Your Family Photos Don’t Have to Feel Perfect to Be Beautiful
I’ve had the privilege of photographing this family many times, and somehow every time they step in front of my camera, I love their photos a little more.
This summer evening at McCloud Nature Park in Danville, Indiana, was no exception. It was hot. The bugs were relentless. And with four boys at very different ages, there was plenty of movement, laughter and real life happening between the photos. But that’s kind of the point.
Because looking through this gallery, you’d never know the evening wasn’t picture perfect.
And it reminded me of something I wish every family knew before stepping in front of my camera...
Your family photos don’t have to feel perfect to be beautiful.
Your family is allowed to just be your family.
Kids can get restless. Someone might not feel like smiling. The littlest one may have completely different plans than the rest of us. That’s okay.
I’ve photographed these boys through a lot of different seasons, and one of my favorite things is seeing how much changes between sessions and how much stays exactly the same.
They’re still brothers. They laugh, pick on each other, love on the little guy and make each other crazy. And I don’t want to photograph that out of them.
So we walk. We play. We get the photo of everyone looking at the camera, but we also make room for everything that happens in between. Because those in-between moments are so often where the good stuff is.
More than one family photo.
Of course, I want to give you that beautiful photo of everyone together. The one you’ll frame, put on the Christmas card or hang over the fireplace.
But a full family session gives us time for so much more than that. I want the brothers together. Each child on their own. Mom with her babies. Dad with his. Mom and Dad together.
And all the little combinations that tell the story of what your family looks like in this particular season. Because your family won’t look exactly like this again.
The way she looks at her boys.
After photographing this family over the years, there’s something I’ve come to love seeing again and again: the way this mama looks at her boys.
Her boys are growing up. Some are getting so big they stand taller beside her, while her youngest is still small enough to scoop into her arms.
But through every season I’ve photographed, there’s something that hasn’t changed. You can see how much she adores them just by the way she looks at them.
From the oldest standing taller beside her to the baby still wrapping his arms around her neck, that love looks the same.
And maybe that’s one of the reasons I love making time for these photographs so much.
One day you’re carrying them on your hip, and somehow, not that many summers later, they’re standing taller than you.
But the way you look at them doesn’t really change.
Don’t forget the two who started it all.
In the middle of raising kids, running in different directions and keeping up with everyday life, photos of just Mom and Dad can be easy to forget.
So yes, I’m going to pull you away from the kids for a minute. You might feel a little awkward at first. Do it anyway.
Someday, your kids will be really glad you did.
It doesn’t have to feel perfect.
Here’s the thing about this evening.
It was still hot.
The bugs were still there.
Not every child wanted to do exactly what we wanted them to do at exactly the moment we wanted them to do it.
And none of that is what I see when I look at these photographs.
I see four boys growing up.
I see brothers being brothers.
I see a little one who won’t be this little much longer.
I see parents right in the middle of raising them.
And I see a mama who still looks at her boys, from the oldest to her baby, with that same love in her eyes.
That’s what I want you to remember from your family photos.
Not whether everyone behaved perfectly.
Not whether every hair stayed in place.
Not whether the evening went exactly according to plan.
I want you to remember what your family felt like right now.
