It's Time to Gather the "Entire" Family for Photos | Parker Colorado Extended Family Photographer

Hey ya'll, happy almost summer!!!  I’m still busy moving all my blog posts over to my new site and I am maybe about half way through - maybe!

So my blog post this month is about something super important - yes, the most important thing in the universe right now; and that's getting your ENTIRE family together for extended family photos.  And when I say your entire family, I mean ERRYBODY.  Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grown Siblings, you get the picture.  You may be thinking, this lady is crazy, who wants to coordinate all that but hear me out.  Once you become an adult and have your own family your sole focus is to make sure you get photos of your 3-6 people (spouse, kids, dog, hamster) right?  Well, what about all those other special people in your kids' lives?  Grammy, Grampy, Auntie S, Uncle D, baby cousin Avery; you get the picture.  These folks are already special to you, but they become equally as special to your kids, especially as they get older and they grown to love them as much as you do.  So, what better way to capture all of these relationships than with an extended family session.  See this family above ^^^^ they did it!  They prioritized capturing these relationships in photos, and they knocked it out of the box!   In case you can't follow in the photo, this extended family session captured grandma and grandpa, all of their grown daughters, and two of their daughter's families.  

So let's check out the first daughter and her family...

Gorgeous, right?  Well, there is more...the entire family is gorgeous!!!

So much to say about these, but I'll keep it to 3 points:

1- Please get photos of your kiddos with their grandparents.  This may be the 2nd most important relationship that you can help nurture with your kids.  They will remember their younger years with their grandparents all of their lives.  I know this from experience, but I really regret not having a nice portrait with the grandmother I spent the most time with growing up

2) Adults, please take photos with your parents.  You probably have a ton from when you were a kid, but this is another important relationship that you owe it to yourself to capture!

3) Umm, do you see the photo of the dad with his grown daughters. I'm pretty sure he owned a shotgun when they were growing up to keep the boys in check, hehe....

So much to say about the photos above, but again I'll keep it short:

1- Capture your kids with your siblings, as those relationships with Aunts and Uncles are priceless

2 - SEESTERS!!!!  I can only hope my girls love each other this much when they are adults.  Right now my girls claim they are going to move in together, share a mini-van, and have 3 dogs and a cat.  <3 <3 <3  I bet these ladies had similar aspirations when they were growing up because you can see the love and affection they have for each other now.

And we ended with the last family, and they got the benefit of being right smack dab during golden hour.  Between their beauty and the beauty of the light, it was just all the gorgeousness that I could stand.  LOVE IT!!!!

So in case I didn't make my point clear - gather up ALL THE FAMILY and plan an extended family session, and do it soon!  Don't pass up these opportunities to capture all the special relationships in your lives.  The hardest thing will be finding a date that works for everyone, the 2nd hardest thing will be coordinating wardrobe; the rest you can leave to your photographer!  I love doing these sessions because I have a large extended family so shooting large groups doesn't scare me, and plus I'm not afraid to tell people what to do, ha!  Feel free to e-mail me at: makiaimages@gmail.com if  you want to chat about what this may look like for you!  Don't delay, mmmkay!  

Danielle Makia, Photographer is a South Denver family photography business also specializing in maternity, children, lifestyle, senior and extended family sessions; as well as intimate weddings/elopements and event photography. Service areas include Denver, Colorado; Aurora, Colorado; and Denver Suburbs.