the time i spent in their cute little home seriously warmed my soul. the trust and vulnerability that goes into inviting someone (especially someone you don’t know, though i have photographed them before) into your home is not lost on me. it is a huge honor and every time i am invited into a home with my camera, my heart grows about 3 sizes, a la The Grinch.
I FREAKING LOVED this family session. mind you, the five year old was impressively against the idea of having his photo taken. he never wavered from his principles and i gotta say i was impressed. i threw everything i had at him to get him to just LOOK at me. every trick in my book. he was too smart. and that happens. and when that happens you gotta just cut your losses and make it work. i personally don't mind because i want people to be themselves, but this mama wanted just ONE photo of everyone looking happily at the camera. i get it. understandable! and not a crazy request, right? well.... that didn't happen. but hopefully she also wanted a bunch of rad documentation of her family, their authentic selves, and their love, which we more than got.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: is that even when your kid is 1000% uncooperative and avoids the camera at all costs, the session isn't a failure. i was there. emotions can run high when you're paying for family pictures and your kid has a meltdown. its hard for the parents to remain composed, the kids are sad, blah blah blah. that can make for some miserable looking photos.
but tell me, do any of the photos below look miserable? or can i make you look good even if you're frustrated with your kids? so what i see when i look at this set of images is two people who really love each other. who really love their kids. it shines through these images! even if sam wasn't happy about being bothered by a lady with a camera intruding on his outdoor exploration time. the goodness remains.
but i mean if all you want is your basic staged happy pose then i'm not the photographer for you anyways. i mean, really.
THE COLORS: the colors made me so happy. but then i changed some to black and white and then i fell in love with the images even more. so here is a happy mix of both. i know you were worried about that.
NEXT UP on the agenda is devising a way to get to portland so i can visit her AND invade her house for an in-home session.
enjoy!
are you guys ready to see one of my favorite families in action?? i shot addy's birth story, and then her newborns, and then her 6-month photos, and now their family pictures a year later! she turns 2 soon and i can't believe its been that long. i am obsessed with how their photos turned out. can i do all the families at home, please?
if my goal before this shoot was to not get teary when i saw the baby, i failed miserably.
if my goal before this shoot was to leave not envious of their adorable city bungalow, i failed miserably.
if my goal before this shoot was to document a tiny slice of life with their sweet newborn baby, i think i may have succeeded.
it has been awhile that i've wanted to do another "day in the life of" with my boys. basically how i would capture them if they were my clients (which, if anything, they'd probably pay me NOT to photograph them, lol) but i wanted things shot just as they are around our little house, our little family. minus their parents and plus their cousin (who makes a cameo in a few shots). let me know what you think!
this is one of those sessions that i get teary looking at. this mama had two baby boys within 2 years of each other, and then couldn't get pregnant for another 7 years. her second son will turn 8 this april. she and her husband went through numerous tests and doctors couldn't figure out why they suddenly couldn't get pregnant. they felt strongly that they would have another baby, a daughter, but she wasn't coming. they considered IVF but it never felt right. they were beginning to accept the fact that their family may just be complete. and then, out of the blue, a miracle happened. they found out they were expecting. their daughter was born and their family is now complete. i cry just thinking about it. i cry seeing the way they look at the newest member of their family. i just couldn't be happier for them and am so glad i could document some of these precious moments for them.
the birth of a baby is always a hectic time. the days fly by, the babies grow up way too fast. i wanted to document for them a little slice of what life was like that first week of their baby's life. the way the leaves were just beginning to fall outside, the decidedly "boy" shoes blocking the front door, the older two passing the time by climbing on (and jumping off) everything, and all the sweet characteristics that make newborns so incredibly delicious.
