There’s something about summer slipping into fall in the Lehigh Valley, that makes family photos feel extra meaningful. The golden hour that slowly turns into changing leaves, and cozy moments together create the perfect backdrop for documenting this season of life. As a parent myself and the owner of Sunday June Photo Co., I spend these months capturing growing families, little personalities, expecting parents, and all the craziness in-between.
Whether you are planning your first maternity session or this is your first summer with a toddler. I want you to know one thing: your family does not need to be perfect to be photographed beautifully.
The families you see in galleries and on social media? They are real families too. Toddlers have meltdowns. Babies need breaks. Kids run wild. Parents feel stressed trying to make everything go perfectly. And honestly? That’s normal.
As we head into another busy season of family and maternity sessions across the Lehigh Valley, here are my top three tips for parents preparing for photos with babies, toddlers, and young children.
Do Not Stress
Easier said than done. I know.
As parents, we naturally put pressure on ourselves for family photos to go perfectly. We worry about whether the kids will behave, whether everyone will smile, whether the baby will cooperate, or whether we’ll feel confident in front of the camera.
But truly, your only job is to get dressed and get to the location.
That’s it.
I promise you do not need to carry the pressure of making your children perform for the camera. I have a toddler myself. Before your session, we can chat on activities to do. Bubbles worked for my 21 month old, she cried in the parking lot after we ran out of bubbles, butttt we got the photos!
Real life candid photos mean more than posed ones
Of course we’ll grab those classic “everyone smiling at the camera” portraits. Those images matter too. But when it comes to young children, the photo magic usually happens with real interactions.
The hand-holding.
The running.
The giggles.
The cuddles.
The snack breaks.
The way your child reaches for you without thinking.
Children are meant to move. Expecting little ones to all look at the camera at the same exact moment and smile perfectly the entire session just isn’t always realistic and not real life.
As a Lehigh Valley, Lehighton and Palmerton area photographer I have location recommendations that allow your children to run free, free of distractions and full of room to enjoy an evening with you.
Give yourself grace
When you receive your gallery, I know there’s a chance your first instinct might be to critique yourself. Or if you're like me, hate the way you look, your double chins from laughing to hard, or your hair that you should have touched up.
But I can almost guarantee something from experience:
Go back and look at those photos again in a few weeks, months, or years.
When you revisit them later, you won’t see every little flaw you pointed out originally. You’ll see your baby’s tiny hand in yours. You’ll see the way your toddler looked at you during a sunset walk. You’ll see that little person who grew up in a blink of eye.
And when your children grow older, they won’t care about the things you criticized about yourself. They’ll care that you were there. That you existed in photos with them.
