During the summer many families gather for family reunions and vacations and it’s a great time to capture extended family photos. I know that sometimes the last thing you want to think about is coordinating everyone for a family photo….especially when it’s SO hard to coordinate so many people, but extended family pictures are some of my favorite memories to capture. I love looking back at generations of photos and trying to figure out who all the little cousins are because they have grown into adults, and are having babies of their own. {I’m getting really old!}

When we planned this session we talked about doing it in Brenda’s backyard. They are right next to the forest preserve and we figured we could just go out back and find a good spot. When I was driving to her house, I pulled around the corner and drove past this park just a few blocks down the street, my first thought was WOW, look at that amazing light right there. We should take the pictures there, I wonder what the background would look like. Once a photographer, always a photographer!!

I got to their house and we went outside to see the location, it was a little overcast and the spot in the backyard was really dark. There was a ton of tree coverage and there was no way we could fit everyone in the space that had good light. Someone mentioned to me that we could go down the street to the park if we wanted to, I was like the park down there {pointing in that direction} with the beautiful light. Uhm, yep…that park!!! And I was right, the light was BEAUTIFUL!!! I love how these turned out, and I love the colors so much. My favorite moment was when it was grandma and grandpa’s turn, I asked them to give each other a hug and I got the cutest expression of love you’ve ever seen along with a big bear hug!!

Thank you Brenda for letting me capture your beautiful family. Thank you for trusting me to preserve these memories for you. I had such a great time meeting your kids, and your adorable grandson…..and it’s pretty clear to me that you all love each other very much. I hope you all had as much fun as I did, and I hope you enjoy these photos for generations to come.