Some shoots have nothing to do with me. Amazing isn’t it? I can get so caught up in artistry on certain occasions, that I miss the deeper meaning behind why I’m a photographer. Lots of times, it’s why I end up with fewer images of my own family. If I can’t make it different… unique… then I just won’t take them at all. Sunday was a reminder of why I need to keep my mind set on the bigger picture (no pun intended).

Barbara has been one of my clients for a couple of years now. We can always count on her family to “get it”. They play, interact with each other, and rarely want to just “look at the camera and smile”. In short, they’re our favorite kind of client. But last week, when I offered up the outdoor Quick Shoot special, Barbara called in because her whole family would be together that Sunday. You see, her mom has brain cancer. And even though she was weak from chemo and totally shouldn’t have been in such extreme heat, they were all expectant about simply photographing their family together… not to be artsy… just to be captured.

Her mom wasn’t strong enough, physically, for anything other than sitting in one spot. But her spirit simply soared. She is a beautiful lady and her heart for her children, grandchildren and her mother was amazingly apparent. She took on the tackles of little Ele like a trooper, and she cuddled up with her grandson as if he were a toddler, rather than the older boy that he actually is. They weren’t interested in my “eye”… they were interested in loving each other.

Families are often the most difficult relationships that we can ever have… but I fully believe that the struggles and the highs are all part of the same thing… our desire to love and be loved. This family braved seemingly insurmountable circumstances so that they could have that love preserved… I was overjoyed to be a part of it.

The Grandkids

Add in the son and daughter…

Three generations… we’d have had four, but Ele was DONE.

The whole family together…