Depending on how long you've been rolling with LWTC or how many times you've hung out with us IRL, you might've heard my husband Jamal yell out this phrase at the kids and I. He usually did this with a snap of his fingers when he was ready to go, in a room full of people, and while the kids and I were standing just a few feet away from where he was. This used to be both embarrassing and annoying to me because the reaction from the people around us was to burst out laughing and ask me (jokingly) if I was going to let him talk to me like that, LoL.
After a while, I got used to it and actually thought it was kind of funny because the kids would round themselves up and run towards him all ready to go. Ehh, sometimes. At one point we even had some friends that would yell it out to us when it was time to go, and it became the thing to say when we wanted to walk out with our little tribe trailing behind us.
This is our fourth year putting in the effort to make family pictures happen, and with three toddler bebes ready for playtime instead of take pictures, it really felt like all we did the entire session was round up little people and snapping our fingers while calling out names did not work at all. Anderson and Azariah were not about pictures this time around.
This year Jamal requested more casual looks for the family, which I was excited about. The last two years we have been dressing up and giving the family a more formal look and going for a grand look with the view of downtown in the background.
However, this year I knew that I wanted to take pictures at the most LIT park this time of year in Tampa, Cypress Point Park, so casual looks were definitely in order. Between October and the first few weeks in November, the grass turns a really pretty purple and with the light from those amazing sunsets it looks like a sea of magic out there. So with all of that magic, families from the Tampa Bay Area flood these pretty fields to create yearly family picture goodness.
I am forever grateful to Valerie for being so awesome and so patient through the scheduling and re-scheduling of our session and also dealing with my wild babes so well on the day of the session. You my friend, are the real MVP. You captured their big personalities so well, and you're basically the only person taking our pictures from now on, so get your mind right for next year. LoL!
My favorite part of having all of these images is seeing the growth and changes our babes have experienced since the very first family session we did. I love that we have these for them to see when they get older and having families of their own. I know the stress of coordinating everyones outfits and making sure things are scheduled and running smoothly for any kind of session is crazy, but man these final images are SO worth it.
I encourage all of you reading this, make the effort and book a session for your family this year. It doesn't have to be with LWTC of course, but with the photographer that matches your style, your families energy, and most importantly your budget.
"We keep this love in a photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Hearts are never broken
And time's forever frozen still"
-Ed Sheeran
Lastly, for those of you who time and time again hit the pause button of your life to read our posts, to engage with us by responding, liking, sharing, and even support us by booking a session, we love you BIG! Thank YOU for rocking with us.
Until the next one,
Cinthia Crook