Family Portraits

As a child I remember going to our church on a Tuesday evening (or some weeknight) to get our family portrait taken for the directory.  Mom and Dad got us three kids dressed up; we waited our turn along with all the other families, then we sat in a room in front of a blue backdrop.  Two or three photos were snapped.  We left and waited for the directory to arrive in the mail to see how our picture turned out.  I don't remember this as fact, but if I were a betting man, I'd bet that family photo was available for purchase as an enlargement too.

My perceptions of family portrait sessions have changed now that I have my own family... and now that I have what I would classify as my own photographer.

About 6 weeks ago, we packed up the kid, and we met our photographer at my wife's office.  We spent an hour playing with furniture, texture and lighting.  After a while, my wife's parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew joined in the fun.  All of the images were captured digitally, so we were able to preview them on the spot.  Later that day, our photographer processed a handful of the images and posted them to her blog for us to see.  Today, all 226 images arrived on a single CD.  Of the 200+, at least 150 of them are unique images (as opposed to repeats of the same pose or moment).  I like that we've advanced from film to digital if for no other reason than volume.  It is so much cheaper today to take a bad shot or to take five of them and choose the best.

Here are a handful of my favorite: