People sometimes ask me whether I prefer to shoot weddings or families. It is a hard question to answer, since the two are so different. There's an adrenaline rush that comes with shooting weddings that is, frankly, a little addicting. The pace is fast, time flies, and everyone is (for the most part) deliriously happy. My wife can attest that when I get home from shooting a wedding at midnight or so, I am so jacked up with excitement that sleep is out of the question for several hours.
Shooting families is more intimate and I have lots more time to breathe and enjoy myself. I love getting silly with kids and inhabiting their space for a few hours. Letting the family have a typical morning or evening is refreshingly low-stakes for them, and it tends to help them enjoy themselves and react more naturally to what is going on.
That being said, shooting families I know is absolutely the best. I was looking forward to spending time with the Meekins family for weeks leading up to our Sunday date. I had the pleasure of teaching both daughters when they were in first grade and they are intelligent and hilarious and lovely young people. Their family is about to expand to include another little girl, and they wanted a lasting memory of what is was like to be a family of four.
Well, five if you include the Westy van (they do). Six if you include Guiness the dog.
As they prepare for the newest Meekins, the girls are helping to prepare the nursery and are writing notes and letters to little "Skittles" as they call their new baby sister. The provenance of the nickname was in dispute, but one of the girls came up with it. The whole thing is so adorable.
So, to sum it all up in a list: bedroom tours, crepes and coffee, PJs, notes to baby sister, belly kisses, sleepy dog, raucous barefoot dancing, vanlife, tree climbing, and SO many tickle fights.
Who could ask for more than that?
