Working with multi-generational families is NOT my strong suit. I will readily admit to that. I enjoy running around and playing with a family more than posing them in the most traditional sense. But, and I’m being totally honest here, when you need to bring in a certain amount of income for your family you take most of the jobs you can get. And my family survives each month on what I make with Fresh Art. I am not just bored and in need of a hobby, I run an actual business that I want to do well and be profitable. So I take jobs that aren’t as exciting to me as others.

So walking up to the Strauss family at the Jewel Box I was a little nervous and not super excited for the session. It was at the end of a long weekend and all I really wanted to do was hang out at home with my kids. I was just kind of dragging my feet so-to-speak.

Until I met them.

They were warm and welcoming to me and so loving towards one another! The one and only grandchild totally had my heart from the get-go and I would have taken him home with me! Such a flirt!

What I realized while working with this family is that while you still want to get all the traditional poses and capture ALL the different combinations with a family of multiple generations, you can still make the session your own. It doesn’t have to be boring.

It really made me look hard at how I shoot and my expectations walking into a session because this one floored me. I could have sat with that Grandpa for hours hearing his life story, chatted with their dad about photography (he loves to take travel photos!), taken either of the girls to lunch or kidnapped that little man for the day to get my baby fix!

They were all so delightful and fun and well, in a much different way from a session like THIS, I still fell in love with my job all over again on this night.

What hit me even more is that while I love shooting less posed normally… sometimes getting everyone to look at the camera and smile is still a really really cool thing.

Because as simple as it is to have four women line up, put their arms around one another and smile… I would give anything to have an image just as simple of me, my mom, my sister and my grandma. But we don’t and now it’s too late.

And while it seems simple, it’s really not. It’s not simple getting this many pieces of one family together in one place, dressed nicely and willing to take photos together! Especially because most adults hate getting their photo taken!

And because most people hate taking photos, most are sort of grumpy (maybe that’s just my family? HA!)… but not these guys! They were so willing to do whatever I asked knowing just how important it was that their 91 year old grandparents made it out for these images!

THANK YOU SO MUCH you guys. So much. You made me look at my job in a new light and when you shoot as often as I do that can be hard to do. I can get in ruts and especially get set in what “I” think is right/creative/good/etc. but you guys just blew so much of that thought process out of the water for me. I hope that you understand how appreciative I am for that… especially in the midst of my busy season!

I loved getting to work with all of you and I hope you treasure these images for generations!