The Only Girl - Quad Cities Family Photographer

I had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful family on Saturday morning.

It's so fun when I meet new clients.  Many times I see them for the first time when they step out of their vehicle at our location we will be doing the shoot at.  I have this moment of nervousness just before they step out...I just wonder if they are going to be relaxed and fun or if they will need loosening up or not.  It doesn't take but a few seconds to know how they will be...truly, it only takes that long.  I knew immediately with this family that my work would be easy.

a) look at them...they are gorgeous!  I knew my camera would love them!

b) they were immediately friendly and "real"...the boys were being themselves, the older not thrilled to be there and the younger, full of energy and spunk, I knew the moments I would capture would be real and candid...those make for the best images.

c) they were totally dressed PERFECTLY for the location.  I mean, Tammy's amazing necklace, Ryan's awesome green shoes...yup, perfect.  I immediately had a vision of how their images would look...I was excited.

 

As you can see, just like in my family, Tammy is the only girl.  The mom.  The feminine touch to a masculin brood.  There is something so wonderful about that and because my family is the same, I think I have this immediate connection with other mothers surrounded by handsome men.  And she was amazing and in the short time I spent with them, I could tell what a fabulous mother she is.  There is something very similar to mothers of all boys that I have noticed.  They are laid back, they know that their boys (including their husbands!) are just that...boys.  They most often don't love their pictures being taken, they don't pose willingly in front of the lens, they will likely get dirty and be dragging around tree limbs twice their size during the whole shoot or will punch their brother while he's hugging him for a picture.  And with all of that going on, the mom just rolls her eyes and laughs and just knows, this is us, it doesn't phase me and I hope it doesn't phase you.  And the thing is...it doesn't phase me!  In fact, I LOVED my time with these 2 boys despite the fact that they might not have even liked the time they had with me! Ha. :)  I get it, I have 3 boys and a husband who makes it 4 and I completely get it.  You have to be laid back, you just do.  And my style of photography is meant to capture REAL moments, not fake ones.  If you want fake moments, I'm not your gal!

Not only was Tammy laid back, but she didn't LOOK laid back...I mean c'mon, she is GORGEOUS!

The oldest...
Colin is 11 and he is very 11.  He wasn't thrilled to be there, but you know what that means?!  It means that when I got a smile out of him...it was real.  He is who he is and I was ready with my finger on the shutter to capture any flash of a smile I could get.  And I somehow always manage to get it.  I've had my moments when I felt like I may not get a smiling picture when working with a child, I have.  Somehow I've always managed to get one or two at least.  With this one though, I wasn't worried, I knew he'd cooperate.  The trick?  Make Mom and Dad leave the area and they usually always cooperate!  It's like magic...and it worked for this one too.

 

The youngest...
Ryan is 6 and like his brother, he's ALL 6!
He is full of energy, wanted to please so much that the smiles I got from this one in the beginning were very forced.  I said smile and he SMILED...HUGE.  This is common for a 6 year old.  I expected it.  It doesn't matter though because he was so full of energy and joy that it didn't take much to make get the real smile out of him.  And really, he was so funny.  And my little 5 year old will be 6 in 6 months...this one made me look forward to 6.  Thanks, Ryan!

And seriously, I need to get Tate those shoes STAT!

This family gave me a whole lot of "real".  And honestly, there's nothing more a photographer like me could ask for...that's all I want.

 

Thank you Nick, Tammy, Colin and Ryan for spending some time with me on Saturday morning...it was such a pleasure!

And let me leave you with my favorite moment I captured in my time with this family.
I am in love with this image and the love that is pouring out of my computer screen when I look at it!

She is the only girl...and something tells me that she is just fine with it!

:)