I was so excited to offer an alternative to the typical Walmart experience for Holiday Family Portraits. Instead of being rushed in with the option of 6 poses to choose from I gave my clients a relaxed 45 minute session where they ended up with 10-15 images showcasing their children actually having fun! – I know it’s a shock to some, but kids are allowed to have fun when they get their pictures done. At least that’s the way this girl see’s it. I don’t like posey pictures, they don’t feel natural to me. A kid should be able to be a kid – and kids run around! It’s just a fact of life and if you have kids then you know this is true. It’s what makes them great and it’s what we all wish we could still do. A kid should feel free to be a kid and they get that freedom in my studio.
They are not placed on some Studio table and told to sit there – oh and try not to fall off! lol… nope they get free reign at my place. They get to help choose their props to play with {ya, it doesn’t set up for a “perfect” picture you may see in a magazine, but these kids are all perfect to me in whatever way they want to play!} and all I try to get them to do is stay in a general area so they have good lighting. As you will see in a few pictures below sometimes the ones where they are not in the ideal place can be some of the best pictures…especially when Santa has to go behind the scenes to get a cookie.
Did someone say Santa???!!!!! That’s right! I also wanted to provide my clients with the opportunity to avoid the 2 hour long line at the mall and have their children experience the magic of Santa in a relaxed environment. Where they weren’t being pressured to move on because the next 50 kids wanted a turn. No the sets might not be the $10,000 sets you see at the mall but if you are worried about fluff then that’s the place to be. Nope, the set up was simple because to me it wasn’t about all the fake backgrounds it was about capturing the expressions on these kid’s faces when they saw Santa. To them Santa is a hero, a magical person that they never thought they would see in real life…it was about capturing that aha moment!
I’m going to start the pictures below with those aha moments and Santa and then go through a couple of sneak peeks of some of the cutest little kids I have had the pleasure and priveledge of meeting.
A big thank you to all the families that came out to enjoy the day with me. I hope to see you again next year when we do it all again 🙂 And stay tuned for more themed mini shoots coming this Spring – they won’t disappoint!
Hope you enjoy the sneak peeks!
Love Always,
Jen
p.s. the first one’s my little one..you may have seen him a time or two 😉 he’s like that guy that always shows up in the back of your pictures at a party…but so much cuter! Plus he was a real sport letting all the kids play with his train table…well except when he started to cry because Landon took his green train, but besides that, he was a real trooper for all of mommy’s guests. Because to pull something like this off it took a team of helpers, and he was mommy’s very special little helper that day!
A special thanks to Santa and Mrs. Claus who came out to see all these wonderful children – you seriously made their day!
