how cool is this?  becky asked for a holiday session as a hanukkah present from her husband and kids. i thought that was a really good idea - and it proved to be good leverage for making the kids cooperate when they wanted to throw leaves ('hey guys!  this is mom's hanukkah present!')

i love all my clients.  i really do.  but sometimes there is a family that i really connect with and who really connect with each other very naturally in front of the camera.  the fischbein's were that family and the photos show it:

 

the first thing missi said to me when she scheduled her session was, "i hate to have my picture taken."

um, ok.

i wasn't sure what to expect.  usually it's the dads who are grumpy and don't want to do the session but jeff was a ham and kept the kids laughing with his impression of some guy on a dentures commercial. 

despite her hesitation, missi was great.  she laughed and went along with the session and i dare say she looks great.  i don't know why she wouldn't want her picture taken; if i looked like her i'd be strutting my stuff all day, every way.

over the weekend i got to do a joint session for marty and marilyn.  they both live in my neighborhood (you might remember my post about marilyn's unreal interior design talents).  marty also has artistic talent oozing from her pores as a graphic designer.  i love hanging out with these two woman because they are both so talented and they totally get - and appreciate - good design.

so we decided to all meet up in the field behind my house for the session. marilyn and her family went first and then marty and her family.  marty, aka party marty, saw fit to bring along a bottle of wine and wine glasses.  it was lovely: i took photos while the kids played in the field and the adults not having their session done sipped wine and hung out.  most definitely one of my favorite sessions.


here's a sneak peek of marilyn's family:

this is the third year in a row i've done holiday photos for the hefner family.  this year, michelle told me her sister wanted to get in on the action so they drove up from arlington, va to join in on the fun.

michelle and necolle should get a shiny gold star for doing such a great job coordinating the kids' outfits.  clients always ask me what their kids should wear and sometimes it's hard to tell them because clothing is so personal.  but take a look at these kids: the girls are each wearing bright, colorful outfits (which don't MATCH but coordinate.  you can totally have polka dots and stripes together!) and the boys are in simple, coordinating colors.  it's brilliant.  we kept saying the kids should be in a gap ad - not just because of the clothing but because all four of them are good looking kids.

here's their sneak peek:

yet another much adored repeat family: the chandlees.  i did a session for them last year (you can their sneak peek here) and was so glad to get the email from lydia that she wanted to do a holiday session this year.

two great things:

1. when i went to lydia's house, i saw three of the images from their last session blown up large and hanging in their living room.  they looked *fabulous*.  so many people are scared of putting large photos on their wall (8x10 is *not* a wall photo, people!) and i love it when clients are bold and go for it.  lydia chose three great photos that all relate and they look awesome.

2. lydia suggested going out to the olney boys and girls club which i'd never been to.  i love it when clients suggest new places to shoot.  the OBGC is a park with lots of sports fields but just past the last baseball field was a great outcropping of boulders.  it was a fun place to shoot and the resulting photos show it:

this was my second session with the gick family, only last time dad wasn't there (ginny wanted to surprise him at christmas with photos of the kids).  this time i had the whole family and they were so easy and totally game for anything.  dan was a little nervous when i told him to nibble on his wife's neck but the resulting photos (which i promised him i wouldn't post on my blog) were definitely worth a little embarassement at nuzzling his wife in the middle of the woods in front of his three kids.

had a mini holiday session with the bloom family this past weekend; we were supposed to meet up on saturday afternoon but it was *pouring* rain so we pushed it until sunday.  it turned out to be a beautiful day and we got some great photos down by lake kittamaqundi: