Flower Field Family Photos with a Toddler at Stone School Farms in Trivoli, Illinois

There is a very specific age where asking a toddler to stand in one spot, look directly at a stranger holding a camera, and smile on command is honestly kind of hilarious.

They have other plans.

There are flowers that need picked. Dirt that needs investigated. Things happening approximately 40 feet away that are suddenly VERY important. Mom is obviously more interesting than me. Dad can throw them in the air, so he's winning too.

And somehow parents still show up to family photos worried that their toddler needs to “cooperate.”

The Stewart family's flower field session at Stone School Farms in Trivoli, Illinois is exactly why I wish parents didn't stress about that part quite so much.

We got the smiling family photos. We got everyone looking at the camera. We got the photos you'll send to grandparents and probably stick on the Christmas card.

But we also got a little girl being completely herself in a field full of flowers.

And those are some of my favorites.

Family Photos With a Toddler Don't Need to Look Perfect

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about family photos is that a successful session means your children listened to every direction I gave them.

Absolutely not.

Especially when we're talking about toddlers.

Their entire job right now is basically discovering that the world exists. Put them in the middle of a flower field and obviously they're going to want to touch everything, wander around, pick flowers and occasionally decide whatever we're doing is no longer interesting.

I'm expecting that.

I'd much rather work with your child's personality than spend an entire session trying to force them into something they're not going to enjoy anyway.

With the Stewarts, that meant letting their daughter explore. We photographed her checking out the flowers and holding one in her tiny hands. Mom carried her through the field. Dad tossed her into the air. They cuddled her, played with her and made her laugh.

When she gave me one of those huge toddler smiles, I photographed it.

When she wasn't paying attention to me at all, I photographed that too.

The goal isn't to make your toddler behave like an adult for photos. The goal is to create enough room for their actual personality to show up.

Yes, We Still Get the Family Photo Where Everyone Is Looking

Because I can already hear somebody's mom asking.

Yes.

I absolutely still want to give you the classic family portrait.

I don't think documentary family photography has to mean you never look at the camera again. There's room for both.

The Stewart gallery is a perfect example. We have all three of them together, smiling at the camera, surrounded by the flower field. We have mom and dad together. We have mom and daughter portraits. We have individual photos of their little girl.

And then around those are all the photographs that tell you a little more about who they were together that evening.

Dad lifting her above his head while she's losing her mind laughing.

Mom holding her while they're both smiling with their faces pressed close.

A tiny hand wrapped around a white flower.

The little pigtails.

Her huge cheesy grin.

Mom pointing toward something in the distance while her daughter sits on her hip.

Those aren't replacements for the traditional family photos. They're the rest of the story.

And I want you to have both.

Stone School Farms in Trivoli, Illinois for Family Photos

A flower field does a LOT of heavy lifting visually, which is part of what makes Stone School Farms such a fun setting for family photography.

Instead of needing props or a complicated setup, the location already gives us color, texture, depth and plenty for little kids to interact with.

For this session, the flowers were filled with pinks, oranges, reds and softer neutral blooms. Beyond them were trees, open fields and corn, which made the whole gallery look unmistakably like late summer in Central Illinois.

That's something I actually love about photographing families around Peoria and the surrounding Central Illinois area.

Our seasons give us completely different galleries without needing to manufacture them.

Summer can be tall grass, green fields and wildflowers. Late summer starts bringing warmer colors and cornfields. Fall changes everything again. And once Illinois decides we're done having pleasant weather, I'm very happy to retreat into the studio.

We work with what we've got.

For families who love color, though, flower field sessions are hard to beat.

What Should You Wear for Flower Field Family Photos?

The Stewart family's outfits are also a really good example of why coordinating photographs better than everyone wearing the exact same color.

Mom wore pink. Their daughter had a striped outfit with pink, coral, white and a soft minty blue-green. Dad wore a deep teal shirt with neutral shorts.

Nobody matched exactly.

Everything worked together.

More importantly, their clothes didn't compete with a location that already had a LOT of color happening.

That's usually what I'm looking for when helping families figure out what to wear for outdoor family photos. I don't need everyone in identical neutrals. I just want the colors and patterns to make sense beside each other and beside the location.

At a flower farm, you can absolutely use color.

You just don't need seven different patterns fighting the flowers for attention.

