Here is a truth about me.  Give me just about any client, any person to photograph, and I have all the patience in the world, thoroughly enjoying the creative process.  But my family, oy vey.  I don’t just plan outfits and locations, but conjure up lists of expectations that aren’t even meant to be met, but that show up at the photo session anyway.  And these expectations quickly turn from good ideas to thieves– stealing my joy and any hope of real emotions and genuine moments– the very things I want to capture.  I’m learning, but not learned.

Because of this, and to limit stress, I’ve limited us to only shooting us as a family for a holiday card every other year.  I have learned, through the years, how to manage my own kids during a shoot– well for the most part.  I actually am a lot better than I used to be.  But put me in front of the camera too and there is way too much going on.  (This is why other photographers need other photographers.)  So here it is, the culmination of what we did for our family portrait for a New Year’s card.  Nope, not my full vision, and a great list of expectations not met, but four months later I’m embracing the mishaps and thankful for them.  It just took me awhile.  I mean, let’s face it, I wasn’t ready to blog about it until now.

OK, so we drove to the shoot, and I watched for my ideal light.  Only problem, we were in the car, still driving.  Yep, late to our own photo session.  Lighting is the most important reason to show up on time to a location photo shoot.  I knew that, but, like I said, too much going on.  So we get there, and I hustle to set up, and kept sweating/perspiring/glistening– not the look I was going for though.  My good tripod wouldn’t be in my hands for a few more weeks, so I had to try to use an almost useless tripod, that knew I thought it was useless and therefore did not cooperate with me.  Oh and my clicker remote, decided not to work with me any further than 5-6 feet away– not what I was going for.  But, as in life, we persevered.  And I had to turn on some acting skills, letting my anger and frustration about the shoot itself go, so I could smile and somehow enjoy my family.

This is how we started:

Feet cut off, head cut off, nose-picking stars and kids who weren’t having anything to do with it.  And then the remote caught  me mid-snarl and the tripod was ready to cast me in the next Oompa Loompa role available.

We readjusted once I checked the camera.  So below was my “safe” shot that I started with.  Lighting worked good enough, but my eldest had an awkward body position that wasn’t ideal.  I do like our faces though, and now love this image for my family.  It isn’t “perfect” but that is working for me.

 

 

Below is when my youngest was just enjoying herself, most likely, because I was trying hard to just enjoy her.  I did edit out the remote here.

And a few “in between” shots on the beach, including our star sail.

And now the original vision shot starts to happen.  You know, get in the ocean, on a Stand Up Paddle Board, but don’t get wet, or fall in.  And put all 4 family members on the board, with a “sail” of stars.

But we did it!

Sorta.  I did have to composite two different images to create this shot (above).  Secret is out.  But hooray that Photoshop could save us from doing a re-shoot.  Once that was done we had time for a few more.

My husband took the one above with me and my girls.  Thankful for this image.  Also, us girls are all wearing Matilda Jane.  Yes, Matilda Jane can work great in Maui photo shoots too!

This next one, below, my eldest took.  She did really well composing the image and I had to include it.

 

And then she was off to actually SUP, because it was too tempting not to, even in street clothes.
And everybody was so happy the shoot was over.

Once home, I created and designed our New  Year’s card.  And, I have to give a shout out for New Year’s cards– they help for a less-stressed holiday.  (I design holiday cards and Christmas cards for clients every year.)

So there you have it.  Not ideal in any way, but it worked out.  Even with an almost useless tripod and a sun that had other places to be.  Oh, and not only did I have something I could use for our New Year’s card, but I also had a little more patience for my own family and a joy in letting some unrealistic expectations sail away.  So I guess it was a successful photo session after all.