As I spent the evening working on this family session I found myself reminiscing on the days when it was just my husband and I with our baby boy Andrew.  When we were together doing fun things outside the home I remember feeling like there was no one else in this world but the 3 of us.  Nothing more important at that time than our beautiful son and making sure he had everything he needed to feel safe and feel loved.  We didn’t worry as much about the dirty dishes or dirty laundry or what emails were coming through.  Back then we didn’t have Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter.  We “searched” the internet when we were connected online, we didn’t “google” everything.  We didn’t carry our phones around like our life line.  We just had each other.  That’s all that mattered…fast forward – 8 years later and 2 more boys, iPhones, smart phones, iPods, iPads, iCalendars…where is the iME??!  WOW…life gets busy! We’re still a family and we love each other more than we know but sometimes that connection can get lost…forgotten…taken for granted.  You forget what it’s like to just “BE” with each other, to “Be Present”, to “Be in the Moment” to “Be in love” with each other.

After each family session I drive home and reflect on what I’ve captured, what I’ve observed, what I’ve learned.  Each family is different…some are big, some are small, some are loud, some are quiet…but every family has their own story and every family has a connection.  Those connections aren’t always captured right when I pull out my camera but if I just let the family “BE” and they let each other “BE” – they always show their true colors and then that is when I can capture real emotional connections – love, happiness, excitement, joy and even sadness.

So as I was going through this family’s session, I loved how a lot of the images I captured were just so fun and in the moment.  Even though I was there with my camera, and we were meeting for the first time…they were present…they just focused on each other and had fun!  It’s not so hard to just “Be Present” if you leave everything behind and just hang out with each other for an hour.  THAT is the joy and reward of choosing to do a custom family photo session. Don’t worry about your mask and costumes, and if everyone is smiling…I just ask that you bring yourself and each other, be together, be grateful to be with each other…and let me do the work.  I promise you that what you see in your images will be beautiful and memorable if you look beyond the outfits and the background and just look for the connections.

Thanks to this sweet family for letting me in to your lives to document your beautiful and blessed family connections.

♥♥♥

~ Theresa ~