For some reason this blog is not letting me upload photos to a new post right now, however, it will let me add photos to an old post, so I’ll just add my new post to this existing post since I am no computer programmer and all the fixes they explained online involved words like browser cache and JavaScript and other words that hurt my brain. I won’t let a silly computer glitch stop me from sharing these photos!
In August I got an email from my long lost friend Katie from my Dallas days asking about doing some photos for her family when they all got together to welcome her brother home from his 2 year mission in Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As it turns out she is from Boise and her family was coming here from all over the U.S.; Austin, Texas, Southern California and elsewhere to spend some quality family time together. We exchanged a bunch of emails and nailed down a day to do pictures in October. Amidst the photo shoot planning emails I asked Katie what her favorite things in Boise were and thanks to her I discovered the Greenbelt, the amazing raspberry lemonade at Fanci Freez where I sucked up entire raspberries through a giant straw, Madhuban Indian restaurant, and Settlers Park. And I still have lots more places from her recommendations to explore including Hawkins Packout (‘for a sloppy amazing burger’), Goody’s candy store and Camel’s Back Park, just to name a few. I am so glad I got to reconnect with Katie and meet her entire family!
If anyone is planning a large family photo and is wondering how to dress everyone, look no further! This family’s wardrobe selection was perfect, the perfect amount of coordinating colors and pops of color with a great mix of solids and patterns. We started with the group photo, and wow! What a good looking family!
Then after all the seriousness of everyone standing in just the right spot and me doing silly things to try and get the kids to smile we did the silly face pictures which brought out everyone’s smiles. I think I’ll do the silly faces first next time.
Next it was individual family pictures. I usually start with the family with the youngest kids so the kids don’t get too tired before we finish. Big group photos like these are about a 2 hour affair so it can be tricky to keep everyone happy for the entire time. I brought my little treat suitcase filled with candy, and stickers, and little toys to try and bribe the smiles out of the kids. Inevitably though, the topic of poop or farts comes up because those topics always make the kids laugh. My clients could totally make fun of me for all the nerdy things I do to get the kids to smile!
The adults usually tell me they really don’t want/need a headshot of themselves, but I usually persuade them to do one anyway. Selfies are great, but a good portrait of yourself is handy to have for Linkedin and a host of other things. I actually need an updated headshot of myself…the headshot I have on my bio page was taken on Thanksgiving in 2011. The cobbler whose children have no shoes and the photographer without a picture of themselves…
These darling sisters are the bookends of their family with 3 boys in between. I especially love that smile on the right because that little lady made me work hard to get it. She was too young to think farting stories were funny…
I love these pictures of Katie and her husband! If I didn’t know better I’d think they were engagement pictures…Katie what is your secret to looking so young?! I also loved these candid shots of her husband playing with their girls in the river. Candids are my favorite for sure.
Blue eyed cuties and their mama below…that there is a good gene pool I tell you!
The kids with their parents…what a great family! I’m so glad I got to meet them! With every new person I meet here in Boise it feels a little more like home.
Thank you so much for having me photograph your wonderful family!
Last week I did a shoot for my next door neighbors in their backyard. We really lucked out in the neighbor department, we have amazing neighbors! Vinci, the mom, is from Hong Kong and she is tutoring my kids in Mandarin Chinese. I don’t want my kids to lose what they have learned after all the hard work they have put into it over the last 2 years. Her oldest son was born in Hong Kong and next week he begins his 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he will be serving in Hong Kong. So I took a few missionary pictures of Niles during their photo shoot as well. I am not used to seeing him with short hair, but boy does he look sharp and I have no doubt he will be an excellent missionary. I’ll definitely miss seeing him around.
