One of my favorite farming families was back for me to create family portraits! Looking for your own family portraits? Click here to contact us! Blog followers and just about all the farming community in our area likely remembers Shannon’s story that I first started covering 7 years ago on the one year anniversary of her husband Tommy’s death.
She hired me to record that she and the kids, while still deeply grieving, were figuring out how to survive life in their new found status. She knew how much concern there was for her and Grady and Josie and she wanted to let people know that they were clinging to each other in their loss and figuring out how to navigate this new life. The story is recorded here in a blog 7 years old now.
Then in 2013 Shannon sought me out to record her wedding day. It wasn’t something she had planned on, but love rarely has a way of following predictable time tables. I told her that I didn’t cover weddings…she was pretty relentless that I should be the one to continue telling her story. Telling a story is what I love most in life so how could I say no? Her and Justin’s wedding day blog from 5 years ago can be found here.
Now it was time to celebrate a 5 year wedding anniversary and mark this precious and fleeting time with her sweet family. Five years had gone by and I wondered how relationships had progressed between everyone. Well, I can tell you it was really beautiful to be a part of recording the Franklin/Dell family story in portrait time.
What I saw was a continuation of the beautiful start of bonding I had seen in its infancy 5 years ago. The laughter still reigns supreme and looking out for each other’s best, having each other’s back, through the big and small takes top priority in this busy household.
I joked with Shannon that teen age boys have become quite a staple in our JDP senior line, but I ALWAYS have a pre-consult prior to the shoot to break down the barriers between them and portrait time. I was a little concerned that I hadn’t seen Grady in quite some time, but as soon as I saw him that day on their farm, it was like 5 years hadn’t even passed. He just fell right into creating the portraits with his family easy as a Sunday morning. He’s got this quiet confidence about him that says he knows how to get a job done and he’s the kind of guy you’d like by your side while tackling life.
Josie is a powerhouse to be reckoned with in a tiny package…pretty clear where that comes from in her! I texted her mom a picture of a license plate that said “catluvr” as Josie’s future plates one day! Her love of cats and goats is well known in her circles. She mentioned to me that she sometimes rides her goats and I said, “well let me set up the lights and then let’s see!” As you can imagine a bit of hilarious chaos ensued that makes for the best kind of memories in life!
When I shared the portrait gallery with Shannon and Justin, I showed them several behind the scenes clips of them standing back and watching the kids with such beaming pride that it would about burst your heart to see. I’d set the kids in a scene and Shannon and Justin just looked on proud and loving. I kept thinking, ‘if every kid could be raised under this mantle of love, wouldn’t the world be a better place.’ Justin was ready to move heaven and earth for portraits that day, knowing how important this is to Shannon. It reminded me of how he was the same way prepping for their wedding day. Wonderful to see it still coursing so strongly through his veins 5 years later!
When it was couple portrait time, I had an idea for a fun portrait…then learned that beer would not fizz out in an explosion like soda would, but that didn’t stop us from having a blast in the attempt! Although Justin did inform me this was against his religion to waste beer like this! Thanks for agreeing to the sacrilege! Such a blast to record this time for your family Shannon and Justin! May the sun continue to set with the two of you on your porch with a cold one in hand while watching Grady walk his steer and Josie riding Chip!
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