Timeless Treasures

The Importance of Documenting Memories with Grandparents

Extended Family Photography Sessions

Looking back on my childhood, the memories of my grandparents and the time spent with them are some of my favorites. These memories are not necessarily of the big events in life, but the more ordinary everyday interactions with them. My paternal grandfather sitting in his chair after working on the farm. My maternal grandfather, “Pepere,” taking us for long, slow boat rides around the lake. I have vivid memories of sitting on the floor with my cousins, looking through page after page of old photos of our great grandparents in those sticky photo albums.

In this post, I discuss why I love to include grandparents in your sessions.

Often, we are so busy with the chaos of everyday life that we get caught up in the present and forget to treasure the past. With an immediate family photo shoot, we often overlook the importance of adding the other people in our lives who help make our families run. I’m using the term grandparents here, but this could be anyone: a close family friend, an aunt or uncle, or even a nanny who has been with your family forever. I have often had clients ask if they could include their parents in the session. My answer is always ABSOLUTELY!

Adding multiple generations into your images is not just about adding another face; it's about preserving a memory for your children and their children, embracing history, and cherishing the bonds that tie us together. This can add to the richness and depth of your story.

Photoshoots with grandparents can be as casual as a walk in the park or reading books on the couch to a more formal family portrait session. Where does your family most often spend time? These moments freeze time, allowing us to revisit them when we need a reminder of the love that surrounds us. Scheduling a Generational Storytelling shoot will highlight the interconnectedness of family dynamics through photographs.

Tips for Including Grandparents in Your Photoshoots

1. Plan Ahead: Often we don’t include our parents in our images because they don’t love having their photograph taken. Give them and yourself time and come up with a place that is special to your family and story. Choose a spot that is accessible to everyone. Think about the location of amenities and everyone's mobility. Where do you love to spend time together? The location doesn’t have to be fancy. Front porches, living rooms, and kitchens can offer wonderful backdrops for family storytelling.

2. Styling: Be authentic and comfortable. Unless you are purposely doing a formal shoot, wearing your everyday clothes is totally fine. This is great for really allowing the true story to come out. I suggest avoiding logos and large graphics, but other than that, stay true to yourself. You can choose a color scheme, but try to steer away from being too matchy-matchy.

3. Be Patient and Flexible: Adding more people to a session can sometimes create a bit more chaos. This is fine; allow for some extra time and headspace for this. Be realistic in your expectations. A session with me is about documenting the connections and candid moments. Try not to force things from both the young and older members of the group. Sometimes our mothers and fathers have strong opinions about how the photographs should be. Share some work with them prior and help prep them to know that the shoot is about the interactions, not the poses.

4. Focus on Relationships: We can work on planning an activity that will help engage all members of the group to relax and interact with each other.

5. Include Generational Props: This is optional, but some items could be included in the setting or scene. These props can highlight the generational bond, such as heirlooms, family albums, or items with sentimental value.

Grandparents are the keepers of family history, the storytellers that can bridge a gap between the past and the present. Including them in your photoshoot can be a celebration of your family's heritage. Their presence adds depth to the narrative and our personal story. Their presence not only honors the past but also enriches the present, creating a continuum of love and belonging for future generations.

Growing a Photo Business…

Welcome to my blog!  I find joy and peace in capturing the real life and true essence of family life through the lens of authenticity and truth.

What is this blog about?  I will explore the beauty of candid moments.  I’ll share my own, how I’ve captured them for my clients and give advice and tips on how to get started on a storytelling adventure of your own.  I’ve been teaching high school photography at a school in Northern Virginia since 2015, and before that elementary art since 2003.

I want to share that you can create works of art and love for your children, family and most of all FOR YOURSELF using a camera.  How many of us got a new camera when our children were born? Then the craziness of motherhood got in the way of actually capturing it using that camera.  Well it is time to pick that camera up and not be afraid of it!  The best thing is  your work doesn’t have to be perfect.  Trust the process and you may surprise yourself by your own creativity. The camera can be therapy,  Art is therapy.    

There is something very special in preserving memories that reflect the real-life magic within our families.  It’s not always good, sometimes life seems boring but by slowing down to REALLY observe it helps us celebrate those little small victories of being a mom.  

Follow along as I go through the struggles of growing my business.  I’ve been working with AMAZING loyal clients for the past 11 years and they have stuck with me from the beginning.  Starting in January 2024 I decided it's time to refocus my efforts and grow this business to reach more people while still loving and working with my current families. Working toward a dream of making this a full time career when its time to exit the classroom.

Lesson Number 1:  Save your work!   I don’t love writing.  I’ll have typos in my posts, I can almost 100% guarantee this.  I started working directly into my blog account and my computer refreshed and I lost EVERYTHING I had worked on.   Now I’m drafting all my posts into Google Docs.  This will help with being able to create content ahead of time and schedule it to post.

Playground Candid Photoshoot- Images shot in full sun playing with shutter speed to create intentional blur.

This was a spontaneous shoot which usually end up being my favorite. One trick I try and do is use a prompt to challenge myself, and when we are out on an outing or doing something I think about the prompt or challenge. There are a lot of great groups online and through Facebook that can help with this. For this one my challenge was capturing motion.

This is where shooting in manual mode is crucial to learn. Manual is a mode on the camera body that allows the artist to control all the settings. This is DIFFERENT than manual focus. This is something that I see students often get confused about in the beginning. You can also shoot in manual focus by switching it on the lens itself, however I usually always use auto focus (AF)

For some of these images I slowed the shutter speed down enough to capture some of the blur that is created when people move through the frame of an image. To freeze motion and not have blue the shutter speed has to be fast!

The shutter is the part of the camera that opens and closes to allow light in to hit either the film or the camera sensor. Shutter speeds are fractions of a second. So 1/2000 is going to be VERY fast- and it will prevent a ton of light from coming into the camera. When using a DSLR going under 1/250 can start to be too low to freeze all motion and prevent blur when shooting children or fast moving things. 1” would be 1 second, BULB means that the shutter will remain open as long as you hold down the button you use to take the photo, you would need a tripod for this and most artists use this for things light night photography.

This is just a basic outline of what shutter speed can do. Keep following for more information on learning your camera and shooting in manual mode.