John Chesnut Park | Extended Family Photo Session
This year has been so busy already and my calendar through March is looking to be quite busy, too. I feel like all the travel that was limited the last few years is over; we are now back to business and everyone wants to head to Florida for the winter! This lovely family is from out west and one part of their family moved to the area so while they all caught up, they decided to do a photo session to document their family together. They knew they didn’t want the beach, so we headed to one of my favorite photo locations in Pinellas County that isn’t the beach, John Chesnut Senior Park. There is a wonderful large, old tree that is a spectacular backdrop at John Chesnut Sr. Park, but man, it sure has had the brush grow up around it since the last time I was there.
Still, the backlight and greenery were thee perfect backdrop for this large family photo session. We also used the water and tall cypress trees to make a perfect glowy backdrop, too. While most of the family couldn’t pack onto the boardwalks, it did make a fun spot to let the kids run. The best part of winter photo sessions though is the cooler weather. You can see the sparkle glow of little bugs in the back of some of these photos, which in the summer or heat of Florida, means we are probably getting eaten alive. However, in the winter, the bugs, just make pretty extra sparkles in the backlighting.
If you are coming together on vacation to Tampa Bay, and looking for a photo session, I would love to talk! I love documenting the picture perfect and the more authentic moments in between that help tell your family’s story in pictures. You don’t have to dress fancy, or stress about where to do the session, or anything other than getting there on time.
I help prepare you with a session success guide, with tips about what to wear, how to stay yourself in your wardrobe and style. Then, I send a quesitonnaire to get to know you once you have time to receive your style guide via the mail. Then we start looking at locations that work well with your family. You can either pick the location closest to you for ease, or pick your outfits so everyone has that covered and then base your location on what you are wearing. I take care of any permits that may be required, and set up the best time based on your location and sunset or sunrise. Then, you show up and I help you relax and take care of the rest. You get your images within two weeks of your session and I can take care of the artwork orders with collections to keep it simple, or you can prepurchase your digital negatives. Many large extended family photo session clients go that route so everyone can download their own images and print them on their own for personal use. Many clients like to purchase heirloom pieces for their session, too, and many of my collections for artwork come with digital negatives to download just in case you have anything happen to the art later on.
The image below is out of focus and dreamy in the backlight and dust/bug glow. Sometimes the imperfect images are just my favorites because they feel more like family moments I want to freeze. Perfectly imperfect, much like parenting in general, right?
