Capturing Memories: Why You Should Book a Family Photo Session on Your Next Vacation
Initial Reaction
When my wife started tossing around the idea of booking a family photo session, I had the classic dad response “we take enough photos during vacation” and admittedly, it seemed like an added expense and scheduled activity when all we wanted to do was relax. But then, my wife started showing me a sampling of a particular photographer’s work and I started to warm up to the idea. Once I heard the photographer plans the whole thing, down to the wardrobe, I started to realize my wife gets to be like me for once, she gets to just “show up” and everything is taken care of. Done, book it!
Leading up to the Photoshoot
Prior to our vacation, my wife exchanged a couple messages with the photographer to nail down the place and share ages/sizes and style preferences. I had never heard of this concept called a “client closet” but basically the photographer was taking care of all the clothes. The photoshoot was planned for peak sunset time, and we had spent the full day prior on St. Pete Beach. Hoping to give our girls a little break prior to pictures, we headed to our rental to rest and get ready. Unfortunately, our middle daughter fell asleep, and let’s just say she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. She was a basket case and I could tell my wife was starting to wonder “why am I making my family take photos today?” Our daughter was getting so blotchy that we grabbed some frozen pancakes out of the freezer and told her to hold them on our eyes while we rushed in the car to meet the photographer. We showed up a couple miles down the beach, and there she was with everyone’s wardrobe in tow. From the moment we met her, everyone relaxed.
The Photoshoot
This wasn’t like a photoshoot we had done before in the fields of Minnesota, or snowy Christmas Tree Farm (all of which were great, just different). This photoshoot was more like a lifestyle shoot, it was interactive, fun and natural. Our girls spun in circles, watching their dresses twirl. The ran in the sand and giggled when their toes met the water. My wife and I were present, smiling at the joy on our girls faces and taking in the magic of the moment, many times forgetting that our photographer was there. At the end, we all went swimming as the sun started to set. It is hard to describe in words how amazing the experience was but the pictures that our photographer captured will always bring us back to that exact trip, that exact spot on the beach and those exact feelings of joy and being in the moment.
How to Pick your Photographer
Well, my advice to you is just book the photographer we used and you can’t go wrong! When we booked Cassie Lee, she was out of Florida but has since relocated to the East Coast – guess we know where we are going on our next vacation Portfolio | Cassie Lee Photography | Boston Photographer (cassieleephotographs.com)
Honestly speaking, if you plan to book a photographer while on vacation, just start looking on social media to find the look and feel you like. Next, focus on convenience, something like a client closet with borrowed clothes saves a lot of money and time in trying to coordinate what you think will go well together. Lastly, enjoy and remember why you are taking the photos – for us, it is to capture the essence of our trip, in a snapshot in time because looking at those photos of the whole family brings us back to that exact trip, exact spot and exact feelings of joy.
