If members of your family are their most authentic selves when they’re cannonballing into the lake, sharing a meal around the barbeque, or playing lawn games at the cottage, those are the moments award-winning Peterborough photographer Jordan Lyall will help capture for you.
Instead of making you get dressed up in matching outfits to say “cheese” in a stuffy studio, Lyall will come right to your cottage, backyard party, family reunion, or other gathering to document authentic, real-life moments you will cherish for years to come.
“My style is really focused on celebrating people where they’re at in their life right now,” Lyall explains. “It’s important to catch real moments of your real life together as a family. Years from now, when things have changed and you’re in a new phase of your life, my hope is that your family photos will bring you back to what this time in your life felt like.”
For more than 20 years, Lyall has helped her clients capture the most important times of their lives, while also keeping an eye out for those small yet memorable moments. Named the top documentary family photographer of the year in Canada in 2025 by This is Reportage: Family, the self-taught photographer makes your family photos hassle-free.
She doesn’t interfere with your family’s special day, but works unobtrusively in the background to capture moments as they happen organically, whether there are dirt stains on the kids’ knees or melted marshmallow on their cheeks.
“My goal is just to make people feel comfortable while I happen to be hanging around with a camera,” she says.
Lyall can be booked for sessions at homes and cottages in Peterborough and the Kawarthas and surrounding areas, with flexible sessions that can be as short as one hour to as long as a full day. You can ask her to document specific things that are important to your family or let her photograph everything as it happens — it’s up to you.
“We can have a conversation about what your favourite things are to do together — what does spending time together look like as a family?” Lyall says. “We can have a loose plan of some things that you really want to capture but beyond that, it really is just about living life together and letting things unfold and capturing moments as they happen.”
Depending on the length and size of the event, Lyall will work with clients to customize the session, which can also include group portraits that are casual and relaxed.
“Family gatherings are a really important time, but people often don’t always think about hiring a photographer to capture things like family reunions, anniversary parties, or birthday parties,” she says. “This summer, so much of that is happening at cottages and special places. It’s a great time to capture these moments because it’s a special thing when everyone gathers together.”
To learn more about Jordan Lyall Photography, email Lyall at jlyallphotography@gmail.com or visit linktr.ee/jordanlyall. You can also follow Jordan Lyall Photography on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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