A Genuine Portrait

for Joe & Becky

"If you ever need some cute models . . ."

During a family play date in the fall of 2021 Joe and Becky fired off a round of questions about what it's like to have portraits taken at our home. We named a few scenes we love (like the apple orchard and Wildwood) and laid out the process by which we help families get off the fence and actually have portraits done.

To hear Becky tell it, "I kind of jokingly, tongue-in-cheek, said, 'If you ever need some cute models, let me know!' And a couple months later Camry emailed me and said, 'Actually…'"

How did you feel as your session approached?
Joe: I didn’t think about it at all, to be honest. I’m terrible with stuff like that. I know Becky thought about it a lot.
E: I was excited.
R: I was, too.

What made you feel so excited?
R: Seeing my friends.
H: And we got to see the chickens. I got to hold one, and I went out in the run, too.

"It has to be genuine."

What does it feel like to see your family on the wall?
R and H: Happy.
Joe: What is it you like about having it up there?
E: ‘Cause we never have a picture of our family on the wall.
Joe: Is that because we don’t have pictures on the walls?
E: We have that one, and that one, and that one in the hallway. And hardly ever one of our family.
Becky: It’s true. We hardly ever have an updated picture of our family on the wall, so it’s kind of a treat.

Were there some things that we told you to do that had you thinking, “There is no way this is going to look normal in a picture . . .”? Or, “I guarantee you I am not going to like that, because it’s weird.”
Becky: Yes! The nuzzling pictures. We had that conversation that day. I don’t nuzzle—because of glasses. I can’t even do this right! To anybody but me, those pictures don’t look awkward, it’s just that I know it was awkward and therefore to me it’s an awkward picture. I get that it’s going to be somebody’s favorite. It’s just not going to be my favorite. That’s probably the difference. It just probably wouldn’t be my favorite.
Joe: I know which poses are not normal for us, so I know she’s not going to pick them … because they’re not normal. Becky doesn’t want something that falsifies who we really are, and that would feel like a falsehood.
Becky: Yeah, that’s true. It has to be genuine.
Joe: The authentic piece is important.

Favorite & Least Favorite

Think over the whole process—deciding you want your pictures taken, getting ready, showing up on that day, coming back for the reveal, and today, when you got to see your picture on the wall for the first time. Which part of that was your favorite?
Joe: For me, it was most fun to go through the process of actually taking the photos. Mostly because it’s fun to watch the girls have fun in the process, like smile and giggle, make sounds and chase leaves and petals. It’s fun to see them enjoy that process. That was my favorite.
E: I liked playing after taking pictures.
R: I liked taking pictures, too.
H: I liked playing with Chase.
Becky: I liked getting to go take pictures and not be the one in charge of posing everybody and thinking it all through. I liked just getting everything ready, then going, and then it not being my responsibility.
Joe: Doing what you’re told?
Becky: Yes! I’m not very good at that. But it worked well this way, this time. And seeing the little sneak peeks you sent me—that was really fun.

Were there any least favorite parts? Like those awkward poses, or another part of the process that had you going, “Hmm… Not how I thought it was going to go.”
Becky: I think it came down to scheduling, for me. I wasn’t sure on the reveal how the scheduling was supposed to work and I maybe didn’t read things carefully enough . . . not totally sure . . . so that piece caught me off guard, but it wasn’t a big deal. Here we are.

"We wouldn't have a family picture on the wall for at least a year . . ."

Was all of the work that went into it worth it, now that you see the picture on the wall?
Becky: Yeah. Yes. Because otherwise we wouldn’t have a family picture on the wall for another year, at least . . . maybe decade. I have visions in my mind of pictures that I want to do, but getting them from my mind to the wall takes a very long time. So the fact that you guys got it done very quickly was very helpful!