Imagine walking through your home and catching a glimpse of a photo on the wall: a snapshot of your kids building a pillow fort in the living room, their faces lit with pure joy; a quiet moment of your teenager reading a book with the family dog curled up beside them; or a tender embrace at the kitchen table after a hard day.
These aren’t just pictures—they’re visual love notes. They capture the essence of your family life, the unscripted moments that remind your children they are seen and cherished exactly as they are. These images create a daily sense of belonging and reassurance, saying, “This is us, and this is enough.”
The Danger of the Perfect Picture
On the podcast We Can Do Hard Things by Glennon Doyle, a conversation about family photos reveals a hard truth: striving for perfection in pictures can harm more than help. Glennon’s sister Amanda shares a poignant story about her daughter Alice, who didn’t want to wear a dress for school pictures because it didn’t feel like her. In that moment, Amanda realized something profound: asking her daughter to wear the dress would send the wrong message—that Alice needed to change to be worthy of being photographed and proudly shared with family.
Even more troubling, some services now offer retouching options for school photos, planting seeds of self-doubt and insecurity in children. What if, instead of altering the truth, we embraced it? What if our photos showed our kids exactly as they are—scruffy sneakers, untamed hair, and all? These are the images that will one day remind us of who they were.
“A picture is about being seen. And this idea that we have to change ourselves, change our children, dress up, look different than we are, alter ourselves. That means we are never really being seen.”
When Photos Miss the Mark
They also talk about how holiday pictures are often not a nice experience, because of a forced pursuit of happiness in those photos which actually brings out the worst in us. The pursuit of fake smiles and moments often turns the experience into a stress-filled ordeal. Kids don’t cooperate. Parents grow frustrated. By the time the camera clicks, no one is enjoying themselves.
When we let go of perfection and focus on capturing real moments instead, the photos become something far greater: a true reflection of our family’s life. So instead of stopping your holiday to take photos, why not take real holiday photos? A candid shot of sandy toes after a beach day or messy hair at the breakfast table may lack polished smiles, but they carry the warmth of authentic memories.
Why I Love Documentary Family Photography
This is the heart of documentary family photography: no forced poses, no stiff smiles, no striving for perfection. Just your family, as you truly are. These photos hold the messy, beautiful essence of your life.
If you’re ready to stop chasing perfect pictures and start capturing the heart of your family, let’s work together. Book a session with me, and we’ll create authentic, love-filled images that will say: “I Love You, Just as You Are”
Contact me here to find out more and book your Family Session.
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