Northern Virginia Lifestyle Family Photography

I look forward to photographing this family each year. Some examples of the sessions we have done together include newborn, 6 month, and 1 year photos. I’m so grateful for families that return each year to document how their families grow.

This blog post includes information about lifestyle family photography with two young children!

If you have two young children you know that it might be a little unrealistic to have super high expectations of how the children will act on the day of their session. Children often have their own agenda and it’s not unusual for them to want to explore a little bit during an outdoor family session.

As a Northern Virginia family and newborn photographer, Tabitha Maegan Photography offers laid back sessions for families that are looking to embrace the “right now” even when it feels chaotic.

At the beginning of each lifestyle family session I find it helpful to take the family portraits with everyone close. When possible, I love when the parents are holding onto the little ones. We only get a few years when they are this age so I make sure to tell parents to hold them for a few photos!

If the children aren’t really interested in the posed portraits of the family, we move onto another idea. Instead of forcing smiles, we go with the flow and embrace their feelings and emotions (within reason).

We spent some time getting portraits of each of the boys. Portraits of children can include them standing or sitting and looking at the camera and smiling, but portraits can also look like a child not wanting to leave their mother’s arms because they feel safe. We will make it work! They are both portraits and both beautiful.

During outdoor family photo sessions in the Northern Virginia area, it’s important to know that kids will explore, they might get fussy, they might laugh uncontrollably, but I guarantee one thing you’ll have a chance to present with your little one.

There’s usually time during the family session when children want to be with a preferred parent or want to play a game. These types of interactions create genuine connection and emotions. As your family photographer, one of my jobs is to document those moments. For you, for your children. For this moment in time.

It’s such an honor meeting new families and seeing families return. I get to play with the kids, talk with the parents, and help to photograph this moment in time.

I find that when parents and children are more relaxed during the session, we get the best family photos.

Can you imagine what a session of your family would look like?

Send me a message and let me know ideas you have for your family photos and we can take a look at our schedules!

Family Photos in Old Town Alexandria

Do you want to know one of the most fun parts of my job as a Washington DC Newborn & Family Photographer? Getting to see how big the family has grown since the last session! I photographed this family for the first time for an in home newborn session and they came back to celebrate 6 months with this little one!

We changed up the location and had the family session in Old Town Alexandria.

Old Town Alexandria is filled with several amazing locations, cobblestone, texture, trees, beautiful homes, and water. We found some fun areas that made the perfect backdrop for these family photos.

Related Blog Posts:

Family Session of 3 - Old Town Alexandria

In Home DC Newborn Photography

Scroll to the bottom to get a peek at some photos from the family’s newborn session!

Are you expecting or have you just had a baby? Send me a message to learn more about scheduling a lifestyle newborn session.

What I want you to know about a newborn session with a toddler

So you have a toddler, and you just had a new baby. And you want to book a newborn session. Now what?

So glad you found me, I’m a lifestyle family and newborn photographer in Washington, DC and lifestyle newborn sessions are my jam!

When a family contacts me to book a newborn sessions, sometimes I get questions like - will you take portraits of the baby? Will you photograph my other child? What if my baby is awake? When should we schedule? I wrote a little blog post here for you called Frequently Asked Questions Newborn Session questions and it’s linked there!

Related Blog Posts:

• In home newborn session | Bethesda Maryland

• Family of three newborn session | Washington DC

In this blog post, there are a few things I want you to know about your newborn session with a toddler.

Newborn sessions are flexible

I don’t have super high expectations for toddlers, especially when they are competing for their parent’s attention. If the toddler needs time to warm up, we will start with photos of your newborn and then give the toddler time to get interested.

And vice versa if the newborn is needing comfort I will start with portraits of the toddler. There’s always something special to photograph during your lifestyle session!

If the baby is comfortable and happy, we will take portraits of the baby. Does your baby prefer to be held? That’s okay too - I’ll have you hold baby while I get family photos and portraits of the baby in your arms.

I will engage with your toddler to get their trust!

I don’t ever want your toddler to think that the session is about the baby. As a lifestyle photographer, I focus on the whole family. I will introduce myself to your toddler and usually ask them to show me their room or some of their favorite toys. And I’m not above singing children’s songs to get them excited.

Sometimes it’s helpful to give the toddler a job such as getting a blanket, or showing their toy to their sibling.

Photos from your newborn session should be natural

Some families are quiet and cuddly, some families are busy and playful. Sometimes the baby wants to eat a lot and sometimes the baby wants to sleep a lot. Sometimes the older one is having a bit of hard time. These sessions are so important as well as powerful.

Your photos will be a natural representation of what happened during your session. If your toddler wants absolutely nothing to do with the camera, we certainly won’t be making your child sit and smile. BUT if they want to be held, I will photograph them with family members. We can’t photograph what didn’t happen!

