How I Actually Work (And Why It Probably Looks Different Than You’d Expect)

If you’ve ever had a family photo session that felt like herding cats while someone told you to smile, I want to start by saying: that’s not what this is.

I’ve been doing this long enough to know that the best photographs almost never happen when everyone is looking at the camera. They happen in the in-between moments. The moment after the instruction, not during it. The moment when your kid forgets I’m there. The moment when you look at each other instead of at me.

That’s what I’m trying to catch. And the way I work is built entirely around creating the conditions for those moments to happen.

FIRST

I Meet You Before I Photograph You

When you arrive, I’m not going to immediately lift my camera. We’re going to walk for a minute. Let the kids explore. Talk. Shake off whatever the drive over was like.

This is not wasted time. This is the whole thing. Kids warm up to me when I’m just a person, not a photographer. By the time I do pick up the camera, I’m already not a stranger. And that changes everything about how they move, how they look, how they let themselves be seen.

I’ll have read your pre-session check-in, so I already know a little about what’s going on in your world this week. I know who’s shy and who’s going to try to perform for me. I know what to ask about to get a real reaction. I show up prepared to meet your specific family — not a generic version of one.

DURING

I Direct Feeling, Not Poses

I’m not going to tell you where to put your hands. I might tell you to walk toward me, or to whisper something in your daughter’s ear, or to try to tickle someone without getting caught. I might ask your son what the most disgusting thing he’s ever eaten is. I might challenge your kid to a race.

What I’m doing — always — is trying to get you out of your head and into the moment. Because the moment your brain stops monitoring itself and you actually start *being with your people*, that’s when your face does something true. And true is so much more beautiful than posed.

There will be some structure. I’ll guide us through different groupings — the whole family together, just the kids, just the two of you, individuals if we have time. But within that structure, I’m always watching for what’s real rather than arranging what’s perfect.

THE KIDS

I Work With Them, Not Around Them

I’ve been doing this long enough to know you cannot force a child to cooperate, and trying to is where sessions fall apart. What you can do is make it genuinely fun for them — and that’s entirely my job, not yours.

Let me take that off your plate. You do not need to manage your kids during our session. You don’t need to remind them to smile, or pull them back into frame, or apologize when they run the wrong direction. I have built my entire approach around working with exactly the children in front of me — the wild ones, the quiet ones, the deeply suspicious ones who need fifteen minutes before they’ll make eye contact.

Some of my favorite photographs have come from the most chaotic sessions. A toddler who refused to cooperate and then dissolved into giggles when I made a truly terrible sound effect. A six-year-old who spent twenty minutes convinced I was “the most boring person in the world” and then couldn’t stop laughing. Chaos, in my experience, is usually just energy looking for somewhere to go.

The outtakes from your session will probably make you laugh just as much as the keepers. That’s a feature, not a bug.

THE RESULT

Pictures That Feel Like You

I’m not chasing a look. I’m not trying to recreate something I saw on Pinterest or reproduce a style that’s trending this season. I’m trying to make photographs that, when you look at them ten years from now, feel undeniably like *this* — this season of your life, this version of your family, this particular age your kids were right now.

The sticky fingers and the gap-toothed smile and the way your little one still reaches for your hand. The way your family laughs. The way you are with each other when no one is performing.

That’s what I’m after. And I’ve found that the families who come in having let go of the expectation of perfection — who show up ready to just be together for an hour — always leave with their favorites.

If you have questions about what to expect or want to talk through anything before your session, I’m always just an email away. I love the conversation that happens before we ever meet — it’s part of how I make sure your session actually feels like *yours*.

With warmth,

Martina

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What You’ll Probably Notice About My Sessions

Every family photographer works a little differently, and I think it helps to know what you can actually expect when you show up.

Here’s what most families notice pretty quickly when we’re working together:

• There’s usually a lot of walking — and we follow the light, the space, and whatever is keeping your kids most engaged.
• Kids are encouraged to explore, move, and just be themselves instead of sitting still and performing.
• We laugh — a lot more than most people expect we will.
• I rarely ask anyone to look at the camera for very long at all.
• The best moments almost always happen in between the “official” photos — when everyone relaxes and forgets about the camera for a minute.

There’s no pressure to get everything perfect. The goal is simply to let your family interact the way you already do, so I can quietly step in and preserve it as honestly as possible.