'One Good One for the Card + Documentary' Session | jen faith brown photography

It seems to be a running joke among photographers that typically fall clients want just 'one good photo for Christmas cards'. Although I don't really think the joke is that funny (maybe I have a snooty sense of humor!), I totally get that people want a pretty photo of their family that they would feel proud of showing off on holiday cards. My friend Lindsay said the exact same words to me when discussing her family session. She wanted 'just one good photo'. Well, I hate posing people so that kind of gives me hives thinking of that kind of pressure. We decided on taking photos of her precious family at the park and knowing that she is so laid back that I could kind of do whatever I wanted. We got the 'boring' photos out of the way quickly and then let the kids just be kids at the park. I thought it ended up being a wonderful blend of getting the 'one good photo' and documenting a typical trip to the park as a family. I loved all the photos in her gallery and I hope she did too! (You can see her photos from last year HERE...she was my first ever client session back when I just KNEW I would never start a photography business. ha!)

Jen Faith Brown is a family photographer specializing in storytelling family photography session, either in home or on location. Jen is married with three young sons who keep her quite busy and give her abundant practice in photographing always-moving children! Jen is now booking 2015 sessions in Flower Mound, Southlake, Highland Village, Lewisville, Coppell, Frisco, and surround DFW areas. Please visit www.jenfaithbrownphotography.com for pricing and to view sample galleries.

5 of 5 August Edition | flower mound photographer

Did you guys see my post last month about our vacation breakfast and joining a Document Your Days blog circle? Well, I have joined a second blog circle called 5 on 5. Our goal is to post 5 photos to tell a story on the 5th of the month. Pretty catchy, right?! For my debut post I decided to share a couple photos of my best friend from college and her daughter. I met Marlene my sophomore year at Texas A&M when we took a dance and English class together and lived in adjacent dorms. She is the funniest, sweetest, and smartest gal! (um, hello, she is a DOCTOR now in Houston!) When my family when on vacation to Galveston, she met us for an afternoon of fun with our kids. I took the camera out for literally 10 minutes when we were at the beach and snapped some of the cutest Mom & Me photos. No posing, no direction, just photographing them in action. I love how they turned out...and I wish I lived near the beach to be able to take these kind of photos all the time!

Head over to Jenny's blog from Sycamore Lane Photography to see her August 5 on 5 berry picking photos. They are fabulous!

Jen Faith Brown is a family photographer specializing in storytelling family photography session, either in home or on location. Jen is married with three young sons who keep her quite busy and give her abundant practice in photographing always-moving children! Jen is now booking 2015 sessions in Flower Mound, Southlake, Highland Village, Lewisville, Coppell, Frisco, and surround DFW areas. Please visit www.jenfaithbrownphotography.com for pricing and to view sample galleries.

Back To School | flower mound family photographer

When thinking of back to school photos, I like to think of what our family does leading up to the first day of school to know what is important to photograph. We actually have a family tradition that started before my life as a mom, back when I was a high school math teacher. As you might imagine, the weekend before the first day of school was usually stressful for me trying to get ready for my new set of students. While you might think 'But, you had all summer to get ready!', in reality I didn't know what I was teaching until the week before school started which meant prep work was relatively minimal. Don't get me started. Anyhow, the point is, Brad and I would go out to eat the night before the first day of school so that way I could relax and have an hour of peace before the craziness continued. Thus, a tradition of dinner before the first day of school began and we continued this with the boys when they started pre-school.

Last year took in addition to our traditional dinner (which I didn't photograph because, you know, I can't photograph every minute of the day!), we had a morning treat of cupcakes at The Flour Shop Bakery in Highland Village the Sunday of the boys' last weekend of summer. Then the morning of John's first day of kindergarten I was sure to capture a little of him getting ready for school, a couple posed shots outside to document how handsome he is, and then a few shots of him at the school for the first time as a student. I did the same for the first day of Matthew's pre-k.  All of these memories are important to me as they truly show what it is means to go back to school in our family.

What traditions does your family have when you are ending the summer, or going back to school? Don't think that this only applies to families with young children. Surely families with college-aged kids have family traditions or some sort of send-off for before the fall semester starts. What would you photograph that best represents your family?

  

Jen Faith Brown is a family photographer specializing in storytelling family photography session, either in home or on location. Jen is married with three young sons who keep her quite busy and give her abundant practice in photographing always-moving children! Jen is now booking 2015 sessions in Flower Mound, Southlake, Highland Village, Lewisville, Coppell, Frisco, and surround DFW areas. Please visit www.jenfaithbrownphotography.com for pricing and to view sample galleries.

The Robinson Family | flower mound family photographer

Recently I spent a little bit of time with this laid back family from Flower Mound, Texas. Erin wanted family photos now that the 'baby' is a year old so we just took a walk down to the pond near their home where they typically search for 'trolls' in the trees and throw tree seeds into the pond. Three kids aged five and under certainly keep these parents busy but the love was shining through on this overcast morning!

Jen Faith Brown is a family photographer specializing in storytelling family photography session, either in home or on location. Jen is married with three young sons who keep her quite busy and give her abundant practice in photographing always-moving children! Jen is now booking 2015 sessions in Flower Mound, Southlake, Highland Village, Lewisville, Coppell, Frisco, and surround DFW areas. Please visit www.jenfaithbrownphotography.com for pricing and to view sample galleries.

How Boys Play | flower mound children photographer

Last week after tearing the boys away from the ipad and cell phone, I found them playing in my bedroom. I have three boys so I don't have much to compare to, but I would venture to guess that boys playing is a bit different than girls playing. These two kids reminded me of little bear cubs that you might see on tv. They rolled around tugging, pulling, poking, laughing, pushing, and squealing. All day long I say 'Be careful!', 'Not so rough!', 'No hitting!', 'Be gentle!', 'Watch out for Thomas!', 'Quit jumping from the couch to the ottoman!', 'Someone's going to get hurt!', 'Don't come crying to me when you get hurt!'. One day they might listen to me, but until then this is how boys play and how they have become inseparable.

Jen Faith Brown is a family photographer specializing in storytelling family photography session, either in home or on location. Jen is married with three young sons who keep her quite busy and give her abundant practice in photographing always-moving children! Jen is now booking 2015 sessions in Flower Mound, Southlake, Highland Village, Lewisville, Coppell, Frisco, and surround DFW areas. Please visit www.jenfaithbrownphotography.com for pricing and to view sample galleries.