Newborn sessions are a bit longer than a family session

A lot of the time the newborn will need to feed or be comforted during the session so we allocate around 1.5-2 hours for these shoots. I find it gives us more time to go with the flow and not rush things. It also gives more time to give attention to play with the toddler!

We can’t guarantee any of those “pinterest inspiration” photos (but we can try)

Once your session is confirmed, you will complete a brief questionnaire for me to learn more about your family, names of family members, etc. If there are any photo ideas you have in mind, we will definitely try to get them, however these can’t be guaranteed. Sometimes the newborn and toddler will absoloutely not allow it. BUT good news is we will get very special photos of your family that might not be able to be replicated by another family. Cool right?

If you’re doing this session at home, there are several amazing areas to use!

This can be your toddler’s room, the baby’s room, the kitchen, living room, and/or playroom! For these, we spent a lot of time in the master room, nursery, family room, and we finished the session outside.

Your home is so special and it might not look the same way in 5 years.

Let’s start telling your story!

Are you ready to schedule a family session?

Colorful Family Photos in Blagden Alley DC

I was contacted by this family because they were traveling into DC from out of state and they wanted to book a family session.

I’m so happy they reached out to me and had a vision for this family session at Blagden Alley in DC!

There are so many spots for family photos at Blagden Alley. I love the brick walls, the murals and the urban feel to the photos. The kids didn’t take long at all to warm up. It’s so fun getting to know families and engaging with them to make families more comfortable in front of the camera. I will admit I too need a little bit of prompting and guidance to be comfortable in front of the camera.

When you book a lifestyle family session, the goal is to capture your family in a natural way. The session will NOT be spent getting everyone to look at the camera for all of the photos because that can get a little boring and it’s not unique to your family.

As your DC family photographer, I will help pose and guide your family to play and have fun. If you’re comfortable and happy with your family, you will love the photos in your gallery because you will look relaxed and happy in the photos. That’s the great thing about lifestyle family photography!

Do you have any questions about booking your lifestyle family session?

Send me a message to learn more!

Family of Four Spring Photos in Bethesda Maryland

Do you want to know one thing that will excite a small business owner? Referrals!!! This was my first time photographing this family and they were sent to me from another small business owner and I am so so appreciative of both.

I was kept busy by the boys at this family session and I think because of their energy we got some really amazing images that really show the family’s connection and dynamics and that’s always what I want to capture when I am photographing a family. I know when families come to me, they want genuine connection and laid back sessions. And look what kinds of images we create together!

When was the last time your family was photographed? I think at the very least your family deserves family photos once a year. Send me a message if you have any questions about booking your next family session!

Photos I like to take at each Family Session | Maryland Family Photographers

So you want to take family photos, that’s great! I’m so glad you’ve made it here on my website. I’m Tabitha and I’m a family and newborn photographer in the DC area. I offer lifestyle family sessions that are joyful and connected.

It’s so important to me to document your family in a way that is organic and accurate. You would be surprised how many photos I can take within the hour of your family session. Sometimes we even do it in less than an hour! There are several different photos I like to take at each family session because I think it helps to have a variety of images in your gallery. Maybe you want to print the photos, maybe you want to put them in an album! Kids can be unpredictable so I don’t guarantee any specific images in your final gallery, but here’s a general flow of what your family session with me will be like.

Keep reading if you want to see all of the photos I like to take at each family session.

your family engaged & connected

I will guide you all to interact with each other. This can mean hugging, being close, singing a song, or doing an activity specific to your family.

a “money shot” photo

Some families do want 1 or 2 photos of everyone looking at the camera. Whether this specific “money shot” is for the grandparents or the holiday card, it’s best to take this one at the beginning of the session just in case the children lose interest.

portraits of each child

I think it’s important to take a few minutes to get photos of each child. I will talk to the children, play, sing, and do whatever it takes to make them relaxed and eliciting a natural expression. Sometimes the portraits will be the young child in their parents arms too. It can still be a beautiful portrait even if the little one just wants to be held in their parent’s arms.

sibling shot

Sibling shots can be tricky so I don’t have really high expectations for these. Of course it’s great to have them looking at the camera, but I don’t sweat it if they don’t. After all I’m not looking for picture perfect sibling shots here. I’m a lifestyle family photographer. It’s more important to document your family and focus on the emotions and interactions, whatever that might look like for your family.

each parent with children

We definitely want to get each parent with the children to document the relationship, however silly, playful, or loving the relationship is.

parents

We can’t forget about the parents! I usually do these at the end once I know I’ve gotten the rest of the photos with the children.

extras

There are definitely going to be moments and cute things that happen throughout, or maybe these happen at the end.

