Fall Family Pics
My lovely mother in law text me earlier this week telling me how gorgeous the trees were in their yard--saying they'd be perfect for pics. I had already penciled in time for our family pics in a couple weeks; however, I couldn't pass up a perfect weather day NOW and chance it being rainy or cold or all of the pretty fall colors gone in a couple weeks.
So! Tuesday night I told Mike we were going to go to his parents to do fall pics when the kids got up from their siestas. I managed to find coordinating outfits that I thought went really well together--even finding Rosie's new onesie last minute at Old Navy. I was excited.
Well, wouldn't you know it?! OF COURSE things went wrong (don't they always?!), and it was my own fault for getting myself so psyched up and excited for family pics (that we really haven't ever done!) that when we had a few hiccups I was really bummed out. But, 'tis is life, right?! Right. I need to learn to adapt and go with the flow...which is hard for the OCD planner in me! But I'm working on it, promise.
Anyways, so we had to wake Patrick and Rosie up from their naps around 4pm--which, it never seems to go well waking kids up. Patrick was not having it, so bribery began. I kept telling him we were going to take pics and smile reallllllly big and he'd get a special treat (aka one of his birthday gifts he never opened we stashed away in the basement). He seemed to be biting. Excellent.
We headed out after everyone was dressed, and I kept telling Mike to make sure Rosie kept her bib on in case she spit up I didn't want it to get on her outfit. Ohhh, how wrong I was to worry about that. Why?! Well, as soon as we pulled up to the Mooneys the worst thing ever happened: Rosie had her first ever blow out (oooooooh, my poor Applecheeks failed us!) and holy poop ALL OVER. Up her back, around her front, EVERYWHERE--all over her perfectly coordinated outfit! OMG, you'd think the world was ending with how I reacted (#overreacted. oops.) -- but it was awful. I was so upset because I knew this was the perfect (weather) day and didn't know if we'd get another opportunity at this golden hour with Mike off and no plans. GAHHHHH!
So, we were able to find a little girl's white sweater in the Mooneys kid's clothing reserve and a light blue (boys, haha) onesie to use instead. It wasn't my perfectly coordinating matching outfits, but it was close enough, and dang nabit, we were going to make it work.
Well, as soon as we got back outside, Patrick was NOT having pictures. No matter the bribe, he wasn't having it--he wanted to do everything else except sit still for pics. UGHHHH. But again, I was committed to getting these pics taken. I tried everything: ice cream for dinner, new toy, EVERYTHING. He didn't want it; he wanted to run and play (hey, I don't blame him).
Yeah, wasn't he a little peach?!! Ugh. But I'm laughing at these pics now...because despite snapping over 400+ pics, we did get a few (mostly of Rosie sitting being adorable) that were keeper-worthy. THANK GOD.
Notice my left hand subtly coming off of tapping my iPhone?! Yep. Was activating my remote shutter to snap these pics from the tripod. Maybe I should have just had someone else take them...I don't know. I mean, I'm pretty particular about my pics and settings and thought it'd be easier to just snap our own family pics. Maybe having someone behind the camera waving and getting Patrick and Rosie's attentions would have been better...ugh. Whatevs. Maybe we'll venture down that route next time.
Despite my uncooperative little man, how flippin' gorgeous were those trees in the background?!! Seriously. Despite our hiccups I'm glad we muscled through and got some snaps (especially for Rosie's 6 month pics!) because I don't know if those colors can be topped. They were just so gorgeous! I also toggled between f/7 and f/1.8 aperture and I love the blur differences between the pics. For all you non-picture people, f/7 is when the background is less fuzzy, and f/1.8 is when it's more fuzzy and really focuses on the subject. All about the aperture setting you use!
All in all, despite the day's events, I'm really happy with how these pics turned out and glad we powered through and did them. Even if we luck out and have another fall photoshoot (with maybe more cooperative kiddos!) I'll be glad that we have these. The protesting pictures of Patrick are hilarious and a great reminder to me that things don't always go as planned and sometimes you need to just roll with it, and laugh at the outcome.
