Let me start this post off by saying that this photo shoot was one of my all time favorites. So many things aligned for this session: gorgeous kids, gorgeous parents (doesn’t the mom look amazing?! I promise she didn’t take a bad picture the entire shoot!), a well behaved little baby, and glorious window light. So many things came together, and I was so happy with the results.
We planned this photo shoot for a Saturday morning at the family’s home. As a Howe, TX family photographer, I love shooting on location. I love taking pictures in places where families can truly be in their own element. I like to feel as though I am an invited guest, and to simply blend into the background as I observe how the family interacts; I just happen to have a camera in hand while doing so. I have also always loved shooting with all-natural light. I do work with flash, but much prefer to use natural lighting when at all possible. So far, for most of my shoots, I have gotten lucky with light, and this session was certainly no exception.
As I drove to the family’s house that Saturday morning, I started to get very nervous as I watched the sky ahead. What had started off as a beautiful sunny morning quickly turned ominous as the time for the photo shoot drew near. By the time of my arrival, I had just enough time to quickly run all of my gear in before the skies opened up and the biggest storm we had seen for some time began to pour down. Unfortunately, the beautiful light that the family told me their home normally got was nowhere to be seen in those conditions. What made it worse was that I realized right then that I had gotten off without my reflectors. Needless to say, I was extremely nervous.
I’ll skip over the majority of the shoot. All I can say is that I truly lucked out with this one. Before the end of the hour, the skies began to clear, and we were able to get some quality light by the window, which is where the majority of these shots were taken. I learned two really important lessons that day, though. 1. Make a gear list and always triple check it before you leave to make sure you’re not missing anything, and 2. As much as I prefer natural light, I can’t rely on it. I need to be prepared with great quality back up lighting. I owned an external flash prior to this, but this shoot convinced me of the need to be able to shoot beautiful light under any circumstances. Especially living in an area where Chicago winters are a fact of life, I must always be able to produce this same gorgeous light, even on the grayest of days. I love photo shoots. I love the results you get, the memories passed down, and the humble lessons you learn along the way. Most of all, I am so grateful for the lessons that every single photo shoot will present that help to grow me into a more mature and better photographer that families can entrust for years to come.
Howe TX family photographer Christina Freeman is a newborn, children and family photographer serving McKinney, Anna, Melissa and the greater DFW communities. Please get in touch with her to start planning your session today.