Family Vacation Photographs While Adventuring in Maine
Kelly reached out to me hoping for family photographs of their trip to Maine. Every year, they travel to a new place and commemorate their time with a photography sessions. With photographs from adventures across the world - from Rome, to Portugal, to Florida - I feel this is such a special way to create memories together. This was their first time in Maine and their first time working with a more documentary photographer. Together, we created a mix of more ‘traditional’ family photographs (aka everyone looking at the camera) as well as photographs of the more in-between moments of them all just walking and talking. Together, this resulted in a really beautiful gallery that documents all of them as they are in this season of life and photographs for the family holiday cards and grandmas refrigerator.
Adventure photography in Maine
Kelly and her family spent most of their time around Acadia National Park. They were spending their time going for hikes, hoping around downtown, and trying restaurants in Bar Harbor. Our photo session was their first time in the park, so we started at Otter Cliffs and took a very short walk to a little view point over the ocean. The view from Otter Cliffs is just idyllic Acadia/Downeast Maine - granite cliffs, pine forests, crashing waves, etc., etc., etc. We manueavered around the small crowds - meeting mid-week definitely helped cut down on the loads of people typically visiting Acadia in the fall - and found a little ledge perfect for a few photographs.
Only spending a short time within Acadia, we then ventured outside of the park to a hidden gem of a beach. After a short walk to the rocky shore, we spent the rest of our time creating photographs together by settling into a more informal, playful space. These ended up being some of my favorite photographs. Family portraits, but layered, authentic, and emotion-filled.
Tips for photographing older kids
Why is it that family photographs tend to stop when kids reach that pre-teen age? I know for me, the photographs just drop off around the age of 12. I don’t want that to be the case with other families. Kelly’s commitment to regular family sessions is something to be admired & I felt so happy to be able to contribute to their family archive.
Family sessions with older kids do tend to have a different dynamic. It’s true, every family love language & kid is different. But I find that sessions with teens tend to have some similarities that make the following tips even more relevant for this group:
Create time for individual kids portraits & one on one portraits with parents and kids. This allows time for each kids personality to come through and reminds them of their individual value within the family. And asking one kid to step aside with one parent can create more intimacy and their natural relationship can come through more easily than when the whole family is in the photo.
Follow the thread and natural interactions of the kids - do they like to make jokes? get under each others skins? Allow these natural interactions to happen and photograph life as it is.
There is no need to force a smile. I tell families up front I am not expecting them to smile at the camera, echoing that I want them to be themselves and not ‘perform’ for the purpose of photography. While younger kids tend to be more comfortable as themselves, older kids have developed a sense of consciousness and know the societal norms around photography (look, we’ve all been conditioned to stop and smile when a camera is pointed at us - I get it). So reminders are necessary to whittle away at this conditioning.
Take your time. The best photographs happen in the last 15 minutes, when trust has been developed and everyone starts to feel a bit more at ease. Create space for sessions that are ~90 minutes. And during this time, take breaks, just chat, and observe.
Let the kids take the lead and let go of control - yes chaos can ensue, but this is often where the magic happens.
If you are interested in family photographs - whether you live in Maine, or are just stopping by to visit - get in touch here to learn more about booking a family session.