Today I want to share some super fun family photos with you of Danielle and Jill and their three adorable little ones. I had to laugh when I walked up onto their porch and I looked down to read their doormat. The warning was soon revealed to be completely true when I rang the bell and the stampede to the door was on. I could hear laughter and running footsteps and the telltale sounds of little hands struggling with the deadbolt. And of course, from somewhere behind them was the monotone voice of a mom who has said the thing many times before. Soon, the door was open and there were three pairs of excited eyes on me and my giant cameras. We went to the back yard to make the first few photos because the morning light was gorgeous back there. Then, after making the perfect front porch family portrait, we headed to the park for our reward. At the park, everyone played on the slides and the swings and generally had enough fun to work up an appetite. One of the things I’m always aware of when I work with families is that it’s stressful to invite a stranger with a camera into your world. We all feel so much pressure to have perfect lives these days and the feeling that you need to perform for the camera can be overwhelming. I’m always grateful to families who trust me enough to let me see inside their world for a minute, and I’m always happy to show them how beautiful their lives are, imperfections and all. Especially the imperfections. Because family life is perfectly imperfect, and that’s right where the magic happens.
