Family Story: The Beam Family
The day the Beam family had me meet up with them during their vacation on Bald Head Island was so gorgeous that I did NOT want to leave the island after the shoot was over (and one of the best parts is the novelty of catching that ferry ride to and from the island). I was ready to move in... move all my shoots there. I had shot a wedding there once before, but there was something magical and perfect about the day I was there for this family shoot. Y'all, I used to hate large, posed family pictures. I thought it wasn't my style and that they were boring. I have learned several things about family pictures in the last few years.... I have learned that my strong suit when it comes to photography is observing interaction between people. I can capture a posed group of people, but it's not what makes my heart sing. But I have also learned that these posed, large group portraits are important. We are not promised tomorrow, or even the next minute. Having pictures with and of the people you love the most is SO IMPORTANT. It's important to you, your kids, and the generations of people after us that want to learn about how life used to be. So now I can appreciate gathering a group of people, getting the posed AND the interactive shots in a way that is authentic to that family or group of people.
The Beam Family is made up of a matriarch and patriarch who had four sons. These four sons each married a sweet woman and together each couple has given the matriarch and patriarch some sweet grand children. The afternoon was full of shots of everyone all together, grandparents with each family unit, each family unit, each couple, etc. We had a blast running around the island by golf cart!
The original Beam Family...
... no matter what the age of the kids and parents, something about being photographed with your parents makes you want to cut up.
This is what 50 years of marriage looks like, y'all.
The Beams were lucky to have four super sweet women marry into their family over the years.
And then look at all of these sweet grandkids!
I have learned that sometimes it gets older kids excited to be able to choose the spot for the picture of just them. Occasionally it's not the best spot so I might do a few and then choose the spot myself. These two ladies chose well!
Each family's personalities came out in different ways through out their part of the shoot. This sweet Dad asked me if I could photograph him and his daughter's skipping because it's just a thing they do together. YES! I would LOVE to get you skipping with your daughters!!
So much love in this family!
