My story | Family photographer, Gordon Sydney

The über photography story

Hi, I'm Kate.

I'm a mum of three. Felix, Max and Millie. And for more than twenty years I've been photographing families on Sydney's North Shore.

über photography started in 2004. Chris, my husband at the time, had loved photography since the day we met, and I'd grown up in a family business, so the idea of running one from home while the kids were little really appealed to me. We'd both had corporate careers we enjoyed, but we wanted a different lifestyle and more time together as a family. The boys were five and three and I was pregnant with Millie. So we jumped.

The name came from Chris's German background. We had it well before Uber cars existed, just so you know. I wanted something simple and easy to remember, and über happens to mean the best of the best, so it stuck.

We started with a couple of friends' weddings and then it took off. For five years we photographed fifty weddings a year, in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Noosa, Fiji and Bali. Being trusted with someone's wedding day is a big thing and I never took it lightly.

I'd trained as a primary teacher, so when my brides started having babies and asking me to photograph their families, I said yes straight away. That was the moment it clicked for me. Telling the story of a family as it grows and changes is the thing I'm meant to do.

By 2009 all my kids were at school and something had to give. Weddings meant losing a full day every weekend. I was missing sport, missing the ordinary weekend stuff, missing them. So I stopped photographing weddings and went all in on families.

Then on 8 August 2011, everything changed.

Where I'm at now

I photograph families on my own now, from a 175sqm studio at Gordon with three big arch windows and a lot of light. It feels more like a home than a studio, which is deliberate. People relax faster in a room that feels like a room.

Around 2,500 families later, I still do this the same way. No stiff posing. No pretending your toddler is going to behave. Kids being kids, parents in the frame instead of behind the camera, and the dog up on the couch with everyone else, because the dog is family too.

Millie, the baby I was pregnant with when this all started, now works with me on the admin and social media. Lollie, my miniature dachshund, supervises. Some of the families I photographed in those first few years are still coming back, only now their babies are taller than me.

If getting family photos done has been on your list for a while, I'd love to hear from you.

Kate x

If you want the practical rundown on family photography in Sydney, pricing, process and all, I've put it in one place.

CHECK OUT OUR MODERN STUDIO SESSIONS

These are our most popular family sessions. These in our beautiful light filled space, with our simple props of our bed, fireplace and chairs

What if my kids won't sit still?

Here's the final copy with everything applied:

What if my kids won't sit still?

As a mum of three, I totally get that mums are nervous about how the kids are going to behave during their family's session.

Do you have the kind of kids that don't sit still even for a minute?

Do you try to go out for a meal and they last about 5 minutes at the table and then they're wanting to race around the restaurant and check everything out? You never seem to be able to get that relaxing meal at the restaurant. You watch the other family sitting around with the kids at the table behaving normally and dream of having kids that will sit still.

When I see these kinds of kids arrive at a session I can clearly see the look on mum's face. She's nervous that the kids aren't going to behave and listen to what they're asked to do.

Here are my tips as a mum and photographer about the best way to prepare:

Firstly, explain to them what's going to actually happen at a session

Have a chat to the kids a few weeks before your session about what's going to happen.

Explain that the photographer is going to take some pictures of you as a family and then the kids together and then the kids by themselves.

Set some expectations of what you expect of your kids.

Explain to them that they need to listen to what the photographer asks them to do.

Reassure them that if they listen and do what they are asked then the session will be quick and easy.

Make sure you ask the photographer how long the session is going to take and then explain that to your kids.

My sessions never go for more than about 45 minutes. Young kids have short concentration spans and I would never expect them to be sitting still and concentrating for that whole time.

Reassure them that it will be fun.

Let them pick their own outfits

As a mum I dream of having those perfectly coordinated photos with everyone sitting in white, with hair perfectly brushed, shiny white teeth and kids looking like perfect angels.

The reality is with energetic kids, if you saw a photo of your kids like this it wouldn't look like your kids.

