Traditions and the sweet birthday gift

So sweet - this was a birthday gift to the mom of this family from her husband. They hadn't had family portraits in a while and so he surprised her with a gift card from G+W.  As I edited the images for this post it dawned on me how much of this session spoke to traditions and family. When I think of this family, it's so appropriate. This is one of the nicest families - think Leave it to Beaver, solid, kind, just all around good. I've had the privilege of getting to know them through their youngest daughter (who I adore), but this was the first time I've met their oldest two. Maybe part of the connection is they have the same family dynamic we have - older kids, big break, youngest one still at home. It was fun being with their family! But it's more than that - they are the family you stand next to because you can feel their kindness and the world feels solid and good....So back to tradition - the family image was a re-creation of an image they had taken when their kids were little - love how it turned out! And even Grandma jumped in! Not shown, but something we took was the three generations of the girls of this family - love traditions like that and how amazing this session was!!

Vavoom!! Love this photo of the (belated!) birthday girl!

without a doubt... the professor!

Boys, Boys, Boys!

These boys crack me up... you know there is a ton of razzing and carrying on between these three! Makes my job so much easier  - nothing better than natural smiles and laughter. And the parents are super chill! Loved seeing this family again!

This is a bit of an inside joke... but I'm hoping you can hear his brothers laughing! You just know they were giving him a hard time!

Congratulations to the new driver in the house! Loved the idea of getting him with the car... wasn't exactly the planned photo but love how this turned out!

Bossy and the Beautiful

I laughed so much at this session! This session was so much fun and the most perfect light possible. I've been photographing this family for 4 years now and you know you're comfortable with someone that you begin to boss them around like they are your family....well, I might owe some apologies! I love everything about this session and these people. If it weren't the holiday crunch, I could crush on them for a while (and you know this is true!)

Wear cool shoes and you know I'm going to take this shot... love how expressive feet and the shoes people wear are... its always one of my favorite shots of a session

Leave your shoes at the front door...

Absolutely love this family! And anyone that encourages me to take those "little shots" and then actually builds on that... well, that just steals my heart and makes my creative soul so happy! Really all of the women in this family way outdo me when it comes to creative ability, so it always feels a little like a "playdate" getting to photograph them. Had so much fun with the M family ... there is a sweetness that's just lovely and makes you want to sit on the front porch and just hang with them.

 

So I took a picture of the cute sign they have posted because it was too cute not to and they got excited and came up with the idea for the shoes by the door... love this!

Here are these talented women and their beautifulness...

...and then this happened and I want to laugh every time I look at this photo!!

Anyone who knows this beautiful woman knows that this compassion and kindness and quiet beautiful soul radiates from everything she does...it's what I love about her and this image... I think you can see all of that here in her eyes

Such a cool Senior Session!

Coolest session ever!  This session was equal parts super chill and fun. It helps that F has an interest in photography, so that made it this really cool collaboration of trying places and angles that I don't always get to do. And this guy is just so put together, great conversation and I'm excited to hear about where his journey takes him next.  And I LOVE the shots with his parents - I could have posted a ton of those! Heartstring pullers!! I think they were kind of lucky I had another shoot to get to... I could have hung out with them all afternoon and found more locations together with F.