Holiday fun

This is the time of year I get to meet a bunch of new families and visit with old.  It’s holiday picture time and it’s in full swing!

This weekend I photographed two new (to me) families.   One family I know, but have never photographed and the other family is completely new to me.

The first family is someone I wanted to photograph for a long time and the session was effortless.  They are beautiful in every way.  And since I know the kids, I can have more fun with them, and they have a comfort level with me, which I love.  They are a dancer family, and as you all know I love shooting dancers.  So pictures three kids in their own dance pose in their family picture!!  After we started the dance poses, they were off and running with all sorts of ideas.  At this point in the session, I just follow them around and do what they want.  This is where I usually get the fun stuff.

The other session was a new to me family.  It was two little girls who were as precious as could be.  For this session, I brought some props.  Props are new to me, because in years past, I felt that they took away from or distracted from the subjects.  But as I have acquired some pretty cute props, it was time to pull them out for these girls.

We went to San Juan Capistrano train station.  That place is a bevy of backdrops on its own.  But this time of year is really a juggling act as many people have the same idea as we did.  So in this case, the props came in handy.  3 of the 4 places I wanted to shoot were already busy with other photographers.

It is so fun to watch the family dynamics coming out when I’m shooting.  You may not know it, but when I am done with the session, I have learned more than you think.    Not to make you feel self-conscious, but it’s hard to hide family dynamics.  Most are all good.  Rarely do I leave a session thinking, “Wow…..REALLY?”  More often than not I just realize who is the dominant sibling and who might be the diva.

Yesterday I figured out the Diva really quickly.  When I went to take pictures of “JUST” the little sister; the big sister let me know with her eyes that she was displeased.  I called her on it and said, “Don’t worry, we will switch it up and make sure you have a turn!”  And I laughed with the mom.  It was so cute.

When I got home, like a kid on Christmas, I went through all the pictures just to see what I got.  I swear, it brings me to near tears sometimes when I see how these families come together.   Yes, I’m a bit of a sap, but when you have seen life change as quickly as I have, it becomes even richer.

It was a good weekend.  I can’t wait to show the families the pictures we created.

I know I say how grateful I am all the time that I get to do this.  But I seriously have yet to have a day where I say, “Darn….gotta go shoot again!”  It just doesn’t happen.  They say if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life.  And though I can’t exactly say I’m jobless, sometimes it feels like it.

Happy monday!