Riley Family | Unscripted Moments Session | Carmel, IN | Indianapolis Family Photographer

I’m so excited to offer a new photography session type – I’m calling it, the Unscripted Moments Session.

I started to photograph my own children in more of a documentary style – instead of always trying to get them to smile at the camera and pose – to perform – I try to capture the moments when they’re deep in play and authentically themselves, the magic of their childhood that I want to remember forever. So then, I became inspired to provide that same type of documentary style, of memory-keeping, to other families.

What is the difference between a traditional family & lifestyle session and an unscripted moments session?

For a traditional family & lifestyle session,

We might meet at a park or some other beautiful space, I’ll provide guided poses that lead to playful candid moments. This is the type of session that I’ve been doing for some time now, and will continue to do.

For an unscripted moments session,

We’ll chat before about what you love to do together as a family – games & hot cocoa by the fire, baking, playing in your backyard, gardening together, getting ice-cream, going to the pool, or maybe it’s a morning at home with your newborn. In these sessions, we let go of poses, we let go of saying cheese and bribing kids to smile, we let go of perfection. We create space for play, connection, authenticity, love, and the magic of childhood. There isn’t too much guidance from me – I’ll be there to photograph those beautiful moments together, the moments when you wish time would stand still.  

There’s space for both of these session types to shine, and they both have their individual beauty.

I spent a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon with the Riley family - it was playful, cozy, relaxed, and beautiful to capture these sweet moments together. They started with making tea and hot cocoa, then dad + daughter built a fire together (and showed me the Nantucket knot!), followed by bananagrams, starwars, and fancy hair clips. The session moved into “get some pictures of me on my new hoverboard!” These sessions organically flow - starting with activities they planned to do - into following what the kids come up with. It’s truly magical.