Meet the Mahaffey family! John came by the studio at Christmas time to make his wife’s dreams come true, unbeknownst to her. “My wife has admired your work for years and I thought she would love family portraits as a surprise. It’s been a long time since we’ve had family portraits.” I’ve worked with a lot of women over the years who have admired from afar and when it’s their turn, they are like a kid on Christmas morning! I warned John that Michelle was going to love what we created, so he was prepared! He understood and wanted this for his bride. Click here to inquire about your own custom portrait experience.
The women of the family all started with a pampering/memory making time having their hair and make up done in studio. Oh the sound of sweet laughter when women bond…music to my ears! We began portrait time with the women, then had the men join us a little later.
In planning their portrait time, Michelle brought a notebook to be sure she didn’t forget anything–love that! I always say the pre-consult time is our brainstorming that helps bring the magic out in each session. I learned about the kids love of baseball and lacrosse and said, ‘how about we create a cool sports portrait series for you like we do with our seniors?’ Maddie and Paul were eager to see what we could do! John’s been a pivotal part of coaching Paul and Jonathan with baseball their whole life, so watching him look on proudly as he viewed the portraits was one of those father son moments that I have a suspicion will remain with him the rest of his life. 
Check out the uncanny moment we caught for Maddie with the loop on her lax stick! Crazy!
I see family portrait time as a peek into what makes a family tick…a time to see family at it’s best, excited and loving each other away from the distractions of the daily grind. (also fully aware of the stress that goes into making it all happen) Flexibility is key and often where the amazing develops throughout the course of creating. I learned that Michelle’s dad, who has since passed away, was the master stone carver on the National Cathedral in Washington DC. There is actually a documentary featuring his role in the project. Michelle got a little emotional as she spoke of her dad and I asked if there was anything she had from his role as a carver. She did, so of course we included this in a portrait. I encourage everyone to be in portraits, because one day, people who love you will go looking for them…and what a treasure when they find them!
We tagged into another special memory for these love birds with John’s guitar! When Michelle was pregnant with Paul and Maddie, John used to play lullabyes for his babies…oh the love of this father and mother for their kids…what a beautiful thing to behold!
So of course we needed a few romantic portraits to mark where this love story began that created the need for family portraits.
Pepper and Daisy even joined us for a segment at the end of the portrait time and were in heaven on the studio grounds!
Lastly, Jonathan and his sweet Alecia have a love story they are writing of their own that Michelle and John wanted to mark down as well…they are out on their own and looking forward to see what the future holds for these two kind hearted souls!
As you can see we covered a lot of bases for this sweet family and I’m so glad we did! These portraits will be on display in their home proudly and mom’s dream of family portraits has been realized and as she said, far exceeded her expectations! When she viewed her movie of portraits, I asked Michelle what she thought, through tears she said, “I just got to step back into one of my best memories ever!” Happy to have been a part of making that happen for you Michelle! Click here to chat with us about creating your own custom portraits!