I've had issues with my kids not liking labels on clothes, not liking certain colours, only wanting to wear one kind of look.

When they're not keen on getting photos done, and then we try to dress them up for the perfect look is most often when the fighting starts.

So my advice is pick out a bunch of their favourite clothes, lie them on the bed to check which ones roughly coordinate best with each other. Most blues work well together, or grey can work well with blue. Throw in a splash of colour and it will still work.

Give your kids 2 to 3 options each. Then let them pick which one they want to wear. You'll end up with happy kids who feel comfortable in what they're wearing.

When you get to the session

Be guided by what your photographer tells you.

I start our sessions by explaining to the family exactly what's going to happen. That way mum knows what to expect and the kids know what to expect.

I find quite often it's dad who's the most nervous, worried about having to smile and be told what to do. He has often been dragged along as well.

The important thing as a mum is just to relax.

An experienced photographer is used to dealing with kids that don't sit still. I have lots of tricks that will help the process go smoothly.

If you get stressed your kids know you're stressed.

Relax and enjoy your session.

Watch your kids interacting with each other. Watch them interacting with the photographer.

A photo session is about capturing your kids at this age. Enjoy those moments as the session unfolds. Enjoy those little quirks that make your kids who they are. Let me engage with your kids and capture their individual personalities.

Most importantly don't tell them to smile. Kids often have that awful fake smile, especially between the ages of 5 and 10. As a photographer I have lots of tricks to get them to laugh.

If you're still weighing up which Sydney family photographer is right for you, here's what actually matters when you're deciding.

What actually matters when you're deciding on

Should you include your dog in Family Photos?

Your dog is part of the family. So why is the dog never in the family photos?

I hear this all the time. The kids have had their school portraits, there might be a nice shot on the wall from a holiday, but the dog who sleeps on the end of the bed and greets everyone at the door is nowhere to be seen. For a lot of the families I photograph, that feels wrong. If the dog is family, the dog belongs in the photo.

I've been including dogs in sessions for 23 years. It isn't an add-on or a novelty. It's one of my favourite parts of the job. So if you've been putting off family photos because you aren't sure how the dog will cope, let me talk you through it.

Will my dog behave?

This is the question I get more than any other. The honest answer is that dogs don't need to behave. They need to be themselves. I'm not after a stiff, sitting-to-attention shot where everyone including the dog is frozen. I'm after the real thing. The dog leaning into your youngest. The dog looking up at you. The dog doing a lap of the studio because there's a new smell to investigate.

My studio is a big 175sqm space with room for a dog to move. Dogs are allowed to sniff around, settle in and get comfortable before we start. When a dog feels relaxed, the photos look relaxed. That's the whole trick.

A few simple things that help

A few small things just make the session run smoother. Take your dog for a walk beforehand so they burn off some energy.

If your dog gets groomed, book it in for the week before rather than the day before, so their coat has a little time to grow back.

And bring some treats along. I actually prefer to work without them, because dogs can get a bit fixated on the treats, but they're there as a backup if things aren't going to plan.

You don't need to train your dog for anything beforehand. I'll just work around them, help them feel comfortable and gently guide them into the shots.

And if your dog gets nervous, let me know before the session. I've worked with anxious dogs and senior dogs and everything in between, so I'm comfortable with whatever the day brings.

Why it matters more than you think

Here's the part people don't always say out loud. Dogs don't live as long as we want them to. The family photo with the dog in it becomes one of the photos you'd never part with, because one day that dog won't be there and you'll be so glad you have it.

I photograph a lot of families who come back years later, and the sessions with the old dog in them are the ones they talk about most. That's not something you can redo. This is the dog you have right now, at this age, with these kids at these ages. That combination exists once.

‍What the photos actually look like‍ ‍

Warm. Natural. A bit chaotic in the best way. Your dog isn't squeezed into the corner of one shot at the end. Your dog is in the family portrait, on laps, in the middle of the cuddle pile, wherever they naturally end up. Because that's where they are in real life.

