Most people arrive at their session a little bit nervous. Some arrive a lot nervous.

They've spent weeks thinking about outfits, and whether the kids will cooperate, and whether they should have lost a few kilos first, and whether they're going to look stiff and awkward in every single photo.

If that's you, you're not doing anything wrong, you're just being a normal human who's never had a stranger point a camera at them before.

So let me pull back the curtain. Here's what a session with me is actually like. Not the polished version. The real one.

First, the bit nobody says out loud

I'm not going to spend our time together silently clicking a shutter and barking instructions at you.

That's not how I work, and honestly, it's not how good photos happen.

I talk. I chat. I ask questions. I want to know how you met, what your toddler is currently obsessed with, how the pregnancy has been treating you, and whether your four-year-old has decided that this week she only answers to Princess Elsa.

By the time we're ten minutes in, I'm not a stranger with a camera anymore. I'm just the woman following your family around a park in Rouse Hill, talking far too much.

That matters more than any lens or any editing afterwards. When you're comfortable, it shows in the photos. When you're not, that shows too.

I'll be telling you about my kids while we play with yours

If we're doing a family session, I'm not standing back watching you parent. I'm in it with you.

I'll be down on the grass. I'll be making silly noises. I'll be chasing your toddler around so that when he runs back to you laughing, I'm already in the right spot to catch it. I'll be bringing my spacial bubble gun, or stickers, or showing them where the 'good' flowers are to pick.

And while we do that, I'll be telling you about my own children. About my busy toddler and my baby. About the phase we're in right now, and how I've decided that crumbs on the floor are simply a permanent feature of my kitchen.

This isn't small talk to fill the silence. It's me saying, "I'm in it too. I know how this goes."

The reassurance you didn't know you needed

Here's the part I didn't expect when I started photographing families.

Somewhere in the middle of most sessions, a mum will say something quiet. Something like "I feel like I'm not doing any of this very well", or "I don't think I'm a very good mum today."

And I get to say the thing I genuinely mean.

It's hard. And you're doing a good job.

Not a perfect job. Nobody's doing a perfect job. But I can see it plainly from where I'm standing, holding the camera. I see the way you check whether she's warm. The way you smile the second he looks at you. The way you get down on the floor for the hundredth time today.

I see it because I'm looking at it through a lens. And I'll show you what I see.

So if you come to your session and the house is a mess and the kids are feral and you nearly cancelled, come anyway. You'll leave with more than photos.

What actually happens, start to finish

Before the session. We talk about what you want the photos for: the occasion, the milestone, the wall, the album, the grandparents at Christmas. We choose a location together, somewhere in the Hills District that fits your family, and I'll help you with what to wear.

When you arrive, I have a plan. Not a script, a plan. I know the light, I know roughly where we'll start, and I know the shots I'm aiming for. You don't need to know any of that. You just need to show up.

During, we walk, we play, we chat. I'll guide you gently through the whole thing. If you feel awkward, I'll tell you exactly where to put your hands and it'll be over in three seconds.

After, I go home and I am so excited about seeing your photos, I choose a few favourites and send them off as a sneak peek. When I have looked through all of them and chosen the best ones and the ones that tell a story, I edit them properly. The colours, the light, all of it. Then your gallery lands in your inbox after about 4 weeks.

You don't have to have it all together

I promise you I have never once looked at a family mid-session and thought "wow, she's got it all figured out."

That family doesn't exist. Every single one I've photographed has been a bit chaotic, a bit tired, and a bit in love. That's the actual recipe.

So please don't wait until the house is tidy, or the weight is off, or the kids are "old enough to behave." If you've been waiting for the perfect moment, let me gently tell you the truth: it doesn't arrive. You just decide that now is it.

What you'll walk away with

A gallery that feels like your family. Not a set of stiff, posed portraits where everyone looks like they're at a job interview.

Your toddler mid-laugh. Your baby's ridiculous grin. You and your partner looking at each other the way you did before the sleepless nights.

And a version of yourself you'll actually want to look at.

Ready when you are

If you're in the Hills District (Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, Kellyville, Rouse Hill, Beaumont Hills, Bella Vista, Dural, Glenhaven, North Kellyville and the surrounding areas), I'd love to photograph your family. Sessions outside the Hills District are welcome too, with a small travel fee if I need to travel more than 25km.

Come as you are. Bring the chaos. I'll bring the camera.