he he he…ha ha ha…ho ho ho| Annapolis family photographer

There was much laughter in the household of my friend Lara and her beautiful growing boys Sean and Alex the other night when I stopped by to do a last-minute Christmas photo shoot with them. It’s always so nice to visit with Lara and her boys, there is always a nice BIG cup of tea, great conversation and laughing involved when I am there…and I am so thankful for that.

I noticed something during their shoot that I am very happy to acknowledge…I’ve been trying too hard to “pose” my subjects when I don’t know them very well. While, I do think that most everybody wants at least one or two posed shots to give to their parents and grandparents, it’s the candid ones that everyone LOVES and ends up using in their holiday card….and just happen to be the ones I enjoy shooting. So…after trying to pose Lara and her boys in front of the nice white fireplace and then again in their dining area of their kitchen (which has great color and art), we moved into her cozy bedroom where the three of them lay down to read a Christmas story and what I captured there was so pure and true to who they are as a family.

I wish that I could walk into every clients house and know who they are so that we could just skip to this part of having fun and documenting their personalities. Maybe I need to start asking more questions before heading out to a photo shoot. Or maybe I just let go a bit and see what happens. It’s a bit nerve-wracking to suggest to a family to do something that you think might be so fun and worth documenting but they might think that it’s the weirdest thing ever…kind of like how I would feel if I had my photo taken at a Sears Portrait Studio…awkward!

Well, either way, it’s nice to be reminded sometimes that letting go and having a bit more fun and creativity in a photo shoot produces shots that they can look at for years and years to come and talk about that moment instead of just saying, “wow, look at how ugly my hair was in 1985!”.

Merry Merry Christmas Lara, Sean and Alex and to all my awesome clients and followers this year. It’s been a very rewarding year! Much love to you all.