- Amy Lynn Purpera
- Mar 4, 2023
- 4 min read
Family photos, the very phrase creates anxiety in each of its members. There is the organizer, the style chooser and everyone else who wishes they had a drink or were old enough to say no the whole situation.
I do this to my own family, I book our photographer and spend days looking at the 20-something style trends online depending on the year it is and head off to Woodbury mn where they have all my shopping needs in one location, oh and Crave where I love to go eat and have some Lavender Champagne to feel better about the dough I just dropped to make us look good and cohesive. Then picture day arrives, and yes even though I do this for a living on this day I am just the mom, just the wife and just the woman who is forcing this whole affair, in which NO one wants to participate. My son, a hockey player who never wears jeans, like EVER nor a dress shirt complanins the whole ride there and my daughter, the hockey goalie is usually in some girly outfit that she is not vibing at the moment but she gets in it all and does it for me. My husband just hates to travel for the event, if it was out his back door it would be so much better, but he does it. We go make what feels like forced magic, but somehow our talented photographer finds our magic in the midst of all us being ourselves she finds the magic. When you stay with a photographer a while, they know you, they learn your family rhythm and are able to recognize it instantly and capture it. ( Why I love my Legacy Families who come back year after year!)
I was in AWWWWW of my last year with families. I never do mini's, EVER! But I did, I did them for an insurance agency, Country Financial who paid me to come out to work with their clients as a "Thank You" to their clients and I fell in love. I fell in love with each family, the images came out great and it inspired me to work with Kruger's Tree Farm in Lake Elmo this past October and November. I worked with a few of my own annual families there with great success. I decided these events will be something I will offer this year and every year after. Please watch for dates for the Aamodt's Apple Farm July-September a few different weekends and then Kruger's Tree Farm September-November a few different weekend dates for Legacy Family Events. I plan to make this a quick, fun and easy process for my no-nonsense family's. Working in a small area with little props except a blanket ect. will create a fun and quick experience for each family.
Having experienced the stress of a family session day both as a consumer and photographer, I have to say my favorite moments with my own family are somewhat planned and organized but never perfect. At the end of the day it is our vibe, our love and our relationship I love seeing in the final images. Not the perfect version of us, but the us I recognize and love. Yes, I love seeing that perfect image where we are all looking as good as we can, hey it makes a nice Christmas card. But at the end of the day the large images on my wall over my fireplace and at my office and on my phone are fun, they are in the moment and special! They seem to capture the best of us just being together, and isn't that so priceless today being together? It is for my family, I feel as the parents of two busy sports kids, a mom who runs a business and a husband who is keeping the ship afloat that we are not often in the same place at the same time.
So the moments we capture on our own with our phones and then that all dreaded once a year moment where we trust our memories to someone else is just so important. Which leads me to this family I will feature in this post. This family booked a "event" with me I believe 1 or 2 years ago. We were never able to get together but they still had a credit with me. So the sweet mom in these images just said enough is enough, I need an updated sessions, so we did it.
We choose a beautiful Feburary day and we rocked it out to 100%! Now imagine trying to talk 4 men, a dad and 3 young men into an afternoon out toward Stillwater to come hang with me and make memories! Well it is no easy feat but they were up to the task, they were themselves and they have a VIBE I love. They are all truly good looking and so my job was easy, but the location, the style and the vibe fit them to a T!
I love these images. I hope you enjoy the gallery below and if you're toying with the idea of getting those family photos updated please reach out to me this year. I want to get to know your family's individual and unique rhythm and capture it!
The boys played at first they released some good energy and then were able to dial in and grab some moments with mom and dad and one another. They were themselves and yet the location and the style mom selected allowed for a stress free session as everything they did seemed perfect within the surroundings as they interacted with the environment. That made a perfect session that reflected this family rhythm in the finished product.
