Family Portraits, Fredericksburg, VA

I had the privilege of photographing this beautiful family for a very special, meaningful event.  My client and her siblings all planned to photograph their immediate families as part of a gift to their mom for her 80th Birthday celebration, which was just held over labor day weekend in Colorado.  I was soooo excited for my clients (and thrilled that they chose me), because I LOVE this idea, and cannot think of a better gift!  We had a small window of opportunity to make this happen, because with busy families, and grown children out of town/state, scheduling can be a challenge, as we all know.  We set our session date at beautiful Belmont/Gari Melcher’s Studio, but something came up last minute and one of their kids and grandson was unable to make it.  Some of the other family members were visiting from out of town, so we still did the session.  I know how excited my clients were when we initially scheduled the date that ALL three of their children and their families were able to make it.  At this point, I was invested in the outcome, and excited for the gift, so with a little photoshop magic, we booked a later mini session at the same location, so everyone was together in the portraits!  Even the mini session was a bit of a schedule challenge, and the deadline for the upcoming party was creeping up.  We still needed time for the album and canvas portraits to arrive.  I had a few things come up in my schedule as well, which changed my travel plans, so I packed up the desktop computer and took it with me so I could finalize the order in time for the event.  This was definitely a collaborative effort, but we were both very happy it all worked out.  Everything was finalized one week prior to my clients’ trip to Colorado.  It wasn’t until a few days after the portrait order was picked up that I learned just how special this portrait was to my clients.

Rather than try to summarize, I will quote the very words that filled my eyes and gave me chills: “It will be something we cherish always!  We weren’t sure our family would ever be complete again earlier in the year.  (son’s name) had an accident and was in critical condition at UVA for 10 days.  When you were able to add them both into the picture, I cried tears of joy!!  Our family picture is complete!!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!”  This never came up during the scheduling process, but yet we were determined to make this happen.  WOW!  I wish I could explain just how much this story impacts me, and how grateful I am for the people who invite me to be part of something so special.  The funny thing is, when I learned that the other families were taking pictures on the Florida beaches and Colorado mountains, I started that comparison game in my head, but knowing what I know about this family, the background/location suddenly didn’t matter one bit.  I just checked in with my client to see how the 80th party went over the holiday weekend, she said “It was a great trip!  Our parents were so happy and loved the photo!!  Mom cried!!  Thank you again for your beautiful work!!!”  Have I mentioned that I have the best clients ever?!!!!  Thank you SO much for choosing me to photograph your loved ones, I truly feel blessed.  xoxoxo