Combining Fun, Candid Lifestyle Family Photos With Classic Family Portraits In The Detroit Area

Looking for a seriously fun family photography session? Want great family photos, but dreading the stress? Worried your family will fall apart on you at your family session? No worries! You're my type of family. All the things you're worried about are what make you unique and what will make your personalities shine through. I combine the fun and relaxation of candid, lifestyle photography while making sure I cover the bases with the classic family portraits you'll want to print. This is going to be a fun family adventure and keeping things fun and light is part of what makes the experience with me unique.

Blending Classic Family Photography With Lifestyle Candid Moments.

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"Marci. These are INCREDIBLE. I couldn't have asked for more. Thank you so so so so so much for your talent and patience; there's no second time for first family photos and you nailed these! We will be forever grateful, and you will always be the first person we call when we want to document a life event. Truly, you are WONDERFUL." Kristin, repeat client

Seriously Fun Family Photography

Family photos come in all sorts of styles. Very few of my clients want strictly a "lifestyle" photography session (and most don't know what that is!). Most want something sort of traditional that they can frame, but they don't want something stiff or that will result in lots of stress and whining (adults included). So why not do the best of both worlds? I try to combine fun, personality driven photos that you will want to frame. They are little peeks behind the curtain of your life at that exact moment.

If nobody is having fun, why are we doing this? So let's have some fun, let's do a few activities that you know everyone in the family likes to do and capture it while it happens. We'll do some standard poses (and more if you're a larger group or if playing is just NOT your thing). I try to keep things like and fun and moving right along. This really is about capturing your family dynamic in all it's glory.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind for scheduling. I shoot portraits M-TH only. I know, I KNOW that's tough on families. I shoot weddings almost every weekend and often have two. I have a REALLY quick turn around time for all my photography and to keep that turn around time (which you all LOVE), that means I need to block off my weekends. If it makes you feel better, I work 7 days a week from April to December. So I'm not lolly gagging with my family on weekends. I have afternoon and evening appointments available and can shoot up until an hour before sunset, so usually that works for just about everyone with grueling work hours and terrible commutes!

Another thing to keep in mind is the season. EVERYBODY wants fall (aka leaves, color, holiday cards). Leaves around here usually turn around Oct. 6th, but every year is different. It might be a GREAT year and we may get a wind storm that knocks them all of on Oct. 7th. Wish I could control Mother Nature, but she's very erratic. So we can try. But think about the temps and your family's tolerance for temperature. Families often do not come prepared to be outside for an hour. Their kids are dressed up, but with no regard to outer clothes. Cold kids are MISERABLE kids, so please dress them accordingly or pick a season that matches their cute clothes.

Lots of clients get hung up on location. Great family photos are not about great locations. It's about great relationships, great expressions and great connections. I personally try to find great light and as non cluttered as possible backgrounds. I have my favorite places to go (listed on my locations page that showcase a variety of locations (urban, country, parks, streams, etc.) where we are welcome to be, where it is free and I can get the best variety of images within an hour's shoot. If you are looking for your own unique location (and you have permission to be there), you will need to book a two hour shoot as I will need to block out that afternoon for your family session.

Pick the package that's best for you!

OPTION #1

$450 - 1 hour photo shoot.

- This works really well for almost all of my family shoots. Not too many families can last longer than an hour to be perfectly frank!

OPTION #2

$800 - 2 hour photo shoot.

- This is perfect for families that want to combine a session with another session (like a senior shoot, or a newborn shoot) and this is the option you need to choose if you want a totally unique location to you.

- Both packages include all the edited, high resolution digital files and the following...

Online gallery with your images posted for a year.

You can print from a professional lab connected to my site.

Free downloads included.

So long as you enjoy the heck out of them, that's all I ask!

If you'd like to see samples of my children and kids photography sessions, please check out that page!

© Marci Curtis