“Hi, I found your portfolio while browsing online for a photographer for family photos. I would love to give this to my mom for her birthday. The date of the event is flexible–being the oldest of 5 it will take some planning to get us all in one place at the same time Your work is beautiful and I know how much she would treasure this. I got married in September and made the mistake of using a friend as the photographer for the day.  Needless to say we have only a handful of usable pictures.  Let me know your availability.”

That’s the e-mail that I received from Laurie.  When we spoke on the phone, she gave me more details:

“I had been hoping to get good family photos at my wedding last September.  My husband’s sister’s friend was a photography major in college, but she wasn’t experienced at photographing people.  Our wedding photos were mostly blurry and really dark.  My mom was very disappointed.  She is constantly trying to get everyone together to take pictures, and everyone gets annoyed!”

And so, I mailed Laurie a family portrait gift certificate to give to her mom as a birthday gift.  And sure enough, as soon as spring knocked at our doorstep, Laurie’s mom, Joanne, contacted me.

“I have five grown children.  We haven’t had a family portrait since my youngest daughter was 1 (16 years ago).  Every year, I said we’re going to get one done, and then didn’t.  My daughter’s wedding was such a stressful morning.  The biggest mistake was that they didn’t have a professional wedding photographer.  We spent so much money doing this backyard wedding.  My daughter chose to have her husband’s sister’s best friend be the photographer – most of her photography experience was with still life, but my daughter decided to go with her.  She was free.  And now there are no good photos from the wedding.”

The D’s live northwest of Baltimore and know the manager of nearby Boordy Vineyards in Hydes, Maryland well, and so were able to get permission for us to create their family portraits on the grounds of the vineyards.  Their youngest daughter, Kayleigh, is a high school senior, and so we gave her some special senior portraits love.  Enjoy some of my favorite family portraits and senior portraits from this rustic Baltimore County family portrait session!

Time flies and precious moments are fleeting.

Would your mom or dad love the gift of a family portrait session to capture the special moments of life?