Typically, doing family portraits at Beckett Park is a safe bet that it will be uncrowded, even on weekend evenings. There might be someone walking the trail or fishing in the lake, but for the most part, we’ve had the park to ourselves.

I hadn’t anticipated Homecoming 2016. Cars lined the drive and the park was awash in chiffon, sequins, and black satin lapels. It looked like a night at the Oscars, except every single star had a personal photographer. It was unusual for my clients to show up decked out for a portrait session, and yet somehow feel underdressed.

Fortunately, that swarm of glittering elegance kept to the most visible areas of the park. I had done a reconnaissance mission two days prior and found a number of spots accessible by the trails where high heels fear to tread. And MY clients wore flats with their dresses. Take that, Jimmy Choos!

family portrait Beckett Park family portrait Beckett Park

The boys’ expressions tended to be somewhat steely. Mom warned me they weren’t big fans of picture-taking.

I am no stranger to men being reluctant to have their picture taken. When my husband and I went on our first vacation, he gave me a limit of three pictures a day. Over the years, he has loosened up on this rule considerably, for which I am thankful. However, when taking pictures of other families, I don’t have the luxury of years to wear down Y chromosome-mediated resistance. Nor do I wield the power to give or withhold homemade pizza. So sometimes you just have to accept what they are willing to give and move on. (That doesn’t count for my family, though. Your pizza is still at stake.)

We did some individual shots of the kids as well.

Boy portrait Beckett Park girl portrait Beckett Park Boy portrait at Beckett Park

We were actually getting senior photos of the oldest boy, but since he didn’t want to be fussed over, I tried not to torture him too much. I really like this one, though.

 

Boy portrait Beckett Park

And he was a really good sport about showing me the cool tricks he could do with his yo-yo. My ten-year-old was sad about missing that show.

Boy with yo-yo

I do have to give a shout out to Dad. Even though taking pictures wasn’t his favorite thing to do, he was very cooperative with the whole experience. And even with some stiff competition from his photogenic wife and daughter, his smile rate was the highest of the entire family. I had to toss out one blink from him (I was using flash, so that could be expected), but the rest were keepers. Way to go, Dad!