Cottage Life Family Session | Documentary Family Photography

Few things say family more than spending time with all the generations of parents and kids at the cottage. This cottage life family session was no different. The Bird family, who I have photographed before asked me to come out to the family cottage in honour of Dad’s 80th birthday. I showed up (by boat!) and we made a little plan that went something like this; “can you mostly just shoot us doing our thing in a candid way?” Yes. Yes, I can! As a photojournalist, it is alway a treat to be set free to document things as they happen, but as a family man myself, I do see value in the posed family portrait too. We made a couple of those and then I got back to shooting the natural smiles and laughter that came about during conversation in the boat, on the dock and around the lunch table.

In true cottage fashion, there was no rush. There was a meal around a big table, there were drinks and lots of laughing. And, with the calm in the air, I was able to take each of the three couples away from the scene for a few minutes to make some portraits of each of them. Because, why not!

Speaking of taking it slow and just enjoying the surroundings, the family’s matriarch is an artist and has a small studio space tucked into one of the bunkies on the property. She welcomed me into her space and we snapped a few photos of her in her element. What a treat to be welcomed into this lovely family to witness all the little things that make them who they are.