Family Portraits, Or, The Crazy That is Claire

This past weekend, we took a little trip to San Diego. This trip was suppose to happen over the weekend of Bruce Wayne's 30th birthday, but circumstances prevented us from going then, so the trip was moved.

The main purpose of our trip was to go to Sea World with Bruce Wayne's dad, but while we were there, I decided I really wanted to finally make my dreams of a beach-scape family portrait come true. The catch- I was going to take the photos myself, instead of hiring a photographer. Eeek! I had been mentally preparing for this feat for months, when just days before our trip my photography mentor, Kristen Duke, posted a blog titled "How to Take Your Own Family Pictures". I took it as a sign that this was meant to be and that the photo session would be a success.

And it was. Depending on your definition of success! I was not the nicest person on the planet as I tried to pull this all together. I may have gotten snippy with my true love once or twice as we stood on the beach, waiting for the sun to drop to the appropriate level in the sky. I may have almost cried when the beach we decided on wasn't quite as picturesque as I had imagined when we first arrived. I may have tried to call the entire thing off due to my frustration... just minutes before the sun finally hit the perfect spot, and the lighting became breathtakingly beautiful and the beach that just moments before had seemed bleak and dull, morphed into the perfect backdrop for the photos I had been envisioning. I set up the tripod, adjusted some settings on the camera, got my family in position then had my father in law snap away.

If you define a successful photo shoot on how I act during said shoot... this was a disaster. But, if success is determined by the photos that result from the session, this was a smashing success. I already have a 20x30 of my favourite family pose edited, printed and hanging on my living room wall. And I have lost myself staring at it numerous times already.

I'm not ready to share that particular image on my blog just yet, as I imagine it will end up on our family Christmas card this year, but for now, here are a few other photos from our time on the beach, including one of the outtakes as we attempted that perfect family portrait. I love the attitude from Miss Beebs in that particular photo. She's a spicy little girl and I just love it! Now. Not so much when she wasn't cooperating during the actual picture taking. Ü

I sure do love my little family and I so appreciate them putting up with my crazy as we attempted the near impossible task of taking our own family portrait. I wish I hadn't been so nuts as we were taking them, but I am so, so pleased with the outcome.