A lot of times I find that I have my “go-to” locations in the area. Before my style changed I would come to 8th Ave Park quite a bit but lately I’ve found it to be very dark within the trees. When Allison contacted me about her and her siblings being in town for the holiday I was trying to find a place relatively close to where they would all be and so I suggested 8th Ave Park. This past year I ended up taking a walk around the lake and realized that near the entrance is a pretty spot where you can avoid such heavy dark spots and have beautiful bright light. Not to mention I was using a high compression lens (my favorite, the 85mm 1.4) so I felt that these would really show the beauty of summers in Michigan.
One of my favorite parts of this session is the fact that Great Opa got to join in. I also couldn’t help but gather images of both Allison and Heather with their adorable baby bumps. It reminds me of when my sister in law and I were pregnant together at the same time and now our kids are such great friends. Even though these two live hundreds of miles away from one another I can tell their kids will too. Chris and Alisha killed it even though they told me they are not great on camera and I was determined to prove them wrong. Both of their adorable smiles and Alisha’s cute dress in the mix set them up for success. Lastly I want to acknowledge the reason they were all together. This session was a mother’s day gift to Pamela and with them all being together for the holiday she was able to set up a time to redeem it. When her son-in-law Tony and I were talking he mentioned how he feels awkward on camera and so when I asked Dan and Pamela how long they have been married they said “thirty-eight years” I told Tony that’s all it takes to nail these adorable poses (jokingly of course). He was a riot and reminds me a lot of my husband Ben who has his hilarious sarcastic comments that break the tension.
Lastly little Leo and his sister Isabelle stole the show with their adorable child curiosity. It may have been difficult to gather some smiles but regardless they were cute as ever. Dan and Pamela I hope you all enjoy the rest of your time together with family while they are in town. Such a treasure to all be together at this time and I hope you can cling to these memories until the next time you can all meet up as a family of twelve!
