There is something really lovely about photographing a family at home, especially when there is a new baby and a toddler involved.

Not because it is always calm and perfectly organised — because, let’s be honest, it usually isn’t — but because home gives everyone space to be themselves. There is room for feeds, outfit changes, toddler negotiations, baby spew clean-ups, snack breaks, car demonstrations, and all the little real-life moments that come with this season.

I recently photographed Kirsten and Brandon at their home in Swan Point with their two boys, Harvey and Morgan. Their home is on a beautiful property down by the river, and it was such a lovely setting for relaxed in-home newborn and family photos.

Morgan was two months old, Harvey was around two and a half, and the whole session had that very familiar new-baby-and-toddler rhythm: a little bit beautiful, a little bit chaotic, and completely worth it.

Kirsten and Brandon have two gorgeous little boys — Harvey and baby Morgan.

Harvey is at that very fun, very busy toddler age where you cannot really rush him into anything. You have to meet him where he is, make things feel like a game, and work with whatever tiny window of cooperation appears.

Luckily, when I arrived, I had the perfect chance to do exactly that.

Kirsten was sorting Morgan out after a bit of a spew situation — very normal newborn life — so I had some time to hang out with Harvey before we started the family photos properly.

He showed me his cars, we played with them for a little while, and I slowly started photographing him without making a big deal out of it. I could ask him about Lightning McQueen, take a couple of photos, go back to the cars, and then take a couple more.

For a two-and-a-half-year-old, he was actually beautifully easy to photograph on his own, which is not always the norm at that age. Usually toddlers are either suspicious, busy, deeply uninterested, or all three at once.

Harvey warmed up to me really quickly, and that made such a difference to the way the rest of the session flowed.

The session took place at Kirsten and Brandon’s home in Swan Point, down by the river. It was one of those properties where the setting already feels special before you even start taking photos.

In-home sessions are always a little different because they move with the family rather than the other way around. Especially with a new baby, you cannot force the session to follow a perfect plan.

Morgan needed feeding during the session. There was a little pause when he spat up on Brandon’s jumper. Harvey had moments where he was happy to be involved and moments where he absolutely had other plans.

All of that is incredibly normal.

When there is a toddler and a new baby, my first priority is always to get the most important combinations before everyone gets too worn out. I would love to create lots of variations straight away — different poses, different little moments, different versions of each family grouping — but sometimes that is just not how the session needs to work.

With Harvey, I knew I had to move quickly.

I started with the things that felt easiest. Harvey by himself. Harvey with Brandon while Kirsten and Morgan were still getting ready. Then once everyone was together, I worked through the key family combinations as gently and efficiently as possible.

We photographed each parent with each child, the whole family together, and the two boys together after a fair bit of negotiation on Harvey’s behalf.

There were cars involved. There was some bribery. There were breaks.

And honestly? That is often exactly how family photos with toddlers need to happen.

I would much rather give a toddler space, let them run around for a minute, and come back to something later than try to force them through it. You are not going to get lovely, relaxed photos from a child who feels trapped or pushed too far.

So we worked in little pieces.

Get one combination. Let Harvey have a break. Bring him back in. Try something else. Change the focus. Move quickly when he was ready, and step back when he needed a minute.

From the parent side of the camera, I know that can feel hectic. It can feel like nothing is working. It can feel like your toddler is not doing what they are “supposed” to do, the baby needs feeding again, someone has spew on them, and surely there is no way any good photos are happening.

But from my side of the camera, I can see the little moments that are working.

I can see the half-second where everyone comes together. I can see the tiny hand holding on. I can see the way a parent looks at their baby without even realising it. I can see the expression that appears in between all the busyness.

That is why I always make a point of reassuring parents at the end of a session when I know we have beautiful images. Because I know how different it can feel when you are living the chaos rather than photographing through it.

And this session absolutely worked.

Sometimes I like to remind parents that all I need is a fraction of a second to capture a moment. 1/125th of a second is literally all that it takes to take a photograph so it can feel like absolute chaos, but in those fractions of a second when everything comes together - I’m ready.

Some of my favourite images from this session were the quiet little newborn details.

Morgan’s tiny feet in Brandon’s hands.

His little fingers wrapped around Kirsten’s finger.

Those details change so quickly, and even though this was very much a family session as well as a newborn session, I always love making space for those close-up baby images when I can.

I also loved the images of Harvey and although you can’t see his cars, I know that they were just out of frame. The images were not overly posed or forced. They came from taking a little bit of time at the beginning of the session to connect with him first.

That is often the difference with toddlers.

Before you ask them to cuddle the baby, sit with Mum, stand with Dad, smile at the camera, and follow instructions from a person they met five minutes ago, they usually need to feel like you are not just there to boss them around.

Playing cars for a few minutes was not wasted time. It was what helped the rest of the session work.

The photos of the two boys together were also really special, especially because they took a bit of patience to get. Sibling photos with a toddler and a newborn can be tricky at the best of times, but they are always worth attempting. They do not need to be perfect. They just need to show this very real, very brief stage of life where one child is still tiny and the other is suddenly looking so grown up beside them.

And of course, the full family images were beautiful. Those are the photographs that pull everything together — Kirsten, Brandon, Harvey and Morgan all in one frame, at home, in this early chapter as a family of four.

At their viewing appointment, Kirsten and Brandon chose a framed collection of eight images, which has been a really popular option lately.

Their collection tells the story of the session beautifully.

The two large square images feature the whole family together. The two medium rectangles are individual portraits of the boys. Then the four smaller square images show each parent with each child.

I love this kind of layout because it gives space to everyone.

You get the full family together, which is always the heart of the collection, but you also get those smaller relationships within the family. Mum with each child. Dad with each child. Each boy on his own.

It is a really lovely way to create a wall collection that feels complete without needing every single image to be huge.

They also chose an IceMount strip with five square images arranged vertically. That piece included two images of each child, with an image of the two boys together in the middle.

I think that will be such a sweet addition alongside their framed collection — a little brother-focused piece that holds this exact stage of Harvey and Morgan together.

The Hill family’s session was such a good example of what in-home family photography with a toddler and new baby can actually look like.

It does not need to be perfectly smooth.

There can be feeds and breaks and spew and toddler negotiations. There can be moments where we move quickly, moments where we pause, and moments where we completely change direction because a two-year-old has very strong opinions.

That does not mean the session is not working.

It usually just means we are photographing real family life.

And when you have a new baby and a toddler, real family life is already full enough. You do not need to make it look calmer or more polished than it is. You just need someone who can work with it.

If you are thinking about family or newborn photos at home in Launceston or Northern Tasmania, especially with little children, please know that your session does not need to be perfectly behaved to be beautiful.

We can take it slowly, work around your children, and create photographs that feel like this season of your family — not a pretend version of it.