#1 on the Huffington Post's Last-Call List for Parents of High School Seniors is a family photography session:

"Try for that one perfect set of family pictures that no amateur can capture. It seems like now the kids are grown, that the need to document their gorgeous faces has lost its urgency as the transitions slow. Wrong. That just-finished-childhood-not-quite-adult look is fleeting. Get someone who knows what they are doing to capture it."

So the T. family got it right when Mrs. T. called up for a family photography session including her daughter, who will be graduating high school this year. "Senior year is a benchmark," she said. "It's the last time everyone is under the same roof."

I asked Mrs. T what motivated her to call us as opposed to the hundreds of other family photographers in Maryland.

"I searched for outstanding professional photographers on Angie's List, then went to their websites. I really liked your family photography portfolio, so you are definitely one of the photographers I wanted to speak with."

And later on in the conversation, she commented:

"I'm getting a huge range in prices from different professional photographers. My husband's comment was that you get what you pay for, and I completely agree. My bigger feeling is that you have to be comfortable with the photographer. From looking at your portfolio, that must be something you personally cultivate, because everyone in your pictures looks universally relaxed, and that's important with my daughter."

And you know, she hit the nail right on the head, because yes! We work with so many people who say they don't have any photographs of themselves that they like, and when we begin working with them, we find that all they really needed was a professional photographer who could make them feel comfortable and relaxed. In fact, that's why we meet in-person prior to the session with our family photography clients. It allows us to get to know each other better and to be comfortable with each other. That's part of our secret!

And so, enjoy some of our favorites from the T's natural family photography session at their home in Sandy Spring, Maryland. They chose the family portrait below of the five of them for us to print at 30x40 size as a thick canvas gallery wrap for their fireplace mantle.