When J. first contacted me about extended family portraits, she told me that they’d been trying for a nice, good family photo for years.  This extended family portrait session was to be a gift for her parents… how thoughtful!  A few weeks later when I met J. and her mom in person for their portrait planning/design meeting, we worked out the different groupings her mom wanted.  Everyone together – J’s parents, J and her three siblings, partners, and children – was of course the most important.  Then came grandparents and grandchildren, and the grandchildren together, and various other extended family and multi-generational groupings.  The timing for the extended family portraits was a little bit tricky since J’s brother is away at college, and we had to wait for him to come home to visit.  We lucked out on the date of the photography session with beautiful weather and a gorgeous sunset at one of J’s mom’s favorite spots – Ida Lee Park in Leesburg, Virginia!  The first image below of everyone together was our first pose.  The funny thing is that J’s parents told me later that they thought everybody standing in a line couldn’t possibly look very nice… and it turned out to be their favorite photograph of all thirteen of them!

Have you or your parents been trying, to no avail, for a beautiful family portrait for years of all the generations?  The holidays are the perfect time for extended family and multi-generational portraits, as family members travel home from near and far.

Just contact the family portrait photographer here to begin a conversation about your extended family portraits.