Family Portrait Part Deux | Atlanta Child Photographer

First of all, let me apologize if you saw my previous story on Instagram. I stated that I would blog about my latest family portrait session. Yes, this post is about a family portrait session, just not my family. Because of time, lack of time and life, I was unable to edit the images from our session in time for this blogpost. Perhaps I’ll start the year off with that particular post. Until that time, let’s talk about the Gaston family’s do over.

For those of us who are parents, I’m sure you understand how difficult it can be to let your teen know that their feelings matter. We spend so much time telling our children/teens what they should do, how they should do it and sometimes how they should feel about it or worse, that maybe their feelings didn’t matter as much as whatever was going on. The latter is not usually intentional. We get so caught up in what we want, how something should look that we neglect the feelings of others who are involved.

Basically, that’s what happened in my first session with the Gastons. As I may have mentioned in their previous blog that they had a stylist assist them with their wardrobe. What was selected for them was great but Josh wasn’t really feeling it. He went through the motions for the session but definitely wasn’t showing any of his personality. To anyone not in the family he just looked like a regular, ole moody teenager but his mother knew he wasn’t comfortable in his clothing. This discomfort made him unhappy, for lack of a better word and Belinda sensed it.

After the session was over, Belinda had a good talk with him. She wanted to assure him that his feelings do matter, as does his input. She suggested a reshoot where he could wear what he wanted. From what she told me, this made him perk up and he was amenable to the idea, even a bit happy about it. I don’t usually have to do reshoots but I felt this one was important. I wanted everyone to be happy with their images and how they are presented in them, not just some of them. In a family portrait, everyone is important.

The second session went off without a hitch. We met up at the site and walked around finding places here and there to photograph. Since we’ve had a few sessions here before, we were quite familiar with the different areas. Josh was definitely in a better mood, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t wander off by himself at times. Typical teen behavior.

Below are some of the images from the session. One image in particular you can see Josh’s real personality. He had everyone cracking up when he hit his crazy/cool walk! It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. Fortunately it wasn’t cold because I hate shooting in the cold!

“Taking the time to truly listen to someone can communicate our love and respect even more than the spoken word.” ~ Dave Willis