We were contact by Kristie a couple months ago about doing family pictures and we were told it was for the whole family, quite a large number of people. We don’t typically do extended family pictures just because the way we shoot doesn’t really appeal to large groups. By that I mean, we shoot like a fly on the wall, capturing the moments or at least setting up poses where a family can look a little more candid or real. Typically large extended family pictures consist of a few posed images and that’s it. If you are familiar with the show Modern Family, in season one the family wants a family portrait. They get in all white, try and set a formal scene and the pictures just aren’t fun, and the family feels it. Chaos begins to happen as one of their white outfits get a stain on it and the picture of them playing around ends up being their favorite shot. I know, it’s just a TV show, but it has some truth in it as far as what families may enjoy more for a family portrait. Sure everyone dressing to the nines looks great, but a family picture should be who y’all are as a unit.
It was this kind of “chaos” that Kristie wanted for pictures. Sure we got some posed pictures in there but for the most part they wanted candid moments, they were familiar with my style of shooting and getting those candid moments seemed more important to them than the posed pictures, I won’t complain with that. This was the perfect setup for family pictures, in my opinion. Not only was this the perfect setup for family pictures, this was probably the perfect family for candid family pictures. The whole family was present, kids and pets running in and out of the house to go play outside and take a break inside. Parents, Grandparents, siblings, in laws were interacting and laughing. It was definitely chaos, but it was about the best kind of chaos a photographer could ask for. And the laid back nature of the family created one of the best environments I have ever worked in. It was an absolute blast working with them, it was definitely a great way to top off Thanksgiving weekend.
