Play Sessions
Let them play.
I'll do the rest.
Candid photography for kids in Vancouver. Ninety minutes somewhere your child is comfortable, with no need to look at the camera and no need to sit still.
How this one works
The session is built around your child, not around a shot list.
Most children's photography asks for a moment of performance. Look here, hold still. Some children are delighted to do it, and for them a traditional portrait session is lovely. Others go stiff the moment a camera is pointed at them, and what you get back is a picture of a child being polite.
A play session works the other way round. We go somewhere your child already likes, they carry on doing what they were going to do anyway, and I photograph it from a comfortable distance. Nobody counts to three.
What comes back looks like them at this age, which tends to be what parents keep.
This is probably a good fit if
You want them, not their best behaviour
Photos of your child being themselves, rather than photos of a child doing as they were told.
They are happiest unobserved
Some children light up for a camera. Plenty of others go quiet, and this session is built for the second kind.
You want to remember this age
The way they run, what they do with their hands, the face they make when they are concentrating.
The day itself
What a session looks like
Pick a place
Somewhere your child already knows. A park you go to most weekends works better than a studio they have never seen, and your own home is often the easiest of all.
They play
I keep my distance and stay out of it. If your child wants to come over and look at the camera, that is welcome too. It just isn't something I ask for.
Ninety minutes
Long enough for a child to forget I am there, which usually takes about twenty. If anyone needs a snack or a break, we take one.
Delivery
Thirty retouched images within five business days, along with every unedited photo from the session so nothing gets left behind.
What that looks like in practice
The top half is me during a session, down on the ground a few steps away. The bottom half is the photograph that came out of that moment.
She was not asked to sit there and she was not asked to look up. She was spinning on a playground roundabout and I stayed far enough back that she stopped noticing.
Gallery
Nobody was asked to pose
Click any photo to view it full size.
Who comes along
Your child, and you if you would like to be in the photos.
Most parents do want to be in them, and the pictures are usually better when they are. The only thing I ask is that you play with your kid rather than pose with them. If you do that, you will end up in the photographs without either of us arranging it.
Siblings are welcome and often make the session easier, because they get each other going and forget about me faster.
Play session
$680
One family, one session
- About ninety minutes of photography
- One outdoor location in Greater Vancouver, or your home
- Thirty retouched images
- Every unedited photo from the session
- Delivered within five business days
Worth knowing
This is not a posed family portrait session.
If what you have in mind is everyone in coordinated outfits looking at the camera at the same time, there are photographers in Vancouver who do that beautifully and I am glad to point you towards a few. It is a different craft, and it is worth booking someone who loves doing it.
I also keep these sessions to one family. Larger group photos with grandparents and cousins need a different kind of planning, so those are arranged separately.
Questions parents ask
Book a play session
Tell me your child's age and roughly when you would like to shoot. I'll get back to you within 24 hours.
English & 普通话 · Outdoors or at home · Vancouver, BC