Cheerful Family Portraits // Photos for holiday cards

A colorful family photo card is one of my favorite things to get in the mail as the holidays draw near. And my face lights up with joy when I see a familiar family portrait below the cheerful greeting.

I always want to explain myself when someone asks if I would take their photos for holiday cards. I believe photos should feel real. These aren’t studio sessions with a backdrop where I ask you to move your chin one inch to the left. I’ve never felt like those look real. I like real life. I like movement, candor, a feeling of being relaxed and genuine, and being outdoors. These are portraits with emotion – real laughs, real hugs, real places – and the freedom and space to be yourself. A half-hour or hour to spend with each other, being goofy, being funny, being lovely.

And even more – I love doing these for all types of families. Families with little kids, families with big kids. Families of just the kids. Furry families. Just-the-two-of-us families. Friends-who-are-families. Every kind of family deserves to celebrate being together and sharing in each other’s world.

But I love the most that these are the way we wish each other a joyful holiday season. That we use photos to spread peace and happiness and love with all of the ones we care about.