I was so excited to deliver these photos to Tara and Craig yesterday. Tara has been working on creating a gorgeous family wall gallery consisting of wedding photos, a painting done by her grandma, a childhood photo of Craig and various other display pieces that are important to their family. She is including canvases of each child as well as a large family canvas from the photo session. It is going to look amazing in their home office.
Tara and I began our friendship as colleagues at a time when our lives were much different than now. We were young, single and travelling with a large company. We enjoyed conferences where we worked hard and played harder, ate many lunches and dinners on the company tab, ordered room service and didn’t appreciate all this nearly as much as we should have. Room service? Fancy dinners??? I look back on this time with many fond memories.
We have attended each other’s weddings, supported each other through extremely difficult pregnancies, and sadly, she had to support me through the death of my baby, Ella. After Ella died, Tara was the first friend at my door with a card and I think a casserole (it was a blur). She was shaking and crying and we both had no idea how to react or respond to each other. But she was there for me and I’ll never forget that. Never. She has been with me through the horrendous and the wonderful and our friendship has deep and lasting roots. I cherish her and what she brings to my life.
Now let’s talk about her family photos and her photography session with me. Tara thought that her family would be my biggest family photo session challenge. Kids that squint, kids that don’t want to be there and kids that want to do cartwheels nonstop. She warned me and I said “bring it on baby cakes.” And she was right; there was squinting, shyness and lots of cartwheels and crazy moves. And just for the record, EVERY family photo session is challenging and that is why I love doing them!
But what Tara didn’t need to tell me was that her husband Craig has a subtle but hilarious sense of humour and that he still looks at her in the same adoring way that he did on their wedding day. She didn’t need to tell me that her kids are super polite and sensitive with kind souls that shine through in these photos. She didn’t need to tell me that she is an extremely loving and attentive mom that just wanted to capture her kids as teenagers before they grow up too fast to become amazing adults (and they will be). I had the privilege to spend an hour with this wonderful family, talk to their kids and learn about some of their interests. I loved observing their unique personalities traits and watch how they all interact with each other.
Their kids are typical teenagers, not wanting to hug each other but when asked to put their arms around each other, some pretty genuine smiles came out! Mom and Dad just watched and smiled and I’m sure the kids also enjoyed watching their parents when I asked Tara and Craig to kiss and hug each other. I hope they had fun and are thrilled with their photos. I enjoyed every single cartwheel and backbend of the session.
I have watched this family grow from the very start and I am thrilled that I go to spend precious time with them on a beautiful fall day. Thank you so much for choosing me to take your family photos!
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