When you book a lifestyle session with me you aren’t limited to picking your favorite 5 or 10 images. You’ll receive all of the images that best represent the family connection at your family session. I don’t like to put away my camera until I get to my car because funny moments can happen at the very end of the session!

There you have it! I can’t wait to photograph your family!

Outdoor Newborn Photography | Maryland Newborn Photographers

We are still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and it has been really hard to be able to feel normal and safe with things that we would typically be enjoying. Most corporations are working remotely and small business are trying to find safe ways to remain open and in business for their clients. Our county in Maryland has lifted some restrictions and allowing photographers to be able to work from a safe distance, which is great and that means you can get those updated family photos you’ve been meaning to get! I’ve seen so much online about parents feeling like they aren’t able to get a newborn session scheduled, and I think that’s how it used to be because now is the perfect time to schedule your newborn session outdoors! Be sure to follow the guidelines of your county and state prior to booking your photographer!

So what exactly does an outdoor newborn session look like?

An outdoor newborn session looks really similar to you guessed it - an in home newborn session! I had a long lens that allowed me to remain at a safe distance from the family while also wearing a mask to keep everyone safe! I typically provide newborn sessions inside of the home, but due to wanting to be in a more open space, this family’s backyard in Maryland was the perfect area to photograph their family. I photographed mama, dad, and big sister last fall and was so excited when they contacted me again to document their growing family. Baby boy was 8 days new and was so snuggly and calm!

I wanted to capture portraits of the entire family as well as ones of each parent with each child and of course portraits of the newborn.

If you’ve ever had a lifestyle newborn session you know that the session is baby led. although we have poses in mind, we pretty much have to go with the flow of the baby’s needs.

This little guy was asleep at the beginning of the session so we started with family portraits and portraits of the parents with him. Big sister didn’t want to be left out and you can see how adorable those photos came out when she was noticing her baby brother’s tiny feet! We moved onto taking portraits of baby brother and he was so calm! We had to take a couple of nursing breaks for the hungry baby boy and I typically like to continue shooting during these “down” times. These are relaxed moments where I wasn’t guiding the family to pose or interact. They did it themselves! At the very end of the session we were still doing well with time and had gotten a variety of photos of all family members and we took a few photos of baby boy in sentimental clothing.

Are you interested in booking an outdoor newborn session in the DC area? Send me a message!

What Should I Wear for my Family Photo Session?

I get this question often! What should we wear for family photos? When you’re picking out what you want your family to wear for family photos I always like to suggest a few things you can do.

The first thing I will note is that I am a lifestyle family photographer so what’s most important to me is that you enjoy your session and the photos are able to show what your family connection feels like, not necessarily a photo of everyone dressed perfectly and looking at the camera.

With that being said, I do feel that there is some strategy that comes along with outfit choices.

Keep reading to see what to wear at your family photo session:

Keep these tips in mind and you can dress as dressy or casual as you’d like!

1. be comfortable

   Dress comfortable! If you have little ones, you’ll be carrying them and moving around to play with them and I want you to be comfortable! Comfortable to you can mean a dress for you Mama, or it can simply be a cute top and jeans (or shorts!). I would suggest dressing with the season so that you’re nice and comfortable and not too hot or too cold.

2. start with mom’s outfit

   I usually recommend starting with an outfit that Mom feels and looks great wearing. Once Mom is good to go, see if your family members have clothes with colors that compliment the colors in your outfit. For example, if you’re wearing a patterned dress, you can have your family members wear choices that bring out the colors in your dress.

3. coordinate, not match

   Your lifestyle family session isn’t a formal - let’s all go to a studio and dress alike - everyone look the same - session. Be you!

   Simply use colors that go together such as different shades of the same color or complimentary colors that are opposites on the color wheel. We aren’t going to be all wearing those white tees and matching khaki pants here. Add some more interesting clothing choices than that! I promise your photos will look much better when your outfit choices coordinate and look arranged but not matchy matchy.

4. stay away from large logos & “screen tees”

   Unless you’re going for a specific look/theme for your photos, please stay away from wearing shirts with large logos or screen / character tees. This can sometimes date the photos and won’t look as great for the professional look of family photos. It is probably best to stick with solids and prints for your session.

5. add pops of color

   I love love love color and it’s pretty obvious on my website and when you see my work! If you have some items in your wardrobe with a little bit of color definitely go with that! It helps to make the photo more interesting and helps to add layers and variety to the photo.

6. add a mix of texture & pattern

   I would change things up and have one or two of your family members in a different texture or pattern than you. This can mean someone in your family wearing plaid and another member wearing something a little more simple. Think about what you already have in your wardrobe and lay out everything before your session to see how it all looks together.

I have also put together this Pinterest Board in case you need more What to Wear ideas! I hope this is helpful!

Send me a message to schedule your family session!