This couch…was the first thing my husband and I picked out and purchased together. It seemed like such a big investment at the time. We’d only been dating a few months and I had just moved 300 miles from New York to Maryland where he was living. That was 10 years ago.
I spent 6 weeks of bed rest on this couch with my first daughter…countless sleepless nights with my second…I slept on it the night I found out my brother died. We finally got a new couch this year but I wasn’t ready to throw this one away. Sure, it was faded, ripped, and had no padding left in the cushions, but we shared a lot of tears and laughter on it. So we took it outside and had a photo shoot, so we would always be able to keep it in some way. Plus, it’s fun to jump on couches 😉
One of my favorite tips for getting in family pictures and letting my kids have some fun with the camera is to set it up on a tripod with a remote shutter. My girls can press it whenever they’re ready – silly faces, cuddling, hanging over the back upside down. Whatever they want. I set my camera to a 3-second delay to give them a chance to hide the remote. (Even iPhones have the delay feature – just make it a bit longer to give your kids a chance to press the button and get back in the picture!) It always ends up being so much fun and the pictures are of pure joy! Break the rules a little bit and don’t worry abut whether everyone is smiling perfectly or if they’re sticking their tongues out the entire time. Give yourself permission to get a little silly, too. What matters is that you were in the pictures. That you’re part of the memories instead of just documenting them.
By the way – I only have a few summer weekend portrait sessions left! Please shoot me an email to reserve yours soon. All this rain just means beautiful flowers!! Know someone looking for a photographer in the Northern Virginia/Washington DC metro area? I would love your referral <3
