Lifestyle

I got to shoot holiday mini sessions for my sister, my brother-in-law, my two nephews, and some of their friends from church. Kids (especially kids who happen to be your own family) bring a wild kind of energy, full of laughter, wiggles, and those split-second serious faces that crack into huge smiles. That is the best part of the day.

I like a mixture of lived-in, documentary style for family photos paired with posed. Clothes bunch, leaves stick to jackets, kids run in and out of frame. Real life is messy and fun and that is exactly what makes the photos memorable. I let them play, joke around, and just be themselves in between those more staged photos. That’s when the magic happens.

It was one of the coldest days of the year, yet the older kids somehow kept the little ones laughing and smiling the entire time, all while the parents ran back into the warm cars. Watching these friends from church adopt my nephews as their own pseudo-siblings was amazing. There is something so fun about “found family.”

Also: try getting horses and dogs to look at the camera at the same time as children.