This sweet family has been waiting FOREVER for a blog post! C called me several months ago to inquire about a custom session. After considering the investment, we decided to wait until next spring to schedule her session… but then, for mother’s day, I got a call from her sweet husband… he came to the studio and purchased a gift certificate for her mother’s day gift. Amazing present. Amazing Husband… Amazing family.
There are so many precious things about this family. You see mom, I think, is a Saint. She rolls with all the punches with these two 4 year olds! We had so much fun, playing in the creek, running on the green way, playing on the playground. So many parents (me included… which is another story about my family portrait session from last week) are so very concerned with how their children behave, how well they pose for me, or follow directions. C just wanted to capture their spirits. She said if they got a great family portrait that would be amazing. I think it is amazing, how about you?
This next image just makes me smile. These boys are loved beyond belief. I can see the joy on their sweet faces as they squeeze their mom.
Meet A. A sweet, curious, talkative one. Who, let’s just face it is adorable! He was adopted from Guatemala as a baby. He is such a helper for his mom too… and I think God must have sent him- because he is such an amazing brother for J. Even at this early age, you could see his love, patience, and acceptance of his brother.
And meet J. We did most of our portrait session planning around J. I’m going to tell you this, and from their pictures, it would be impossible to see, but J is autistic. He is non-verbal and his mom was very concerned that his spirit show through in these portraits- that we didn’t see any anxiety, no nervousness and no signs of stress. Our portrait planning included bringing him to this very site for him to be familiar with it before the session. Making sure that we had him doing comfortable things, and we knew that we definitely could not constrain him to the studio, if we wanted him to be relaxed. How do you think we did? What I see here is a bright, handsome, energetic 4 year old- with an amazing smile.
I have worked with many autistic children through the Riley center and ABC, and every time, I know how important a great portrait is of these special children- so we work hard to give their parents a portraits they adore. I’ll admit, it makes you feel amazing to be able to give them portraits like these.
We decided on a collage to capture all of their sweet expressions… I am personally in love with this piece. The affection between all of them, is just heartwarming.
C tells me that she’s considering opening a pre-school for special needs children. I couldn’t think of a better person to take on such an inportant task. C thank you for allowing me to capture you family… It was an amazing experience for me and I feel privileged to have just a little part of your family.