Two parents each tossing a toddler high into the air against a deep blue autumn sky, Twin Cities park
Family Photography

Minneapolis Family Photographer, Jackson Tyler Eddy

Minneapolis family photographer, dad of three boys, seventeen years behind the camera. I photograph families across the Twin Cities and beyond the way kids actually are. Curious. Unguarded. In motion. Photographs that hold a version of your kid that’s already changing by the time you book.

Why Now

The Version of Your Kid Right Now Is Already Leaving

Kids are the most honest people on earth. Before they learn to perform for a camera. Before they learn to care what people think. Before social pressure and screens and schoolwork quiet something down in them. There’s a window, somewhere roughly between one and ten, where their whole personality is right there on the surface, all the time, without filters.

That version of your kid is what I photograph.

It’s also the version that’s easiest to lose. You think you’ll remember exactly how they laughed at four, or the face they made when they were thinking hard, or the way they held your hand. You won’t, not clearly. The brain blurs it. Photographs keep it.

The reason to do this now isn’t the holiday card. It’s that this year of your kid is only happening once, and you’re going to want to see it again.

Years from now, your kids will look at these photographs and know what it felt like to be loved by you. Research says it clearly: kids who see themselves in family photos on the walls of their home grow up with higher self-esteem, a stronger sense of identity, a deeper feeling of belonging. These aren’t just pictures. They’re part of how your kids learn who they are.

Baby in denim overalls grinning up at the camera from a bed of pine needles
Before You Worry

Your Kids Don’t Have to Sit Still. They Don’t Have to Smile on Cue. They Just Have to Be Themselves.

Most parents come in a little nervous about how it’s going to go. They’re worried their kids won’t sit still, won’t smile, won’t behave. They don’t need to.

I don’t shoot that way. I follow kids instead of directing them. The best photographs happen in the five minutes after a kid stops performing and starts being. A stick becomes a sword. A puddle becomes the whole afternoon. A brother says something ridiculous and a real laugh breaks across their face. That’s the work.

You don’t have to prepare them. You don’t have to bribe them. You don’t have to promise ice cream if they behave. Let them show up exactly as they are. That’s who I’m here to photograph.

Even better if they’re doing the thing they already love. Riding their bike. Shooting hoops. Drawing. Whatever their thing is, tell me beforehand and we’ll build around it.

A one-year-old in denim overalls stands between photographer Jackson Tyler Eddy's crossed legs during a Twin Cities family session, shot from above as the boy trusts Jackson minutes into meeting him
My Approach

Kids Trust Me Because They Can Feel That I’m Actually Interested

I’m Jackson, a dad of three boys. I’ve spent more hours on the ground with kids than I have behind a desk. I know the difference between a kid who’s shy and a kid who’s bored, between a meltdown that needs a minute and one that needs a snack. I’m not performing curiosity at them. I’m actually curious.

That’s what changes the photographs.

Kids clock an adult’s energy in seconds. When they feel seen instead of managed, they relax. When they relax, the real smiles come. Not the ones they practice in the mirror. The ones that happen when their sibling says something that catches them off guard, or when they find a heart-shaped rock, or when they realize nobody’s asking them to do anything.

The one-year-old in this photograph climbed onto my lap while I was sitting on the ground making his portrait. He stayed there. I didn’t plan that. He did. Kids decide quickly whether you’re safe to be around, and they’re rarely wrong.

I let them touch my camera. I let them push buttons and take a picture of their mom. I answer their questions about how it works. By the time we’re forty minutes in, they’re not being photographed by a stranger. They’re hanging out with their new friend who happens to have a camera. Their parents almost always text me afterwards to say the kids won’t stop talking about it.

One more thing, and this one matters. Moms, you’re usually the one behind the camera. The one documenting everyone else. The one who isn’t in the photos. I’m going to photograph you with your kids. Holding their hand on a walk. Snuggling on a break between games. Playing together in the grass. Walking ahead of me with one on each side. Some of my favorite frames from every session are the ones with mom in them, because they’re the ones your kids are going to look at most when they grow up.

A close natural-light portrait of a blond-haired boy with striking blue eyes in a white shirt, warm fall background softly blurred behind him, a stopped-time Twin Cities family portrait
The Experience

More Than Photographs. An Afternoon You’ll Remember.

A barefoot toddler in denim overalls laughing as he walks a Yorkshire terrier down a fall leaf-lined trail, a Twin Cities family photograph of flow-state play

Kids get to do what they already love

The best sessions happen when kids are in their own flow state, doing something they already obsess about. Riding their bike down a familiar hill. Jumping the scooter off a ramp. Shooting hoops in the driveway. Drawing. Building a fort. A science project in the kitchen. Splashing at a Minnesota lake beach in summer. Jumping in a giant pile of leaves in fall. Building a snow fort or having a snowball fight in winter. Or we head to the neighborhood park they already know by heart, the one with the colorful slides they’ve been going down since they could walk, and I climb up there with them, on my belly inside the slide, right in it with them. That’s where real personality comes out. That’s when the photographs stop looking like family photography and start looking like your kid.

