When Stella contacted me for another session, for her newborn daughter, and a family reunion, I was beyond delighted. I couldn't wait to see the new addition to the beautiful family and their precious connections with each other.
I recommended a hidden gem garden in Palo Alto area to her and we had a great time together! Gamble Garden is one of my favorite spots to shoot in the peninsula part of the bay area. It is gorgeous in every season and when there is no wedding, the lot is spacious enough for all kinds of compositions and poses. When an event is going on though, half of the park will be closed. But it has no influence on me to come up with photographing ideas. Still, it might be a little small for some people, but I adore the interesting details and design of this park.
During the one-hour session, it's important to capture the interactions between all family members. Prioritizing a list of combinations will make clients happy and your work flow easy. Here are some of my tips:
(1) Parents and the big brother, parents and both kids, parents and the newborn.
(2) Mommy with kids, daddy with kids
(3) Sibling love, each kid alone
(4) Grandparents from both sides each with kids
(5) Grandparents with parents, grandparents with parents and kids
(6) All together
(7) Parents alone
It might be not possible to finish all, but just go with the flow, and keep an eye on all beautiful touching moments. This will never go wrong!
I'm glad to feel the love from grandparents who traveled all the way from the other side of the ocean. It's also a blessing to see brother Max has grown so much in a year. I look forward to another year full of joy and laughters, growth and harvest for their family.
