Have you seen that episode of Friends where Monica and Chandler try to take engagement portraits and Chandler just can’t smile the right way?
Yeah that’s me.
I may be a photographer, but put a camera in my face and I guarantee you will see me morph into someone who looks like they are physically in pain. Tell me to put my arm here or look naturally at my husband over there and absolutely nothing about what I am doing will be natural.
That’s what is so great about a Day in the Life Session. You don’t have to do anything or be anyone other than yourself.
My whole family was set to get together in a big house in Austin over the Christmas holiday while my dad was home for a month from an overseas assignment for the Air Force. In the past, we’ve tried the family portrait route and certain family members (I won’t name names) have complained before, during and afterwards. This time I decided I really want to capture what it actually feels like to all get together with 8 adults and 6 kids 6 and under (and also didn’t want to hear the complaining).
Then I found Aleks.
We connected in one of our photo groups and really hit it off. We have a similar shooting style and I felt like she really understood what I had envisioned for the session.
At first I was worried that the inner Chandler Bing in me would come out the second she arrived, but thankfully I was able to just be myself and spend time with my family. After a few hours I didn’t even notice her taking photos anymore! These photos are absolutely priceless and I am so happy with all the little and big moments she captured.
From the first sleepy moments to the last kisses before bed, she was there documenting our life chaos and all. And I am happy to report, there was no complaining from my family (at least not to my face).
*Fair warning, I included a lot more photos than I normally would for a blog post simply because it’s my family and I couldn’t narrow it down.
A HUGE thanks to Aleks Gajdeczka, she was warm and kind and so much fun to hangout with all day. If you are in the Austin, TX area you most definitely should hire her to capture your own story. www.aleks-gajdeczka.com