Family is dynamic.

I get a good balance of headshots, portraits, and family sessions and each one is a unique (but ultimately simple) challenge for me: create something memorable for my client. 

Simple does not necessarily equal easy, of course. I have to do my due diligence to increase the chance that we’ll all have a fun time and I can give something valuable to my client. Charge the batteries. Clean the lenses. Prep the memory cards and test the flash.

For Liz, Dee, and Quinn, it meant scouting the location a day early, to get a feel for possible backgrounds and the lighting conditions.

Once that was done it was time to make the magic and, for a family shoot, to focus on capturing the relationship, the dynamics, between the family members.

Take this picture, for example.

You can instantly see how much joy the father and husband, Dee, gets by being around his family.

He’s the kind of father that gets down on his hands and knees and pretends to be a dog to play with his son, Quinn. Check out the pure happiness on Quinn’s face. Look at that smile.

Now see how he’s being held carefully, lovingly, with a gentle hand by his mother, Liz.

You can see that these two make her laugh a lot.

Yeah. I took that shot.

Might be one of the best I’ve ever taken.

Someday one of Quinn’s children might see that picture of him and their Grandpa…

… and see how lovely their Grandma was.

That’s the kind of things I think about when I take pictures.

I suppose it might seem grandiose or silly to some. But to me, photographers make investments for the long haul, something that pays off the day after the shoot with a “Wow, that dress looks great on me!” or generations after with a “Wow, I look like Grandma!”

Either way, it’s always an honor to capture these brief moments in time.