Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Family Portraits

I mentioned that we did our family portraits a few weeks ago. It was super hot, super sticky, and about 110% humidity; I didn't have time to do my hair; and I didn't plan for JP and I to even be in the pictures until about 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave, so while I loved the kids outfits and they were in a GREAT mood that morning and we super cooperative, I was too sweaty and frizzy to have super high expectations for the final product. When I opened the gallery from the photographer last week, I was really just hoping to have an individual portrait of each kid and maybe ONE good picture of the three kids together.



And we got them. With a few extra besides.


(My little brother captioned the one above as "Cheese." "Cheeeeese." "I pooped!" and now that's all I can see when I look at it. But I still love it just the same. Or maybe even more.)


I haven't gotten individual portraits of the kids since 2012, so I was really happy to get a few individual shots of my babies at 7 and 4.


Lanman


Clairebear

And of course a few of our baby Cora. When I scheduled the session back in February I thought June would give us a Cora who could sit up and smile, but who wouldn't be mobile yet. Then she started crawling in April, so yeah, that didn't work out, but we still got some good shots! The bow she's wearing is the one I bought the week we found out we were having another girl (and that she's wearing in her newborn portraits) and I just love that.


I love this one- totally captures Cora's "of course I can do all the big kid things" attitude. So she's sure she can go over the ladder, she juuuust might need a sec to figure out how. Also, thigh rolls and wrist rolls and elbow rolls. Two thumbs up.


And we even got a good one of the family! As I said above, I only decided to add JP and I at the last minute, so I hate my hair here (I did not set my alarm to early "get myself pretty" o'clock, just the latest possible "get the kids dressed and out the door" time), but everyone else looks good.


We got several good ones of JP and Cora, but this is my favorite - long live the chins!


And one of me and my smiley smiley girl. Cora took her modeling very seriously, so these are the only big smiles we got on film. She does love to fly (and dance and twirl and do pretty much anything involvement movement, music, and/or her family people).


Another family shot. I'd given in to the humidity and pulled my hair back, and yet still, my now absent hair remains my least favorite part of this picture.


Claire asked to do a picture with sunglasses, and I, THRILLED by the idea that someone else in my house was excited about family pictures, readily agreed to add some sunglass shots at the end. As you can see, Claire was super excited about this. Cora was more "wtf" about it and Landon was just excited to be allowed to pick-up the baby. (Sweet aside: tonight he asked me for a small picture of Cora that he could put in a little frame to keep by his treasure box in his room "and then take with me when I move to my own house one day." It was a double emotional whammy. That kid...)


Cora was pretty over it, but Claire was in full model mode. Girl loooves her accessories.


I love all the pictures, but this is the one I put in the frame on my bedside table. You can't see their faces very well, but it just captures them so perfectly.


I have about 50 more on the CD and I really just couldn't be happier with what our photographer did with an hour on a super humid morning at our favorite local park. I've loved every year with the kids, and I expect to love every one in the future, but this first year as a family of five has been particularly magical- the big kids just love Cora so much and she adores them right back and I'm so glad I have some portraits that come close to capturing that.

11 comments:

  1. so insanely cute! I'm jealous you've found a photographer you love. I just can't seem to find an affordable one. The really good ones make you drop $500 minimum! I just can't spend half a grand on family portraits. And the less expensive ones we've used in the past just haven't blown me away or anything.

    But your photographer did a fantastic job!

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    1. This is the first time I've lucked into an inexpensive photographer with results that I adore. She charged us $200 for an hour of shooting and a CD of about 70 images. I've never found anything better than that, and though I've tried to spend in that range before, I've never been impressed with the results either, which then makes me mad that I just wasted $200. Our newborn sessions were more expensive (by quite a bit, actually), but I love those photos so much that I (almost) don't care, and I dubbed them my birthday/Christmas presents that year. So we'll definitely be using Ashley again and I'm so glad I've found someone I feel like I can confidently call on in another 18 months or so to do this again!

      (I found her through a local moms group on facebook when someone asked for budget-conscious photographer recommendations, so if there are any church/school/neighborhood mom groups you can ask, maybe you can strike reasonably photography gold too!)

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  2. I love that last picture too.
    Who cares if you didn't get up extra-early to do your hair. Even if you look at yourself and all you see is a mess (which you're not), your kids and JP will be happy that you're in some of the photos when you all look at these years later. Maybe you'll even be happy too! And if you find that when you look at yourself, you're tempted to criticize, just focus on those barre-toned Michelle Obama arms.

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  3. I don't comment much at all - but I've read you for years - and one of the things I always think and never say is how stunning I think you are. So, today seemed like a good day to say that. You are! And a constant inspiration to me for juggling my own work with my kids. Thank you for that. :)

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    1. That was so nice and totally made my day when I read it at work this morning. I think it's the curse of curly hair- straight-haired people want it, curly-haired people want to flat iron the heck out of it. I consider my hair "done" when it's straight. Curly means I rolled out of bed and through some scrunching gel in it (which is exactly what I did); I was actually feeling okay with it, but then it got super frizzy in the humidity at the park and I was taken back to the 80's when I had perms and some truly horrible haircuts and the cringe-worthy memories take over my brain.

      So, (deep breath and a return to the present), thank you :).

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  4. Beautiful photos. You look fab.

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  5. You got some really great pictures, and I think your hair looks really nice wavy! I haven't attempted any family photo shoots but I really should. It makes such a nice keepsake. Hilary

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  6. Really very nice - you should be pleased:)

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  7. Great photos, hair up or down no matter, that you were in the picture is what counts. How do you game your curls with the humidity? I have crazy waves and curls and am always looking for new products and ideas, especially working out, having long hair, kids, a full time job, etc.!

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