If you're booking a family session with me and wardrobe is the thing making you spiral, ask me. Send the screenshots. Send the dressing-room mirror picture. Send me the three dresses sitting in your online cart.

This is fixable.

Please don't let deciding between beige and slightly different beige be the reason you haven't booked family photos.

“But My Toddler Won't Sit Still for Pictures.”

Good.

I mean that.

A toddler sitting perfectly still for an entire family session would honestly concern me more.

Movement gives us things to photograph.

Pick her up. Let her walk. Chase her. Make her laugh. Toss her in the air if that's something she loves. Hold hands. Let her look at the flowers. Give her a minute with mom when that's what she wants.

I'm not expecting a two-year-old to care that we're trying to update the family pictures.

That's our problem, not hers.

One of my favorite things about photographing young families is figuring out what works for that kid instead of arriving with one rigid list of poses every family has to complete.

Some kids are ready to be my best friend within five minutes.

Some need space.

Some think I'm hilarious.

Some could not care less about me but will absolutely lose it laughing when dad does something ridiculous behind my camera.

All of those kids can be photographed.

That's also why I don't want parents spending the session apologizing to me.

If your kid runs away from the spot where I put you, you're not ruining my session.

If she suddenly wants to be held, hold her.

If everyone starts laughing because absolutely nothing is going according to plan, even better. I'm probably already taking the picture.

The Photos Parents Usually Don't Know to Ask For

Most people arrive knowing the obvious photos they want.

The whole family.

Mom with the kids.

Dad with the kids.

Maybe each parent individually with each child.

Those matter, and we'll get them.

But there's another category of photographs I don't think people know to put on a shot list.

The way your toddler's whole face changes when she's laughing.

How small her hand looks holding one flower.

The curls around the back of her neck.

The way she sits on your hip.

Her little shoes.

How she looks up at you.

The way you instinctively put your hand on your partner while he's holding your daughter above his head.

They're incredibly ordinary things when you're living them every day.

Which is exactly why they're worth photographing.

You don't have to know to ask me for those.

I'm already looking for them.

Why I Don't Need Your Family to Be “Good at Pictures”

People tell me they're awkward in front of the camera all the time.

I've yet to meet the family who arrived for their session and announced, “We're actually extremely talented at having our picture taken.”

That's not really a thing.

You don't need to know what to do with your hands. You don't need a toddler who takes direction. Dad does not need to practice smiling in the mirror before we meet. Nobody needs previous modeling experience.

That's my side of the job.

I'll give direction when direction helps. I'll put you somewhere the light looks good. I'll fix something if it looks weird. I'll get the safe smiling photo for grandma.

Then I'll give you something to actually do together.

That's when I can start watching instead of constantly manufacturing.

And when there's a toddler involved, they usually take care of introducing a little chaos all by themselves.

Flower Field Family Photos in Central Illinois

One of the reasons I wanted to share this particular session beyond simply posting a few favorites on Instagram is because I know there are families around Peoria, Pekin, Morton, Washington, Dunlap, Metamora and the rest of Central Illinois who want photos like these but keep waiting for some imaginary easier stage of parenting.

Maybe when the toddler listens better.

Maybe when everybody is less busy.

Maybe when you finally figure out outfits.

Maybe next season.

I get it.

But if the thing stopping you is your child's age or personality, I genuinely don't think you need to wait.

The pigtails, the giant grin, the obsession with picking flowers and the need to be on mom's hip are the good stuff right now.

We can work around bedtime. We can keep things moving. We can change what we're doing when something clearly isn't working.

Your kid doesn't need to give me 45 minutes of perfect behavior.

I just need your family to show up.

I'll work with the people you bring me.

Planning Your Own Central Illinois Family Session

If you've been searching for a Peoria family photographer or trying to find somewhere different for family photos in Central Illinois, don't get too hung up on recreating someone else's exact session.

Use galleries like this as inspiration.

Maybe you love the flowers but want completely different outfits. Maybe your child would have the time of their life somewhere with room to run. Maybe you'd rather have tall grass and open fields. Maybe you want something more urban. Maybe you know immediately that you'd rather be inside my studio where Illinois weather can't personally attack us.

The location should make sense for your family and the kind of photographs you want.

And once we're there, you don't have to perform.

We'll get the photo of everybody smiling.

Then your toddler can go right back to being a toddler.

I'll take it from there.