Heather Neal Photography

I know I say it every time, but family sessions where everyone gets together- including family members who live out of town, are so special to me. We live in a different state from our family and try to occasionally get photos when we are home visiting for holidays, so I know how rare and important these sessions are and I also realize that I am not just capturing photos, I am capturing very treasured memories of everyone being together. I usually call these sessions of parents with their grown children, spouses, and grandchildren “extended family” mostly because I never know what else to call them, but that never feels right. I think of “extended family” as distant relatives that aren’t very close and that couldn’t be further from the truth with the clients I am shooting when I do these sessions. So this time I decided FULL family was a better description. I can always tell when everyone is together it just feels FULL or complete. This family was no exception and I loved photographing them while they enjoyed their time together.

I LOVE return family sessions! It’s so much fun to get to know each other and look forward to seeing families again year after year. I created beautiful family photos with this bunch last year and was so happy when they wanted to do them again. We went back and forth on a location for this session and ultimately decided “why mess with a good thing?” and shot in the same location as last year. I love that the girls remembered the “secrets on the bridge” photo and wanted to recreate it! How much fun would it be for them to do this year after year?

This family session was FULL of Happy Accidents from the moment I pulled into the parking lot. I planned on meeting the families there to head to the actual location I had in mind, but once I arrived and looked around, I realized that right there around the parking lot was a great location! There were cool stones, tall grasses, lots of shade and a path lined with little yellow flowers. If I had any doubt at all how great of a spot this would be, it disappeared completely when the family showed up in yellows! When you have little ones in the family photos they tend to be way more laid back and “unposed” and you kind of just go with the flow and that leads to lots of fun and laughter which also leads to great photos! I doubt it’s any secret who stole the show in this session, but if you need a hint…look for the amazing curls!