Bare feet, a toddler with places to go, a very happy dog, and a summer morning by the water.
Meagan, Phil and Jack's family session at Cherry Beach was exactly the kind of family photography I love—relaxed, playful, a little unpredictable, and centred around simply spending time together.
We wandered between the beach and the wooded trails at Cherry Beach, letting Jack explore while their dog came along for the adventure. Rather than trying to keep a toddler still long enough to manufacture a collection of perfectly posed family portraits, we let him move, because that's what toddlers do. And often, that's where the best photographs are.
A Summer Family Session at Cherry Beach
Cherry Beach is one of my favourite locations for family photography in Toronto because it gives us so much room to explore.
Within a relatively small area, we can move between Lake Ontario, the beach, tall trees, grassy trails and pockets of beautiful light. For families with young children, all that space also means kids have somewhere to go.
Jack could walk along the trails, investigate things on the ground, play with his parents and spend time by the water. And Meagan and Phil could simply follow him.
Instead of repeatedly pulling Jack away from whatever interested him so we could “take a picture,” I photographed the three of them inside the experience they were already having.
We still made a few more traditional family portraits, of course, but the photographs I find myself drawn to are often the ones in between.
Family Photos With a Toddler
If you have a toddler, please don't worry about whether they'll cooperate for family photos. In fact, I don't particularly need them to. Toddlers aren't designed to stand in one spot, look directly into a camera and smile on command—and asking them to do it over and over tends to make everyone miserable. I'd much rather work with their curiosity. Let them walk, run, explore. Pick them up when they want to be held. Put them down when they don't. Play with them. Chase them. Cuddle them. My job is to follow along, offer some direction when we need it, and pay attention to what happens between you.
The goal isn't photographs of a perfectly behaved child. It's photographs that remind you who your child was at this age.
Bring the Dog
And yes—your dog is welcome too.
For many families, pets were part of the family long before children arrived. Leaving them out of family photographs can feel a little like leaving someone missing from the story.
Meagan and Phil brought their dog along, which made the session feel even more like an afternoon their family might actually spend together.
Did having a toddler and a dog make everything more controlled and predictable? Absolutely not. But controlled and predictable isn't really what I'm looking for. I'm looking for yours.
Documentary-Inspired Family Photography in Toronto
My approach to family photography falls somewhere between documentary and lifestyle photography.
I'll choose beautiful light, help you find places to interact and give you enough direction that you aren't wondering what you're supposed to be doing. But then I want things to unfold. I want Jack reaching for Meagan's hand. Phil scooping him up. The three of them laughing together. Their dog wandering into—or out of—the photograph whenever the mood strikes. The little exchanges that happen so automatically within a family that you may not even realize you're doing them. Those are the things I want to preserve. Because family photographs aren't only about documenting what everyone looked like.
They're about remembering how you were together.
The Photographs That Become More Important With Time
Young families change extraordinarily quickly. The child who needs to hold your hand to walk along the beach eventually runs ahead of you. The little body you carry without thinking becomes too heavy to pick up. The dog walking beside your toddler grows older too. The rhythms that currently define your family's everyday life quietly disappear and are replaced by new ones.
That's one of the reasons I believe so strongly in photographing families during ordinary chapters—not only for major milestones. You don't need to wait for everything to be perfect. You don't need perfectly coordinated outfits, perfectly behaved children or an elaborate reason to book a session.
Sometimes the reason is simply: This is what our family looks like right now, and someday I want to remember it.
For Meagan, Phil and Jack, this chapter looked like a sunny summer day at Cherry Beach, exploring beneath the trees and along the shores of Lake Ontario with their dog beside them.
And that's more than enough.
Looking for a family photographer in Toronto? I photograph families with a candid, documentary-inspired approach that makes room for movement, play, personality and all the wonderfully unscripted moments that make your family yours.
If you want family photographs that feel less like posing for a camera and more like spending some intentional time together, I'd love to document this chapter with you.