My heart jumps when I get to take family portraits at SFA’s Arboretum! This family booked me for a photoshoot in July when they could all be in town. And they got a pleasant surprise that no photographer can offer as part of a package: a brief respite from oppressive heat. Don’t get me wrong. This shoot still took place in Nacogdoches, TX in July. I’m just saying that a ten degree difference in the high for the day really helps!
Although my new friend Melissa is no stranger to Deep East Texas, she moved away years ago. Last year she moved back from Canada, bringing along her husband Ray and her two children, Lucy and Christopher.
Ray’s two sons, Michael and Chris, got to visit this week (hence the portraits being scheduled in July).
“Micro Chris” and “Macro Chris,” as they call themselves, enjoy sharing the same name. It looks to me as if Micro Chris takes delight in having two older brothers.
The slightly cooler weather was not the only happy coincidence. It turns out that Melissa’s parents got to participate too! Bill and Donna recently arrived back in Deep East Texas after having served with Mercy Ships!
When family gatherings like this happen, I can’t resist snapping a three generation portrait!
So Melissa and Ray,
Michael, Chris, Lucy, Christopher, Bill and Donna,
THANK YOU ALL for being such troopers. Y'all are my kind of people, valuing portraits enough to cooperate with a photographer who has you trapse all over the arboretum on a warm day in July to do this-or-that with the lighting or the background, etc. I felt honored to be the one who got to snap these for you, and what a blessing that Michael and Chris came into town AND Bill and Donna got to be a part of it! May you all enjoy these memories for many years to come.