A laughing dad holds his happy toddler son close to his shoulder in warm afternoon light, a Twin Cities family photograph of the connection between parents and kids

The family time is its own gift

Nobody gets enough slow time with their kids anymore. Work, screens, schedules. These sessions create a couple of hours where nobody’s rushing anyone, and the family gets to actually be together. Parents remember the photographs. They also remember the afternoon.

A toddler in denim overalls carrying a stick, seen from behind as he walks into a sunlit pine forest, backlit Minnesota family photograph in natural reading light

Reading light, anywhere, any weather

The expertise isn’t a list of parks I’ve memorized. It’s the ability to walk into any place, on any day, in any weather, and see immediately where the photographs are. Overcast softens everything into beautiful even light. Hard sun needs shade or the last hour before sunset. Wind carries motion into the frame. Seventeen years of this. It’s what you’re hiring.

Close portrait of a young girl with strawberry blonde pigtails and striking blue eyes against a vivid red background, an editorial-quality Twin Cities family portrait

And yes, real portraits too

Following kids doesn’t mean giving up the frame-worthy shots. While we’re playing, I’m working wide, close, and everything in between. When a kid catches the light just right or pauses in a moment of real focus, I’m already there. Beautiful individual portraits of each kid. Full-body frames. The ones you’ll want printed big and hung on the wall. They come naturally, unforced, when the timing is exactly right.

Curly-haired toddler in a ladybug print top looking straight at the camera, close natural-light portrait
The Craft

The Same Eye That Shoots Editorial, Brought to Your Kids

Photography is what I do. All of it. My landscape work has been featured by National Geographic, in Elle Decor, and in Photo District News. My commercial work has put me behind the scenes with Tom Brady for Make-A-Wish and at four consecutive Super Bowls for Nike. I’ve been a Minneapolis wedding photographer for seventeen years, named to the Knot Hall of Fame, and featured in People Magazine.

The same eye runs through all of it. When you book me as your Minneapolis family photographer, your kids get the full craft. The same compositional attention, the same obsession with light, the same care in post as everything else I shoot.

Jackson Tyler Eddy, Minneapolis family and wedding photographer, standing outdoors in a natural Minnesota setting
A curly-haired toddler in a red cardigan sits on weathered driftwood holding a small stick, looking up at the camera with a quiet smile, a Twin Cities family portrait
Sessions

Parks, Backyards, Beaches, Wherever Your Kids Already Feel at Home

As a Minneapolis and St. Paul family photographer, I work across the full Twin Cities metro and everywhere in between. Favorite returning spots include Lyndale Park Peace & Rose Garden, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Stone Arch Bridge at sunset, Harriet Island in St. Paul, and south metro parks like Lebanon Hills Regional Park and Patrick Eagan Park. But the location is never really the point. The point is a place where your kids can roam freely and you can stop worrying about them. A park you already love. The neighborhood playground they’ve been going to since they could walk. Your backyard. A walk around the neighborhood. A Minnesota lake beach. Your living room on a Sunday morning.

Outdoor sessions happen in the last hour or two before sunset and carry through to the soft light just after, when the sky does its best work. Indoor and at-home sessions work anytime. If you’re planning something further afield, a family trip, a milestone somewhere meaningful, a destination that’s been on the list, I’m passport-ready.

In-home sessions are their own kind of magic. Your kid in their own room with their favorite toys. A Saturday morning pancake flip. The couch they’ve napped on since they were a baby. Some of the most honest sessions I’ve ever shot have been at home.

A blond toddler with bright blue eyes laughing on his Thomas the Train bedspread at home, holding a Thomas book close to his chest, an at-home Minneapolis family session in natural light
Selected Work

Minneapolis Family Photography, Kids Leading the Way

A baby in denim overalls sitting in pine straw and autumn leaves, holding a large stick and smiling up at the camera
A young boy with wet blond hair runs out of a Minnesota lake at golden hour, water splashing around his legs, a summer Twin Cities family session in natural light
Two brothers in swim trunks with arms raised triumphantly in a Twin Cities lake at sunset, a Minnesota family photograph of pure summer joy
A young girl in a denim dress laughing mid-lift at a red playground structure, hands being raised by a parent just out of frame
A toddler boy in a blue polo and a young girl in a summer dress laughing together in front of a weathered wood fence surrounded by greenery
Two laughing babies pressed cheek to cheek through the gaps in a playground climbing rope net
A boy making a silly face beside his older sister dancing in a floral dress, framed by the curving branches of a fallen tree at golden hour, a real-personality Twin Cities sibling photograph
A close laughing portrait of a young boy in a blue polo shirt in front of a weathered wood fence
Two young sisters laughing together at a Minnesota Christmas tree farm in winter, surrounded by snow-dusted evergreens
A wide-eyed baby in a blue polo shirt sitting at the base of wooden garden steps, the path stretching up behind him
Four kids in puffer vests kicking snow into the air on a backyard deck against golden autumn trees, a seasonal Minnesota family moment
A blue-eyed baby boy on the living room floor at home holding a purple toy phone to his ear
Common Questions

