New Year, New Portraits | Atlanta Child Photographer

My very last session of the year was with my own family. It had been six years in the making but we finally did it. There is a multitude of reasons as to why it took so long. A photographer’s family is no different than a family that doesn’t have a photographer as a member. Just because they specialize in whatever does not mean the family gets that service whenever they want. 

Believe me, my husband and I have been talking about taking new portraits literally for years. The most difficult aspect of setting this up was time. Getting my schedule and my husband’s schedule to sync up seemed to be a major feat. When I had available time, he didn’t and vice versa. The holiday season seemed to work out best for us. Basically, I told him that we were doing it on a particular day since he was not working and it was a weekend. I knew I didn’t have anything planned because it was on a Sunday and I don’t work on Sundays.

The next obstacle was what colors were we going to wear. I don’t know about you but I didn’t want to trust my husband with selecting the colors by himself. I think I let him select the colors for other sessions. In the first official session, we wore black shirts and khaki pants. The next time, we wore red shirts and shorts. It was very informal. In the last session, we wore white shirts. My husband had on khakis, my son had on jeans and I had on brown leggings. This time, I selected the colors. They were brown, burgundy, and green. Actually, I’m the only one who had on all the colors. That wasn’t necessary but sometimes I can be an over-achiever. The thing that you wouldn’t know is that my husband’s colors were a bit off from what I asked for. I said burgundy and he had read. I asked for brown or green and he had on pumpkin. Let’s just say he tested my Photoshop skills.  

The last obstacle was the fact that I hate photographing my husband. I’ve often thought about hiring another photog to photograph our session but I didn’t want to subject them to him. I know the way I’ve just talked about my husband sounds really bad but please, let me explain. My husband is a wonderful man. He’s funny, honest (brutally, sometimes), loving,  hardworking, intelligent, and extremely particular. It’s that last part that really gets me. Even though I am an expert, he likes to try to tell me how to do my job. (Insert eye roll) It’s really quite annoying and I just don’t want to deal with it, honestly. That’s probably the main reason the session has always been put off.

So, I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by last year’s session. My husband followed directions and my son complied without having to coax him. He’s actually pretty good in front of the camera. Even if he’s not thrilled about me taking his picture, he will still participate without complaining. I captured the image below when he was trying out a pose for me and helping me check my lighting. I really do like this image. Many times I’ve thought that he could be a model but I’m sure many parents feel the same way about their children too. 

What an excellent way to end the year! We finally have our new family portraits and it was nowhere near as difficult or unpleasant as I thought it would be. Now we can begin the year with new portraits that will hang in our home. I’m really excited! I tell my clients how important it is to have their images on display and I truly believe that. 

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” ~ Dr. Seuss