Our Family Photo Session

At the beginning of this year, I decided that it was time to start getting professional family pictures at least annually.

Now, to a lot of people that would have sounded silly. After all, it's just me and Claire. Not really a family. To that, I say, obviously you have no idea what family is.

My baby girl gave me companionship when I was alone during a spouse's military deployment.
My baby girl gave me hope, that I wouldn't always be alone, that I was a good mama, that I could be a mama even if I couldn't get pregnant.
And my baby girl put her whole heart towards trusting me and loving me. Despite her history of abuse and absolute fright around new people and objects. She was never once afraid of me. Even when she did something naughty, her tail was always wagging at me if I tried to discipline her. That kind of love and trust is something a child has in their parents.

We are a family.

I wanted to start documenting my family as it is, and as it grows. Luckily, when I contacted Jessie, she didn't think I sounded silly for wanting a family photo session with my pup. You might remember Jessie from this shoot we collaborated on a few months ago. I knew after seeing the results of that project, that I would be thrilled to hire her for family portraits.

I also knew what I wanted in a photographer, somebody who was genuine and nice. Whose work I loved but more importantly, a photographer who I thought would get it. Who would respect that this session wasn't just for kicks and giggles, that this IS my family and I wanted to preserve these memories forever. I already knew that Jessie was a blast- hilarious and kind. We really hit it off the first time we met. And she had already met Claire and Claire trusted her- super important, otherwise Claire would have been running away from her and hiding, trying to get away from the new person holding a scary object.

Unfortunately it was really chilly and windy which made my eyes start crying really badly so we only shot for a few minutes then decided to reschedule for the remainder of the session. Thank goodness, a photographer who understands and wasn't going to make me spend an hour in the cold wind trying to get good pictures on the day I paid her for her time. A lot of photographers aren't so understanding. You pay a session fee for their time, and if your kids get the flu or you have pink eye, oh well, that's the time you paid for, you utilize it because they have full schedules and if you want a different session time, you'll have to pay for another session time.

Needless to say, I am thrilled with the pictures from our 5 minute shoot. I can't wait til the weather warms up and we finish our session. I know I'll be going back to Jessie when I get family portraits again in the future.



Jessie is the owner and photographer of Schu's Shoots Photography, serving Hampton Roads, Va.

 

Random notes-
I made the ribbon sash belt I'm wearing in the pictures, my shoes were $12 on ebay and the dress was $29 at H&M.
Look at how much I'm geeking in these pictures! I radiate so much happiness when I'm bonding with my baby girl. Not just teeth, but my gums are showing too haha.