devotion

Mom told me she loved her newborn session so much, her mind immediately jumped to a family portrait session.  Teresa realizes her children are all at momentous stages and she longed for a beautiful record of this time.   Recording her children at milestones has always been very important to Teresa and her kids all know this.

Teresa’s oldest son, Randy, has just graduated from high school while her youngest, Saniyah just passed her 6 month mark.  That’s quite a span but this span has showed Teresa how truly fleeting the years with children are, and she will not allow the time to pass unmarked.

 (I think above is one of the coolest portraits I’ve ever taken!)

I expected there to be some resistance from her teenage kids.   Spending time getting family photos taken never falls high on the priority list for teens.   When the family I arrived I asked Teresa’s teens, ‘ok so what did your mom have to bribe you all with to get you here today?’  The answer that came with a grin, “nothing.” 

Teresa’s teens really set the bar high for coming to a portrait session with a good attitude simply because they knew the value of this day to their mother.  I was so pleasantly surprised by how willing everyone was to cooperate and make this session such a success.   Usually there’s a warming up time before kids begin to trust you and relax.  No moody, sullen teens here!  Instead, they were all joking around and helpful from the start.

It’s clear Teresa has invested a lot of time with her kids and she goes out of her way to make sure milestones are marked for them.   She’d been saving to make the dream of this full family portrait session a reality for a long time.  Her birds are beginning to fly from the nest and they will each be taking a bit of her heart with them as they soar!

Randy, with the winning smile, has just finished culinary training and graduated from high school.  His guitar, drums and video games fill his free time.  I asked him what he likes to play and he answered, ‘everything.’  Wow!  He played for me during his photos.  As someone who loves music but has zero musical ability—I was very impressed!  He and his siblings like to make up funny songs to make mom laugh.  

 (this shot was taking me back to 50’s films)

Mom told me how Faith, who just turned 16, hates pink…when you exude power and strength like this, I’m not surprised!  Faith is an athlete and she loves color guard….like I had to tell you that!  She brought a quiet confidence and strength to her portraits that I have fallen in love with!

 (someone call SI for cool teens!  I think we have your covergirl!)

Ferrious, the jokester, is 13 and his chief passion is football.   He’s a huge Ravens fan, which of course means he despises the Steelers!  When I asked if he wanted to be photographed with the Ravens game ball that Sam Koch had given me after his family session, he was all over it!  Sam has 3 boys of his own so realizes the great joy kids experience over simple things like a game football. 

Randy and Ferrious have a great brotherly bond.  It was really cool to see them have so much fun together throwing the football.  Ferrious showed off his skills for the camera with a bunch of one handed catches! 

Haven is Mom’s 5-year-old little princess.   And like every princess, she needed at least one outfit change during our session.  Haven was all smiles with her bear and dreams of being a Disney princess!   She loves taking photographs so I hooked her up with my old d50 which took a plunge years ago while I was photographing my boys on boogie boards at the beach.  I got a little too involved in photographing tricks and forgot to watch for the wave that took me down…great photos are often about risk (and smart photographers insure their equipment to be able to take risks!).    

Arram is in love with football, no doubt his big brothers have something to do with that!  He can usually be found walking around clutching one under his arm and throwing passes to whoever will play catch with him.   He was a little out of sorts on this day but Daddy helped to make everything better!   

I think with these three things Arram would be occupied for the next 3 years!

Yusef had a natural ease with the kids.  Dad’s contribution of quiet strength helped to keep the session running smoothly.  He knew how important this day was to Teresa and helped to make sure we wrangled 8 people into a beautiful photograph. 

Saniyah had every right to complain.  Although the day was gorgeous it was very windy.  She was cold and obviously uncomfortable but all it took was a smile and little attention from anyone of her family members to make her forget her discomfort and smile.  It’s clear how much she loves her whole family!

Dad’s role in this day was giving up part of his wedding anniversary day to get these family portraits.   When your 6 children span 18 years in age, finding a day that would work for everyone’s schedule is a Herculean feat.  Thankfully Easter break offered a break from regular life so we were able to make this happen. 

The coolest part about photographing Teresa and Yusef was seeing their natural ease with one another and how Yusef stopped to take off his glasses while I was shooting.  Not for the camera, but so Teresa could really look into his eyes for their portraits together….melt!

I wish you all the best Hebron-Parker’s!