I wasn’t sure this would be the year for fall family portraits. The leaves weren’t changing as quickly as they usually do. But at the end of October, they showed up in all their brilliance. Still, I was worried that all the leaves would be gone by the first weekend in November. But they were still gorgeous in Barren County! We headed to Barren River Lake State Resort Park for these incredible fall family portraits.
Right off the bat, I knew this session was going to be fun! When I asked the kids to look away while their parents kissed, I just snapped away. But once I looked at the photos, I got so tickled, especially at covering the youngest boy’s eyes. We then asked them to look at someone else in their family. Once again, when I was going through the pictures, I got cracked up at the interactions. I can almost hear the daughter and the youngest son calling out “hey” to each other.
Then we decided it was time for a few of just boys and just girls. I’m so glad we did. These were priceless.
I loved getting to watch mother and daughter interact. Teen years can be a difficult time for mothers and daughters to “get” each other, but you saw a certain understanding between these two. They genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. These smiles can’t be faked.
Then it was time for just the guys. What you don’t see is all the craziness and laughs in between shots. (Mom can enjoy the outtakes later.) But they were all business when it was time for the portraits. I can’t even start to tell you how much fun we had on these fall family portraits. The next pics will show you just an inkling of the fun we had.
We moved to another spot to see different leaves in the background. They took advantage of a fence to get everyone close together. We started with the kids. Again, we got to see the amazing interactions between members of the family. They really enjoyed being with each other, whether we were taking photos or not.
Then it was time to get the family in for another photo by the fence. We could get the whole family in close together since some of the kids were still leaning on the fence.
I’m still very impressed at how they put their outfits together. They all coordinated and were the definition of what to wear to fall family portraits. It wasn’t matchy-matchy, but it all went together. This took effort, no doubt, but it definitely paid off. These are going to look amazing on their wall!
We moved to a third spot to really highlight the sun coming through the autumn leaves. What a great family. Even when I called dad the wrong name, they joked and didn’t take offense. It happens, right? But once I made the connection that the youngest was Benjamin and the dad was Jacob, I had it for the rest of the session. It pays to know your Bible history… Now for something really fun!
I asked the kids if we could do a jumping photo. But I had no idea it would be this epic. Look at the height they got in that middle photo! And the youngest had been practicing for this moment his entire life. Those were some old Hollywood musical moves right there! And the sheer joy on their faces, that’s what I love the most!
Next it was time for just mom and dad. After all, this is where it all started. It was their love story that bloomed into this beautiful family. They still got it and they got googly-eyed every time I asked them to look at each other. It was sweet.
Look at that yellow glow behind them! The sun was getting ready to set over the lake behind them. Each of these kids has their own unique personality and we had a ton of fun with every single one. Now it was time for one last photo of them together.
Mom and dad worked together with us to get the falling leaves. I think they were having even more fun than the kids were. The kids had to try to stay still instead of laughing hysterically at their parents trying to throw leaves at the same time when one is tall with long arms and the other…not so much.
As this session was winding down, we decided to all watch the sun go down together. I don’t know who designed this bench or if it has eroded around it, but your feet don’t touch the ground. So we got to watch mom and dad swinging their feet like two young kids who just fell in love. Then all their kids poured in around them. This is the perfect representation of the family… surrounded by love.
Thank you to Brandi and your family for allowing us the privilege of photographing you. We had a wonderful time and it was an honor to see the love and joy in your family!
Love, Kevin and Reneé
