Happy Friday, y’all! The holiday season is fully upon us (I finally got my house all decorated for Christmas last weekend), and today’s post is all about my final family session of the Fall season. You may remember C and R from when I photographed their vow renewal in Eureka Springs last year (see photos here. And here), and this year their son got to join us for photos. I just adore this family, and I am so happy with how these photos turned out!
Before the Session
After C reached out to me to schedule photos for her family, we talked a lot about where we should do them. I always suggest using places that are meaningful to my clients for their sessions. C and R and their son T love to spend time camping, climbing, and off-roading, and one of their favorite spots is at this creek where we had their session.
Since I had never been there before, I asked C to take me there a few weeks before our session date so that I could scope it out and make a plan. I’m big on plans. And since the only way to access that location is with a four wheel drive vehicle, we took her Jeep on our scouting session. As soon as I saw this location, I was in love. It has bluffs, a pebble beach, and of course the creek.
One of the things that I thought about a lot before this session was how to engage T in the session. I really wanted some cool photos of him that would showcase his personality that his mom would be able to look at fondly for years to come. So I knew I wanted photos of him with the family Jeep (because what teenage boy doesn’t love a Jeep?), and I also had the idea for C to bring some smores supplies (because what human doesn’t love smores?!). Plus I’ve been wanting to have a campfire session for so long! And spoiler alert, I love how they turned out!
During the Session
Once again we took their Jeep on the off-road trail to reach the creek. Since the evenings were already getting cooler by then, we had the whole creek to ourselves.
After getting several of the shots I wanted (including some that involved me wrapping each of my legs in a trash bag and wading into the creek – I’ll truly do anything for the shot!), we decided it was time to build the fire.
That’s when we noticed a man walking towards us from down the creek. We recognized him as someone who had driven past us with his family a while back, but whose car had quickly disappeared around a bend in the creek. And now he was back to tell us that his car was stuck and to ask for help getting it out. So off R and T went in the Jeep to help get the car out. This gave me a chance to take some solo portraits of C while we waited for the boys to come back, and I got a cool shot of them doing a water crossing on their way back to where we were shooting.
The rest of the session passed uneventfully, and I was able to get some really cool blue hour shots in, which I always love. I feel like some of my most creative work has been done with flash or other alternative lighting after the sun goes down, and I was thrilled to be able to include that creativity in this session.
We took their Jeep back out to the main road where my car was, and I made my way home to begin on the second part of my job as a photographer – editing.
After the Session
One of my strengths as a photographer – I believe – is in my skill as a photo editor. By this point in my career I feel like I’m so dialed in to my editing process that I can quickly make the major edits, which leaves me more time to make the more creative edits that really makes a gallery interesting and cohesive. Some of that is by knowing my gear inside and out and manually adjusting my camera’s settings during the session as the light changes to be able to preserve every detail of the moments I’m capturing. Some of it is by mastering the editing software I use that allows me to edit photos to reflect the emotion of their session.
And the rest? It can only be explained as a certain energy that occurs when I am behind the lens of my camera.
I am so happy with how this gallery came out, but I’m even happier that C and R are happy with the photos. I love being able to deliver my clients with photos they love, it truly never gets old.
Final Thoughts
Each and every gallery is so special to me, but the ones for returning clients like C and R are extra special. I love seeing families grow and change through my lens over time. If it’s been a few years since you had photos taken, reach out and we’ll make some magic together. Because in 20 years, you’ll want to be able to look back on the version of your family from right now.
So do it. Book the session, make the memories, and get the photos of your dreams!
*All my blog posts contain a selection of images that I’ve taken. If you are interested in booking a wedding or session with me, I am more than happy to send you a full gallery upon request!
I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a portraits/elopements/branding photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook and sign up for my monthly newsletter to get exclusive wedding planning advice and access to all of my new (and old) freebies! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!
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Love the fire shots