Allow me to get real about something: family pictures.
For us moms, they can be a wee bit stressful. You have to figure out what everyone is wearing. You have to figure out what YOU are wearing. You have to get everyone dressed while at the same time making sure that you look like a super- spruced-up version of your every day self.
In a word, it can be exhausting just getting ready for family portraits.
So, when it comes down to the actual photo session – you want a smooth, peaceful, and enjoyable experience! You don’t want a photographer who makes you hold your 25 lb. toddler while maintaining a super awkward squat position until your legs burn. Excuse me, but that’s not a photo session – that’s a workout!
That’s why I’m happy to share with you what a wonderful experience we had getting our family photos done by Ryan O’Dowd Photography.
Ryan is pretty laid back, but he really knows what he’s doing. He started us out just sitting on a bench to warm the children up and just get them in the posing mood. And, his strategy worked great. Sure, they squirmed and were more interested in watching the squirrels than looking at the camera when we first arrived. But, after a few minutes, Ryan won my crew over and even had them laughing.
In fact, for me, that’s one way I measure a photographer’s greatness. It comes down to: can you get my kids to smile? In our almost seven years of having family pictures taken, I can tell you that there have been times (and photographers) who could not elicit more than screams and tears from our little ones. I think of the bad experiences (and bad pictures) we have from going to studios in the mall and I regret the time we put in and the money we spent! Never again.
But, Ryan was, in a word, awesome. My children loved him. He’s a dad. He’s great with kids. And, the children really responded well to him and were happy to cooperate. I wanted pictures that would capture my children as the happy and playful little guys and gal that they are. Mission accomplished.
Ryan’s business motto is, “capturing moments in time that will never be forgotten.” When I saw the final results of our photo session, I saw just how appropriate that was. Each stage of family life is so different. The dynamic changes so much as our children grow and change. And, as I look at these pictures he took I’m so thankful for the way that they capture this moment in our family’s history.
Whether he’s photographing a wedding, a newborn, or doing family portraits like ours, Ryan aims to reflect and incorporate the personality of the individual, couple or family, into the pictures he takes. In other words – he didn’t make us do anything that would have been really out of the ordinary for our family. He tried to just capture us as is. He had some definite ideas about what would look good and how to accomplish that, while at the same time he allowed us to make suggestions and worked with what we wanted as well.
There is nothing more frustrating than putting all that effort into family pictures and then having them turn out bad. So, don’t chance it. Allow me to recommend Dallas portrait photographer Ryan O’Dowd for your session. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. We sure weren’t!
**I wasn’t paid to write this post but Ryan O’Dowd photography did do our photo session at no charge. This fact wouldn’t have changed the opinion stated above one bit. If you want to see our full session, check out Ryan’s blog.
