In this day and age it’s not uncommon for our family digital photographs to remain on our hard drive or USB, and although the intention is to print them we often forget. Working with a family recently on a custom designed album reminded me again just how important it is to print those photos, and an unexpected comment in their feedback made me realize how it’s even more important right now.

I’ve been working with this family for a few years now and they reached out last Fall to schedule an extended family session. They all live close to each other and the original plan was to include the two Moms (sisters) and their families (7 kids between them), plus their Mom and Dad. The relationship began when one of the Moms booked a portrait session for her nephew and 2 nieces and surprised her sister with photos of her kids – such a special gift! A year later I captured the 3 kids again, this time with their Mom and she was so happy. As Moms we often forget to get in photos with our kids but it’s so important and they’ll thank us when they’re older.

So back to the family session story…..as we got closer to the day the grandparents decided they didn’t feel comfortable coming out and joining in, which is totally understandable during these unsettling times. We went ahead with just the 2 families and it was so much fun spending time with them, watching the joy and interaction between everyone, especially the 7 cousins.

After seeing their session gallery the sisters decided it would a nice idea to gift an album to their parents for Christmas so I designed a beautiful leather bound book with a selection of images from their session. I knew the grandparents would be thrilled when they saw the book and photos but I wasn’t expecting to hear about the added joy it brought them:

“Our parents LOVE the album – it’s particularly lovely for them because they don’t see us as often as they’d like, and we are in masks so it was the perfect gift for them this year.”

Hopefully it won’t be long before they can hug those 7 grandchildren without masks. How I would love to be there to capture that moment…….

Stay well everyone.

XOXO – Jo