Everything runs in English, from the first email to the download link. No white backdrop, no "everybody say cheese": we walk, the children play, and the pictures arrive on their own.
How much is a family photo session in Essonne?
A family session starts at €150 for around an hour, outdoors or at your home. Maternity and newborn sessions start at €160, and three-generation sessions at €250. Travel is included within 50 km of Évry-Courcouronnes, which covers the whole department. Every session includes a private online gallery and fully edited high-resolution files.
Family sessions
Sessions last about an hour and follow the children rather than a shot list. We shoot outdoors most of the year, and we choose the place with you.
- Parc Pierre, Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois — Lawns, a lake, wide paths. The easy option with a pushchair, five minutes from the RER C.
- The Orge riverbanks, from Savigny down to Épinay — A continuous green corridor with willows, small bridges and long soft light. Our most-used spot for families.
- Bois de Saint-Eutrope and the lake at Courcouronnes — Woodland and open water within ten minutes of Évry.
- The Yvette valley at Palaiseau — Water meadows below the plateau, flat and easy, ten minutes from three RER B stations.
- The Coulée verte at Massy — A planted walkway through the town, useful when you want green without leaving the urban fabric.
- Forêt de Sénart and the Chevreuse valley — For proper woodland, especially from late October when the leaves turn.
Some county-owned estates and parks require permission for professional photography. We check that before we confirm a place, so nobody is asked to leave halfway through a session.
Grandparents flying in, cousins, the dog: bring them. Three-generation sessions are one of our most frequent requests, usually booked for the week the grandparents land.
Maternity
The best window is between the seventh and eighth month — the bump is properly round and you still have the energy to walk for an hour. Outdoors at the end of the day along the Orge or on the open plateau, or at home if you would rather keep it private. Your partner and older children are welcome in the frames.
We guide you through every pose, gently, in English. Nobody arrives knowing what to do with their hands, and it does not matter. From €160.
Newborn at home
Newborn sessions happen at your place, in the first two weeks if we can — that curl does not last. We bring nothing with us: no headbands, no baskets, no draped fabric. Your bed, the light from your own window, and whatever the baby has decided about the morning. A feed in the middle costs us nothing; we sit it out, and some of the strongest frames come straight afterwards.
Flats work perfectly well. We need one window with daylight and about two square metres of floor, nothing more. Book during your third trimester and we will hold a flexible window around your due date. From €160.
Getting there without a car
Half of the families we photograph here do not drive, and part of the family often arrives from Paris. That shapes where we meet.
The RER B serves Massy-Palaiseau, Lozère, Le Guichet and the Yvette valley towns. The RER C runs down through Savigny-sur-Orge, Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois and on to Étampes. The RER D serves Évry-Courcouronnes and Corbeil-Essonnes. Since late 2023 the T12 tram-train links Massy-Palaiseau directly to Évry-Courcouronnes without going through Paris.
We can set a session within ten minutes' walk of a station, which matters when grandparents are coming in from Charles de Gaulle or from central Paris. Tell us where everyone is starting from and we will propose the meeting point.
Light and seasons around Paris
Summer evenings are very long. In late June the sun sets around 21:55, so the last hour of light falls after dinner — plenty of time for a session once the working day is over. By late September it is around 19:30, and by late December it is gone before 17:00. A winter session with small children starts at 14:30, not later.
Autumn belongs to the valleys. The Orge, the Yvette and the Juine hold morning mist from late September to November, and the water meadows turn russet. It is the best time of year for an outdoor family session: the ground is still walkable, the light stays low all day, and the mosquitoes have gone.
The plateau has no shade. On the open ground around Saclay, nothing blocks the sun between midday and 16:00 in summer. We shoot there early in the morning or after 18:00.
Spring is short and worth catching. Rapeseed turns the plateau yellow around mid-May, and the wheat is ripe in early July. Two narrow windows, both worth booking ahead for.
Everything in English
From the first email to the delivery link, we work in English: the quote, the planning, the running commentary that keeps a three-year-old moving, and the gallery interface itself. If one parent is French, we switch back and forth without thinking about it.
Your gallery is a private link. Forward it to Boston, Bangalore or Bristol — grandparents need no account, no app and no French address, and files download at full resolution wherever they are.
When to book
- Newborn: reserve during the third trimester; the session happens in the first fortnight.
- Maternity: book at five months for a seventh-month slot.
- Autumn family sessions: September and October fill up by late August.
- Christmas cards: shoot in early November, before the light goes at four.
- A leaving session: book six weeks before the move, while the flat still looks like home.
Prices
From €150. Family session from €150. Three generations from €250. Maternity from €160 and newborn from €160. Travel is included within 50 km of Évry-Courcouronnes and billed at cost beyond. See the full price list.
Frequently asked questions
Do you speak English throughout the session?+
Yes. The quote, the planning, the session itself and the delivery all happen in English. That includes the constant chatter that keeps young children engaged, which is the part that actually decides whether the pictures work.
We are only in France for three years. What do you suggest?+
One session in the first three months, while everything still looks foreign to you — the market, the bakery queue, your balcony. Then one a year, ideally in late September or October. And a leaving session in the final month, in the places the children claimed as theirs.
We live in a flat and have no garden. Is a home session possible?+
Yes. Newborn and family sessions at home need one window with daylight and a small clear area — nothing else. Most of our home sessions in Évry, Massy and Palaiseau happen in flats, and the results do not look like flats.
Can grandparents abroad see and download the photographs?+
Yes. Your gallery is a link you can forward to anyone, anywhere. They can view and download at full resolution from the UK, the US, India or elsewhere, with no account required and nothing to install.
What happens if it rains?+
We move the date. Outdoor sessions are booked with a fallback slot agreed in advance, usually the following weekend, and there is no charge for the change. If the forecast is genuinely bad we will tell you two days ahead rather than hope.
Tell us how many of you there are, roughly how old the children are, and which weekends work. We reply within 24 hours with a date, a meeting point and a quote. Book a session · Our Essonne coverage · Family sessions in Toulouse