bike
  • Family dance party
  • Saturday morning routine – from breakfast to nap time and everything you do in between
  • Morning routine.  bed head, breakfast and bath.  bring it.
  • Craft time, the messier, the better!
  • SUPERHERO costume day!  try them ALL On!
  • Playing dress-up & a tea party
  • Getting a pet?  Let me be there to capture the look of shock and happiness on your little one’s face!
  • 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed…or even just one or two, however many you’ve got will do.
  • Day in the Life (4+ hours of capturing your family on a regular day)
  • Naptime adorableness, because they are so so cute when they sleep
  • Playing instruments together
  • Favourite card & board games 
  • Moving?  Let’s celebrate the end of a chapter in your current home
  • Walk, aka adventure, through the neighbourhood

Crazy stuff we do with our kids before they get too big and heavy:

montreal lifestyle family baby maternity photographer

OUT AND ABOUT: FAMILIES ON THE GO

  • A trip to your favourite ice cream parlour, the more sprinkles the better…
  • A trip to the Montreal Biodome
  • First train ride for your train lover
  • Trip to the library
  • Trip to the farm
  • Apple Picking
  • Exploring the streets of the old port or downtown
  • A day at the zoo – capturing your little one’s eyes lighting up as they see the animals!
  • Getting your first fish from the pet shop
  • Going Fishing

Bowling:

girl bowling montreal

Collecting Pokemon:

collecting pokemon

SUMMER

  • Backyard bonfire and roasting marshmallows
  • Backyard camping
  • Splashing in the lake
  • Family picnic, with a blanket a basket and all the picnic trimmings!
  • Backyard fun – swimming, swinging, making bubbles and kicking the ball around
  • Feeding ducks at the lake
  • Hiking through the local wooded trails
  • Front porch family time
  • A trip to the beach
  • Trampoline!
  • Strawberry Picking

girls on trampoline in princess dresses laughing

girl biking and laughing

WINTER FAMILY MEMORIES TO CAPTURE

  • Building a snowman, family style
  • Snowball fight
  • Making snow angels
  • Dancing in the falling snow
  • Building a fort
  • Backyard skating rink
  • Snow day sessions can end indoors with a nice cup of hot cocoa topped with everyone’s fav, marshmallows!

girl with sled going to slide in winter snow montreal

SPRING

  • Dancing in the rain
  • A trip to the Apple Orchard, where the trees are in full bloom and the animals are waiting

girl feeding goat at petting zoo

CELEBRATING YOUR CHILD’S BIRTHDAY

  • Birthday celebration – capturing all your little one’s favourite things on their birthday, right through to icing the cake and licking the spoon
  • Birthday balloon surprise!  Surprise your child by having a room filled with balloons waiting for them when they wake up!  We can have a morning breakfast party!

GENERATIONS

  • Picking up your beloved family member from the airport
  • Hanging our with Grandma & Grandpa
  • Playing cards with grandparents
  • Looking through old photographs together

The best time to do this is now, before life gets in the way.