Decor + In-home Session = Dream
If you’ve been around here awhile, you know I love decor almost as much as I love photography!
So, when I had the opportunity to photograph a Fixer Upper Family in a Fixer Upper House, I jumped on it! On the third day of The Reset Conference, we could sign-up for mentoring session or shoots. I did two shoots – one with Sabrina Gebhardt (see it HERE) and this one with Erin Dorsey.
Erin actually stayed in this Fixer Upper house because it’s now an Airbnb! It is a gorgeous house with so much character, but it’s dark. Dark walls and not a lot of windows. But, that’s what made this session so great – it was real life!
I know one of the things my clients worry about is that their house is too dark. But I promise you if your house has windows and a front door, I can find the light!
Fixer Upper Family of Six
The Whyte family was amazing to work with. Rachel is a photographer, so her kids (all four of them!) know how to act in-front of a camera. They were crazy cooperative and “on” the whole time. But, let me stress that this is not the norm when working with kids. Kids (especially little ones) usually aren’t this cooperative. And let me repeat…that is NORMAL! Kids are kids.
Erin started with the Whytes in the kitchen. Again, the kitchen was dark. There were only two windows plus there were dark cabinets. But by positioning in the right way, there was light!
Ok, and can we talk about the kitchen? The whole space was stunning – Joanna Gaines knows what she’s doing! Blue cabinets with marble countertops and touches of natural wood. Gorgeous!
One of my favorite set-ups was on the stairs in the home. There was a big picture window that brought in plenty of light, but also created beautiful shadows. To me shadowy images look stunning in black and white, so you better believe I converted some of them to black and white.
The staircase was tucked in the corner of the dining room with a fireplace and a piano – yes, you guessed it, everything was dark! Thankful for that picture window!
At this point, we had run out of spots in the house, so Erin took us all outside. This was about 10:45am, so the sun was high and bright! But, it worked because the house created some shade on the back side. We helped move some furniture and shot against the brick fireplace, which added some great texture!
The kids were comfortable and being themselves at this point. Running in and out and being silly. And I got some priceless images!
The thing to remember about light, I’ll place you in the best spots and put you where I want you. Then I step back and let the goodness unfold…sort-of – I also give you prompts and things to do! Tickles and the telephone game are two of my favorites.
The Fixer Upper Session was a perfect example of making an in-home session work even in a dark space with a big family! And I promise your whole session won’t be in black and white, but I loved all the contrast and couldn’t help myself!
Are you interested in a family session? I’d love to be your photographer!
