Their Backyard. Their Chaos. Their People. | In-Home Family Photography Fort Collins Summer Session

Table of Contents

• Why Your Backyard Is the Best Location You’re Not Using
• Summer Family Sessions: What Actually Happens
• A Summer Session = A Future Heirloom
• What to Expect from a Backyard Family Session with Shelley Schaffer Photography
• Ready to Book Your Summer Family Session in Northern Colorado?

There’s a version of family photos that requires you to drive somewhere. Find parking. Wrangle everyone into neutral linen. Pretend your toddler is capable of holding still.

And then there’s THIS.

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A backyard. A sprinkler. Two nine-month-old twin baby girls in sun rompers. One little boy with exactly zero chill and a beach ball that had somewhere to be. Popsicles on the deck. A Japanese maple so deeply red it looked like summer hired a set designer.

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THIS is in-home family photography in Fort Collins — and honestly? It might be my favorite kind.

Why Your Backyard Is the Best Location You’re Not Using

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Here’s what I hear a lot: “Our backyard isn’t special enough.”

Friend. Your backyard is where your kid waters the plants with his little yellow watering can. It’s where the twins had their very first splash in a rainbow baby pool. It’s where your toddler runs barefoot, completely feral, absolutely thriving.

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That IS special. That IS the stuff.

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For this family, their backyard was lush and green and full of life — gorgeous mature landscaping, a deck perfect for popsicle breaks, and enough open lawn for a toddler to sprint laps while dad dangled him upside down. (Did I get the shot? Obviously yes.)

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The location wasn’t curated. It was THEIRS. And that’s exactly why it worked.

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Summer Family Sessions: What Actually Happens

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PSSST: I’m going to let you in on something. The best summer family photos? They don’t happen because everyone cooperated.

They happen because someone didn’t.

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This session had it all:

Twin girls exploring every inch of that striped blanket, babbling at each other, reaching for each other’s popsicles — fully living their best summer lives.

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Big brother who had a sprinkler toy dolphin to attend to, a beach ball to launch across the yard, and zero interest in facing the camera — but ALL the interest in being flipped upside down by dad. (I’ll take it.)

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Parents who were just… present. Laughing. Lifting kids into the air. Stealing a look at each other. Being the people their kids are going to want to remember.

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This is what Northern Colorado family photography looks like when you stop trying to make it perfect.

A Summer Session = A Future Heirloom

Here’s the thing about a summer like this one.

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Twin baby girls at nine months old. A toddler brother who is EXACTLY this big and this wild and this joyful RIGHT NOW. A backyard that holds the soundtrack of their entire summer — the sprinkler, the popsicle drips, the screaming delight of being held upside down.

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In two years, those babies won’t be babies.

In five years, that little boy will be way too cool to let dad flip him over.

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In ten years, someone’s going to look at a framed print hanging in the hallway and say “Oh my gosh, remember that summer?”

And they will. Because you have the photos.

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This is why I do in-home family photography in Fort Collins and Northern Colorado. Because home is where the real stuff lives.

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What to Expect from a Backyard Family Session with Shelley Schaffer Photography

Thinking about doing something similar? Here’s how it works:

YOU + ME = photos that actually look like your family. Not a stock image of a family. YOUR family.

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We’ll spend our session doing what your kids already love — playing, exploring, being chaotic and beautiful and 100% themselves. I’ll direct just enough to keep things moving, and get out of the way just enough to let the real moments happen.

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I specialize in family sessions that feel like a Tuesday afternoon, not a performance. And for families with babies AND toddlers? A familiar location is genuinely a secret weapon. (No meltdowns about the car ride to the park. Just vibes.)

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Ready to Book Your Summer Family Session in Northern Colorado?

Summer goes fast. (Faster than you think. Faster than you’re ready for.)

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If you’ve been putting off family photos because you didn’t have the “right” location, consider this your sign that your backyard — your LIFE, your MESS, your PEOPLE — is more than enough.

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I’m currently booking summer family sessions in Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, and throughout Northern Colorado. Whether you want the backyard experience or a beautiful outdoor location nearby, let’s make something that ends up on your wall.

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[→ Inquire about your summer family session here]

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Shelley Schaffer Photography is a fine-art family portrait studio serving Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, and Northern Colorado. Specializing in family, newborn, maternity, baby milestone, and headshot sessions with a focus on heirloom wall art and printed artwork.