“Fall Family”

Blog Series 1 of 4

Its fall in Syracuse and family pictures are on everyone’s to do list before all the Christmas card companies run their sales!  (I’m not going to lie… I’M usually the one who is up late on Thanksgiving night finishing the design of our family cards before the sale ends at midnight! Maybe this year I’ll plan ahead… HA!)

I have a really good friend from church who has done her family pictures with me for years.  THIS year however, she asked if I would be willing to do an extended family portrait session for her parents, her siblings and their families!  After knowing my girlfriend for years, I had the privilege of being able to meet the rest of her family a couple weekends ago.  I had so much fun setting up the whole group of them for large family photos, both posed and “unposed” (more on that in another post!) and then breaking them out into individual family “mini sessions” within that one session.  Thus, this is the first of four posts because each family unit is too photogenic to not have their own blog!

 

All Four Together

A few days before this Syracuse family pictures session I called up my girlfriend and asked her to name everyone in the family and the ages of the kids.  Knowing beforehand how old each kid is helps me plan for what types of “motion poses” I’ll do with the family. I’d plan very differently if I had two younger kids as opposed to middle/high school aged kids.   So I planned to start with an easy “warm up” walking together shot, so even though family pictures isn’t every middle school aged boy’s favorite pastime, Mr. D. was more than happy to take my suggestions when he realized we weren’t going to be stiff and formal!

Mom and Her Daughter

I mean sure, you’re going to get the whole family together in a few pictures but I really loved breaking out each family member with each other.  Maybe its because I’m so close to my mom that I loved seeing how these two interacted and had fun with their portion of the session!

 

 

Mom and Both Kids

And then I say to Mr. D, “Hey, go jump in that picture with your mom and sister”. Love the smile he gave the camera!

Mom and Her Son

While editing this photo I was wondering if mom was giving him an “I love you” smile or a “please… just smile for the camera” smile?  We moms can communicate so much without saying a word, can’t we?

Dad and His Son

Right before their “mini session” started I pulled the mom off to the side and asked what her son was interested in as far as hobbies went.  She told me that really, her husband’s occupation is exactly what her son is interested in.   Just looking at the way he looks up to his dad makes me hope and pray that our little boys look up their daddy the same way.

Dad and Both Kids

Dad and His Daughter

Again, it could be that because I am so close with my dad as well that I look at these pictures and tell myself, “don’t cry, don’t cry!”  When I asked them to stand together for a picture, I didn’t have to tell her to lean her head on dad’s chest, she did that all on her own.  That spoke volumes to me on what she thinks of her dad and the way that she looks up to him as well.  As I write, I shake my head and have to say again, “don’t cry, don’t cry!”

A Girl All Her Own

I was so impressed with Miss N. and her confidence when I asked her to do a few things for her pictures!  Gosh… the way she played with her hair and looked right at the camera was amazing!

A Boy All His Own

I told Mr. D., “all I really need from you is a tough guy look” and as long as he kept his karate skills away from me, we’d be cool.  Love this one of him!

Husband and Wife

Now these two were seriously impressive.  I might have thought that they were practiced at being in front of the camera because the expression they showed when I asked them to take a walk together was awesome.

They’ve got the most natural, unposed look in front of the camera nailed!

All Four Together Again

I am so glad I was able to meet this sweet family and capture a few memories for them.  Be sure to stay tuned for blog post #2 next week of another family unit from this large extended Syracuse family pictures session! And if you’d like to check out scheduling a session for your own family, head on over to this page for more info!

Feel free to share this blog post around but please do not screen shot pictures or crop watermark out.