It's been a while since I photographed this family, but they did just as amazing as they did 2 years ago. The girls have so much fun together and make my job super easy. I love watching them giggle together because it makes me hopeful for the future of my daughters' relationship as they grow up. I had such a difficult time narrowing down to my favorite images for this session. They were beautiful in every single shot! I also love how their dad came up with the idea to photograph the girls in the tree....it turned out so fun! So never be afraid to throw an idea out there if you have something in mind. ;)

Sometimes kiddos are unpredictable.

Trust me. I know this. I have two very active daughters and one on the way, and they do not like posed photos whatsoever. Rarely do they smile, or look at the camera, or even sit long enough without screaming to participate in the photo. And the thing is, you just never know when it will hit. You don't know when something will set them off to make them shut down and refuse to smile.

But often posed photos are not the most endearing, the most heartfelt or the most genuine.

This adorable little girl was not having it.  Her gorgeous mom picked out the perfect outfits, was fully prepared with treats and music, and the family is beautiful and so sweet, but Little One just wasn't feeling it. And that's okay. Because I think this became one of my favorite sessions ever. I love the colors they chose, how Mom and Dad didn't get upset, but rather stayed calm and embraced the session as it was, how each image is more about a genuine connection.

Kudos to parents who stay calm. Goodness knows I rarely stay calm when my own kids won't pose like I want them to for photos, and then they completely shut down. When the parents just go with it, it creates such a different feeling and helps the child to not be averse to photo sessions.

And we caught that sweet little girl's smiles in between the playing and dancing and hugging, but the smiles were real and authentic. I've wanted to do documentary photography for a while, just as I do with my girls, but many clients prefer the posed. Frankly, I would LOVE to have a photo session with completely candid, real images of my family and me just being us and all of the little details that go with it. We didn't plan on a documentary session, but let's face it, few things in life with kiddos goes as planned! :)

A perk of my job as a photographer is getting to meet so many amazing families. I love getting to see how differently they interact, meeting new people, capturing their family dynamics and the love they have for each other. It was such a pleasure getting to meet this family, and they did a wonderful job! The kiddos were adorable and cooperative, and the parents were so kind and a beautiful couple, and I found out that they are related to one of my favorite client families and went to high school with my little sister.