The Kelly Family

This is the way I like to shoot family portraits! I had so much fun photographing this family (I think there were something like 18, all in all but who was counting). I was a little nervous about the expectations that this family had going into the shoot. I had talked to them beforehand and said that I really don’t do “family reunions” or “formal family portraits”. They assured me that they didn’t want formals, but 9 times out of 10 people think they don’t want “formals”, and then there is all this stress and pressure during the shoot to get everyone (yes even the dog) to sit still and smile for the camera. But this family truly had fun with the session which was very refreshing. I felt like I was doing what I was gifted to do with my profession… stand back, let them play and simply document the love. Thanks, Kimberly for trusting me to “do my thing”.

The “Original Kelly’s” are four sisters and their Father. The rest of the clan was all of their spouses and children. One of the sisters was about 45 minutes late to the shoot, which would have generally frustrated me, but it actually gave me more time to stand back and get some great candids. This is a shot of Kimberly and Leslie—the first of the sisters to arrive. I got this shot while they were hanging out waiting for everybody else to show up…

This is Erica (Leslie’s daughter) and Jaden (Kimberly’s daughter) spending some one and one time together. Leslie and her family live in Seattle, so the cousins don’t get to see much of each other..

These are the 4 beautiful sisters (and matriarchs).

... and all of the cousins.