If you'd rather be outdoors, I do outdoor sessions too, which some dogs love because there's more room to run. You can see how those work on my outdoor sessions page.

Ready to get your dog in the picture?

‍If you have a dog who is family and a wall that is missing them, let's sort it out. I'll handle the chaos. You just show up with the family, the dog and the treats.‍ ‍

Book your session here or get in touch if you have questions about bringing your dog along. I'm always happy to talk it through.

‍ ‍

Kate x

Can You Bring Your Dog to a Family Photo Shoot?

Yes, you can bring your dog to a family photo session in Sydney, and at my studio the dog is part of the family, not an add-on or a problem to manage. I'm Kate Buechner, I've photographed roughly 2,500 Sydney families over 23 years, and about a third of my sessions have a dog in them. If you've been wondering whether your dog can come, this post tells you exactly how it works and why it goes better than you think.

So, can the dog actually come?

Short answer, yes, and I'd encourage it. If the dog is part of your family, the dog belongs in the photos. About 30 per cent of the families I photograph bring a dog, so this is normal here, not a special request I have to think twice about.

The reason it works comes down to the space. My studio in Gordon is a 175sqm room with three big arch windows, and it's set up to feel like a home, not a clinic. That size matters more than people realise. It means I can take your dog off the lead and let them actually be a dog. There's room to move, room to sniff about, room to settle. A small studio can't do that, which is why a lot of photographers quietly steer you away from bringing the dog at all.

So the question isn't really "will you allow my dog". It's "is your space set up for it". Mine is, and it's been set up for it for years.

But my dog won't behave. They'll never sit still for photos.

This is the worry I hear most, and I understand it. You picture your dog ignoring every command, bolting around the room, refusing to look at the camera while you stand there apologising. It almost never goes that way.

Here's what actually happens. The dog comes in, has a good sniff around, usually jumps straight up on the bed or the lounge, and within a few minutes settles right down. I never start shooting the second you walk in. I give the dog time to get used to the space first, because a relaxed dog photographs beautifully and a rushed one doesn't. By the time I begin, your dog isn't on edge anymore. They're at home.

It helps that I love dogs. I've got my own miniature dachshund, Lollie, so working with dogs isn't a service I tolerate, it's something I look forward to. Dogs read that. They sense when someone's comfortable with them, and they relax accordingly. The takeaway here is simple. You don't need a perfectly trained dog. You need a space and a photographer that work with the dog you've actually got.

How do you even get the dog in the photo?

The other worry, right behind behaviour. People imagine the dog will be off in a corner while the family poses, and they'll end up with photos that don't include the one they came for.

What really happens is the dog usually steals the show. I tend to put the dog right in the centre of the family, and nine times out of ten they love being the centre of attention. You'd be amazed how many of my favourite family images come down to a dog doing a head tilt at exactly the right moment. It's the best thing ever, and it's the frame the whole family ends up wanting on the wall.

One thing I do that not everyone does, I'll also photograph your dog on their own. Not just tucked into the family group, but proper portraits of the dog by themselves, so you've got something beautiful of them to keep. Dogs don't stay with us as long as we'd like, and a real portrait of yours, the way you actually see them, is worth having. That's the bit families tell me later they're most glad they got.

What you'll walk away with

When a dog comes to a session here, you don't get a stiff family line-up with a dog awkwardly bolted on the end. You get your family as you actually are, dog included, relaxed and real, plus a few portraits of the dog on their own that you'll be glad you have down the track. That's the whole point of how I work. Real families, real moments, dog very much welcome.

Whether your family is two people and a puppy or a full house of kids and a dog who thinks they're a kid too, that's worth photographing exactly as it is right now. If you've got a dog you want in the frame, have a look at my Dogs and Their Families gallery or send me a message and let's talk about a session.

Kate x