Menlo Park Family Session

I took pictures of this sweet family! They have been so supportive of me for the last couple years, and it was awesome to take pictures of them. The kids are so full of life, and capturing them was hilarious because they were playing with me at the beginning (“Vivian, I bet you can’t take a picture of me”) but that made it more fun.

They asked me what my favorite type of session is, and as I wrote in my recap blog a couple weeks ago, family sessions are so fun for me because I get to capture authentic joy, chaos, and love. Seeing their son hold his little sister tight was the cutest thing… almost as fun as them sprinting all over the park!

Shooting: I shot in all manual which was a fun challenge because kids run VERY QUICKLY. Making sure my shutter speed was fast enough (faster than 1/250) while also getting great depth of field is something I’m still working on! We took some posed pictures which was fun — I didn’t make the kids do anything like “look at your parents” or anything because I wanted them to be able to run free later.

Editing: It was kind of cloudy, which means I got to practice a lot of editing! Cloudy days make the white balance kind of funky so I worked hard to get it right. The sun peeked through here and there which made it tricky to be consistent with editing, but I’m learning and I think I’m getting better at it! I tried split-toning to make things look a bit more warm.

Looking for a family photographer? Inquire!