With the birth of the twins, Mariah and her family had a special reason to gather for a reunion of sorts. It was also her mother's birthday. You may recall their newborn session I did a couple weeks ago. After seeing those images, Mariah's dad decided to hire me to take on the whole family clan. Even her brother flew in as a surprise from New York for his mother's birthday - only to find the surprise was on him: a family photo session.
With four generations on hand from both sides of the family, it was indeed a momentous occasion. The pressure was on to get some great family portraits. It was history in the making, so I dug deep in my bag of tricks to make sure everyone was smiling at the same time. It was my job to get the whole family relaxed and happy, and I was going to do my darnedest to make sure that happened.
At one point I asked Mariah and her siblings to tell me about the worst vacation their parents had ever dragged them on. That did the trick. Soon they were all laughing remembering the days gone by. When it was time to photograph Mariah's parents with her mom's mother, I asked Grandma to tell me about the worst trouble her daughter had ever gotten into. She didn't go into detail, but boy did it bring out the laughs.
I find that sometimes it helps to usher families down memory lane in order to get them relaxed and in the family spirit. Great family memories are what create the special bonds that make the best of family portraits.
Below are my personal favorites from their session. These images make me feel like I could just step right in and make myself comfortable with this fine group of people. And isn't that what family is all about?
By the way, don't you just love Grandpa's Alaska suspenders!
No comments:
Post a Comment