The Murray Family

My cousin, David, and his wife Shirley were some of the first to take a risk and call me and pay me to take family pictures for them back before I had much experience at all. I am so grateful to them for believing in me. This is my fourth shoot for them, (yearly family shoots plus Ethan's newborn pictures.) The first shoot was before I had a blog but you can view the second and third ones  here & here. Besides watching their family grow and always being so impressed by their preparedness as parents and their awesome communication skills, one thing I love is the chance to push myself to be more creative. It's one thing to repeat poses for different families, but when you are photographing the same family over again you don't want all their shoots to look alike. There is one pose we do every time because it's tradition for them (more on that later!) but besides that I think we got some really fun new shots this time :) 

Here are some of my favorite:

The one below is a favorite for sure!! 

Candid, crossing the creek. 

Love the two below!

Then we went for some less formal, more relaxed pictures. rolled up jeans, no shirts for the boys, and backwards phillies hats. 

 I absolutely love the realness of these. Noah and Ethan had so much fun throwing rocks in the water and splashing their feet. It makes me so happy when kids can genuinely enjoy themselves during photo shoots and don't dread getting their picture taken. 

Love this of Noah holding his daddy's hand. 

I feel like the two below represent Noah and Ethan's personalities so well. Noah: thoughtful, a little more reserved, reflective. Ethan: Ornery, fearless, outgoing. :) 

 No matter what their differences might be, these two brothers adore each other. They are so cute together!! 

 Love this shot of Ethan's little toes in the water! 

 So perfect. 

Daddy's boys!!! The one in the middle is my favorite. Noah's expressions in the two on the ends crack me up!! 

More rock throwing :) 

This is what contentment looks like when you have two little boys :) 

Ok.... could you ask for a sweeter mother & son shot than the one below??! LOVE it!! 

Family Snuggles :) 

 And to wrap up, kisses! 

 Ok, so I said I'd say more on the traditional shot for them later. Just for fun, I put the one from each photo shoot side by side by side. Don't you just love how a change in setting/scenery/lighting/time of day or year/and angle can take the same idea (a family walking away together holding hands) and make  it unique every time?? I think it would be so cool for them someday to create a photo strip of these shots throughout the years and see their boys growing up from one picture to the next. I just love traditions, and I am especially fond of this one for them!! 

Thanks again Dave & Shirley for your willingness to hike through mud down to this creek, your patience and awesomeness as we took pictures IN the water with your boys, and just for letting me capture your family through the different seasons. Love you guys!!