Why I Stopped Chasing Perfect Family Photos~ And What I Look for Instead

When I first started photographing families, I had this quiet pressure tucked in the back of my mind:
“Everyone needs to be smiling.
Everyone needs to be looking.
Everyone needs to look… perfect.”

I was hung up on recreating Pinterest-Perfect images~ the portraits I thought people wanted.

But here’s the thing.
Perfection doesn’t hold life.
Connection does.

And the photos that I loved? They weren’t the picture-perfect, fake smiles, traditional poses. They were the silly ones, the playful ones, the sweet ones.
The photos that made me feel something, those were the ones that stayed with me long after I left the session, not the ones where everyone was posed just right.

They were the pictures full of movement, laughter, wild toddler energy, soft forehead kisses, and tiny hands gripping Momma in a hug.

They were the real ones.

And part of why that’s become so important to me is personal.

A few years ago, my dad passed away unexpectedly.
And the photos I hold most dear now?
They weren’t posed or planned. They were from a simple, impromptu session—when he was with my son, playing, laughing, just being.

Those are the kinds of moments that mean more with time.
The ones that remind me: real matters more than perfect.

That realization shifted everything for me. I realized that moms who wanted family sessions were moms like me~ we want to be in the pictures, we want our kids to remember that we loved them, we played with them, and we took joy in their childhood.

I stopped aiming for perfect smiles and started looking for real stories—the kind your kids will actually remember. The way you scooped them up when they tripped. The moment your partner reached for your hand. The joy. The chaos. The connection.

This shift meant so much to me that I shared my heart about it recently in an interview with CanvasRebel Magazine.
To be recognized not just for my work, but for why I do it—that means the world.

But honestly? I see that “why” in every single session.
I see it in the way families breathe when they realize they don’t have to perform. When they realize their kids can be themselves, not put on an act in front of a camera.

That’s the space I want to create.

So if you’ve ever walked away from a photo session wondering if your kids behaved, if you were awkward, or if it was “enough”…

I just want to say:
It was.
You were.
You are.

Thanks for letting me keep telling stories like this. I don’t take it for granted.
And if you’re new here, welcome. My door (and my lens) are always open.

P.S. You can read the full feature here: Canvas Rebel – Meet Carissa Photopoulos

~Carissa