My mother-in-law asked if we could do a family portrait session while we were vacationing in Iowa over Memorial Day. After all, we had two new little ones in our family now, as our nephew and his wife were parents of a three year old and an eight month old.
Although I gladly accepted, I was pretty sure my husband and daughter would be difficult or push my buttons just a little. They are, of course, the daughter and husband of a professional portrait photographer and are tired of having a camera in their faces.
I should have followed my own advice and hired a professional photographer to do the session. After all, isn’t that what I preach? Take the time to hire a professional to bring out the best in people and provide a family with a wonderful keepsake of a life well lived? Who would ensure that the two little babies would be posed properly if I was in the picture? And most importantly, who would harness my husband and kid?
We did the portrait session with the help of a young family friend. She was 12. Yes, I trusted a 12 year old to help me get “the shot!” I put the camera on a tripod, adjusted all my settings and gave her the remote. I carefully positioned each family member under a gazebo in town. Oh, did I mention that we did this session on a bright, sunny day, in the MIDDLE of the day?!
So here we were. All positioned under this gazebo, with a toddler and a baby. And a 12 year old jumping up and down to get the attention of the little ones. While she was clicking the remote 150 times. I repeatedly threatened all the big people to KEEP LOOKING AT THE CAMERA!
And did I say it was pretty windy? And our hair was flying around? And did I mention how much the three year old hates a camera?
Well, I DID get the shot! Or should I say our little helper got the shot!
This wasn’t just the way it came out of the camera, however. There was at least one head swap [mine! See notes above about my threats….so most of the images had my mouth moving!] And four of the five faces with glasses had some sort of issue with their lenses [polarizing lenses, crazy color casts off the glass, tons of glare, etc etc!]. In that case, it didn’t matter if the helper had taken 1 or 150 shots, they all had the same issues.
Lucky for my REAL clients here in Michigan, when I am behind the camera, I see all these little things and can make corrections while we are on location and fix them right there. But when I’m just standing in back, yelling at everyone to just look at the camera, I don’t notice it! 🙂
I’m so grateful my mother-in-law asked for this. This portrait is something that each one of us will cherish. And unfortunately, there are families that would have given anything to do something like this, and realized it too late.
Here is the 20×30 inch framed art piece that they have placed on their wall. <3
We know the size is perfect because I used my handy software to help us determine the best size for the wall and the best frame color. This chick may have been sweating getting a good portrait but I’m sure not sweating what it will look like on their wall! It will be perfection. <3
