A busy family life tends to mean that families don’t always get together when they want to. Troy, the father of the family, is a very busy minister at a nearby church and he was on a help mission when the rest of the family arrived for photos. So, we took advantage of the time to take photos of the kids, then made a family image.
You need some perspective first.
I got Shasta as a puppy. He was a bouncing baby boy when we first got him. He was very active, loved to play, but was also very smart and knew how to follow directions.
As our business grew, Shasta and our other Border Collie, Sprite, needed more room to run and play. We decided that Shasta and Sprite would be better off with a family that could give them room to run, since the room available in our home was becoming more and more limited as our business took up much of the lower part of our home.
At the time, Andrea was working for us. Her family owns a small farm which primarily raises sheep. Since they were looking for a good dog, we offered them Shasta and Sprite. Jumping at the chance, the dogs adapted really quickly and Shasta fast became Andrea’s new best friend.
Over the years, Andrea has brought Shasta in to see us at the studio. He’s always recognized us and offered himself for ear scratching. After the greeting, he always just laid on the floor and waited for Andrea.
When Andrea called us before Thanksgiving, she was very upset having just learned that Shasta was sick and she could lose him. She wanted to get some pictures done of him, and we were happy to oblige.
While there were plenty of emotional moments, we got some very nice images of Shasta, as well as of Shasta and Andrea together.
Since that time, Andrea has been given medicine and a new diet for Shasta, which has reduced the size of the tumors in Shasta’s chest. He is breathing easier and seems to have more energy. While his prognosis is likely terminal, he does have quite some time before we have to worry about him leaving.
This beautiful family wanted to make sure to include their new son-in-law to be (top left) in their annual family portrait. We took a few separates, but the group family photo was the one they liked the most.
We had done such a good job with Anthony’s portraits a few weeks back, that they also wanted a family portrait done for holiday cards and gifts.
Anthony was intent on informing me that he asking Santa for everything he needed. I never quite got exactly what Santa had been asked for, but I’m sure Anthony would get what he wanted.
Holly is a grandchild of one of our favorite clients, Lillian. Vanessa is Holly’s daughter. They are a lot alike. Holly is very direct, knows what she wants, and gets things done. Vanessa does that too, but as a ten year old the whole thing is on a different scale entirely.
In the picture below, Vanessa just leaned onto her mom’s leg and it was a favorite shot by everyone.
Vanessa by herself is kind of a force of nature. She doesn’t slow down much. But she is also very bright… we look forward to a third session with her and more.
In the grand scheme of things, we are subjects of our children’s whims. When the Morrisons came to us for holiday portraits, they didn’t realize that their daughter would be the one who came up with the best pose of the session.
Maura is an actress. She needed an updated portrait for her Screen Actor’s Guild portfolio catalog page. One catch phrase that Maura used about her roles is that she is cast as “A woman of a certain age.”
Little Emma came to us at only three months old… a very happy little baby, we took lots of pictures of her in a few different outfits. She cooperated most in the “natural” outfit, though.
Amanda and her family had only moved into the area a few years ago, and sought out a photographer for their holiday photos by asking around. The recommendation continued to be TLC, so here is where they came.
Monique brought her two boys to us for some holiday photos, and ended up with treasures above and beyond what she’d hoped for. Both boys certainly had their own personalities, and it shows in the photos.
When we arrived at the park, a train on the nearby CSX tracks was idling. Brendan immediately ran to the middle of a field to watch the train for a moment or so before we began taking photos. I thought it was worthy of an image itself.
But then we captured this gem.
