At the beginning of October I had the chance to work with the Povhe family. This whole family is just great! I had a lot of fun with you all and I can’t wait to show you all of the pictures. It turned out to definitely be one of my favorite sessions of the year! But before that, I first want to post about something:
A few times throughout and even at the end of this session, as well as during some other sessions, Nicolle (and some other clients) asked something along the lines of “Did you get anything good?” and “Have you ever had a session where you got nothing good?”
Side note: In my email to Nicolle, I joked that nothing turned out and that I would be giving her a refund, lol. So just letting you know Nicolle, things turned out amazing! Hmmm, was that a horribly cruel and mean joke to play on such a fun and nice person? Haha, well, now we’re even
Early on I used to be a little hurt by those questions, as if my clients didn’t trust that I could get good pictures with their family.
Granted, my family and kids sessions aren’t typical in a traditional sense - any of my clients can attest to the fact that my family portrait sessions are little more than organized chaos (“organized” being used very loosely, haha). Kids are running around, exploring, not sitting still, and I’m not overly involved with poses and commands. Rather, I often just walking around, snapping away after a few suggestions as to what they might want to explore next. From a typical, traditional family portrait session perspective, this probably looks like I’m a photographer who has no clue how to run a session!
But now, I’ve starting taking those comments as both a compliment and a challenge.
… A compliment in that it tells me that this is different than anything they’ve ever experienced before – which is perfect! Thats what my photo sessions are – they are real life. They are kids running around like crazy, not listening all the time, and only smiling when something is actually funny. I love capturing it, and it comes out so amazing!
… A challenge in that it tells me that somewhere along the line we’ve lost sight of how the sometimes crazy life we live is actually the most beautiful thing around, and I want to help remember! What I try to capture is your family, not just some image with your family in it. Its about stopping for a moment and becoming aware of the surging life and vitality within your family! Expressions, emotions, interactions – all beautiful, amazing and powerful.
Haha, so, “Did I get anything good?” Let me know what you think! And if we, my readers, have a session together in the future, don’t worry when your kids would rather be themselves than cooperate with more formalized ideas, I got it covered
Just enjoy the regular, beautiful, and sometimes crazy interactions within your family!
Up next: Laura and Jake’s Engagement Session
~
Justin
