Hello, dear friends!

I come to you today with a sleeping baby wrapped around my torso & sounds of the ocean streaming from Spotify… apparently Isaac doesn’t do too well after watching some of the Super Bowl & staying up past his bedtime. Whoops! We tried the usual bedtime routine at our friend’s house…. that was a no-go. He’s been resistant to napping in his crib today, but at least I get some extra snuggles & still have two hands to type a blog post out to ya!

We’re all about celebrating life over here, and I’m so glad I got to help Tricia’s family do that this past November. It was my first session back after maternity leave, and oh, it was a fun one!

Ever wonder what to get your parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents as gifts? I struggle with this so much – unless my Grandmommy needs to have something replaced or upgraded, she really doesn’t need anything OR have the space for extra items anyway.

So what do you get for a grandparent who has everything? A PHOTO SESSION! Gathering extended family together to celebrate life & capturing that time with a photographer is a wonderful way to cherish the time you have together and then have photos to look back on that time fondly, forever. Framed photos & gallery images don’t take up any space in your parent’s or grandparent’s home – just that perfect spot on the wall where they’ll see your smiling faces and relive these joyful times when they see the photos each day.

YOU are the best gift to your loved ones. Give them yourself and let them be reminded of the sweet time you spend together through photos that last way longer than the short time you actually get to spend together.

Tricia & Mark – Extended Family Photo Session
Raleigh Family Photographer

Both of Tricia’s parents were celebrating their 80th birthdays last fall & winter, and family came in from all across the country to be together and celebrate them. I met up with them at the Washington Duke Inn before they had dinner one evening, and they were radiating love, joy, and fun.

We took some photos with the whole extended family, then we took some photos of individual family units, even smaller family units, and even a few headshots! Why not capture a little bit of everything while we’re together?

I LOVE how obviously happy Judy & Harold were to have everyone together! They’re the birthday boy & girl pictured next, and they’re so super sweet.

If your family is as fun as this family, let’s get together to take some photos. For real. I didn’t really direct them at all for the more candid & crazy ones below… and I was as surprised as you may be to see her on top of his shoulders when I looked back over! Think you can compete?!

And for those times when your little sister just *won’t* smile for anything, big brother tries to help her out a little bit 🙂 Ha! There are two of those below – don’t miss either one of those!

Another thing I love about extended family sessions is seeing how each family unit wants to use, share, and display their family photos!

This wonderful family chose Christmas cards, a gallery image (with one of my favorite photos from the session), prints (even more than what’s shown here, since some were shipped directly to the family!), and special order ready-to-frame mounted prints.

Thank you, Tricia & Mark, for inviting me in to share this time with you! I’m so glad y’all had fun together and can enjoy the photos for years to come.

And thank you for joining me on the blog today! Did you recognize some of these photos from my recent Joyful & Silly Photos of 2019 blog post?! If not, time to go take a peek & see lots more smiles from my other 2019 sessions & weddings!

If your family is getting together for some milestone birthdays this year, or if you have anything to celebrate at all (hint: you do! Sometimes it’s just not this obvious!), I’d love to help you commemorate this time with some photos. Check out my pay-what-you-can photography system then get in touch with me so we can capture those memories!

Coming up next on the blog is a courthouse wedding in Hillsborough, NC – portraits along the riverwalk, a simple & sweet ceremony outside the courthouse, and lots of heartfelt smiles… You won’t want to miss this one!

See you back here soon!