A Family Lifestyle Photo Session in Charlotte, NC.
Luke & Brittney are dear friends of ours that we visited back in March. They have 5 children. We have 2. With 11 people in the house, it was a busy atmosphere for sure. But really that’s just par for the course with families. Chaos is the breath that gives big families life. The clutter, the stress, the constant need to give attention to young lives… It’s hard work for anyone. But no parent worth their salt would trade it for anything. I would venture to say however, that it takes something special to agree to begin a photo shoot at 7am while you’re still attempting to peel your eyelids open. Which is just what they did.
Going in to this, I knew that I didn’t want to make anything look polished. I didn’t want to make anything look better than it really was or make the kids look like a JCpenny ad where they’re all playing nicely in a perfectly arranged play room. I wanted the grit. I wanted to capture the real deal in all their imperfection. I remember one moment where I was framing a shot of their couch next to a wall that they have plastered with instagram prints. The couch was cluttered with toys and, out of habit, I started to move the toys out of the way. Then I stopped myself and thought, “Why? that’s not real.” So I put them back.
There was one moment though that I think kind of epitomized this series for me. Luke & Brit had just poured themselves a mug of life elixir (AKA coffee) and both just stood there for a moment – trying to muster enough strength in the midst of a house buzzing with toys being thrown, couches being used as launch/landing pads and intermittent shrieks. I saw the moment and said, “hey just stay right there for a second.” It’s not a super artistic photograph, but I think it’s one that any parent will instantly connect with.
Saturday morning pancakes are a tradition in their home and they wanted to memorialize it before they blink and the kids are in college.
Big thanks to my wonderful wife Janna who helped a lot and in various ways with this session!
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