What Parents Usually Want to Know

What’s your style, posed or candid?

Real, unscripted, full of movement. Your kids doing what they actually do, instead of being told how to stand. The industry calls this candid family photography or lifestyle photography. For you it just means nobody’s going to ask your five-year-old to sit still and say cheese. I’ll get a few natural family-together frames with everyone looking at the camera at some point because parents want those for the wall. But the bulk of what I’m doing is watching, waiting, and catching the real thing.

What makes you good with kids?

I’m a dad of three boys. I’ve spent most of my adult life on the ground with kids. I don’t fake being interested in them. I’m actually curious about what they’re doing, what they’re thinking, what they just found. Kids feel that instantly. They relax. Within minutes of meeting me, most kids are asking to see my camera, push the buttons, take a photo of their mom. By the time we’re deep into the session, they’re comfortable enough that they forget the camera is there. That’s when the photographs happen.

What ages do you photograph?

All ages welcome. My sweet spot is kids from about one through ten, the years when curiosity is running the show and real moments are everywhere. Tweens, teens, and multi-generational families are all welcome too.

How long is a session?

The Golden Hour runs 90 minutes and delivers 40+ hand-edited images. The Long Play runs up to three hours, covers multiple looks, and delivers 75+ hand-edited images. Neither has a sharp cutoff. If the kids are in a good groove or the light is doing something rare, we keep going. You’re never clock-watched.

What if my kid has a meltdown?

They usually don’t. Not because I’m lucky, but because I’m paying attention. I read when a kid is about to slide and I redirect before they get there. A game. A cool distraction. Pine cones to throw. A walk to somewhere new. When a meltdown does happen, we give it space. Kids are allowed to have feelings. We pause, they feel what they feel, and we bounce back into play. Some of my favorite frames have come from the ten minutes right after a reset.

What should my kids wear?

Whatever they feel like themselves in. I’d rather photograph a kid in their favorite dinosaur shirt than a matching family outfit nobody’s comfortable in. Soft earth tones and textures photograph beautifully, and avoiding neons, busy logos, and tight repeating patterns keeps the focus on faces. Bring a backup outfit if you want. Some sessions start messy on purpose (splashing, climbing, running) and finish in something a little cleaner for the softer light at the end.

What if the weather is bad?

Overcast is actually beautiful for photography. Soft, even, no harsh shadows. Light and moderate rain we can work with. If your kid loves splashing in puddles and jumping through raindrops in the summer, we shoot it. That’s often where the best frames come from. If they hate it and want to go inside, we follow their lead. Heavy rain, thunderstorms, or heavy rain in the spring and fall when it’s too cold for kids, we reschedule at no charge. Minnesota weather is its own collaborator and I’ve learned to work with most of what it does.

Where do you shoot, and do you travel?

I photograph families across the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro. Favorite returning spots include Lyndale Park Peace & Rose Garden, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, Stone Arch Bridge, Harriet Island in St. Paul, Lebanon Hills Regional Park, and Patrick Eagan Park. Location isn’t the point though. The point is somewhere your kids already feel comfortable. For The Long Play, travel within the broader Twin Cities area is included. Beyond that, or for destination family sessions anywhere in the country or world, I quote travel separately.

Do you Photoshop or use AI to retouch?

No. I don’t smooth skin, reshape bodies, swap heads, or run AI retouching. Every image is individually hand-edited by me for color, light, and contrast. The photographs you receive are the real thing. Your kids look like your kids. That’s the whole point.

How do we see the photographs?

You receive a full online gallery of hand-edited high-resolution images within two to four weeks of the session. Download everything, print whatever you want, share however you like. A print release is included with every session.

Secure Your Date

Before This Version of Them Is Gone

Let me know what your kids are into right now, and we’ll capture it beautifully.

Family sessions are a small slice of what I shoot in a year. Most of my calendar is weddings and commercial work, which means every family I say yes to gets my full attention. It also means my dates as a Twin Cities family photographer go fast. Sessions start at $1,250. Booking soon means locking in a session while your kids are still exactly who they are.