Family Photos

Back in August, we had our photos taken by the amazing Mandy Howard Photography.

Honestly, family photos in the past have led to nothing but stress. Sure, we get a few great shots out of them, but when I look at the pictures on the wall, I usually can sense the tension and angst from all of my family members who were being forced to smile. Usually, several people leave in tears and Theo and I are cold-shouldering each other for the next few hours. Then come the bill and the price. I know that professional photography is always fairly priced (the photographer is spending their time at the shoot, investing in equipment and spending hours upon hours editing photos), but I’ve cried very real tears in the past about how much family photos cost (one time we had to pay an entire month’s paycheck for a photoshoot — so we vowed to never do that again).

Maybe it’s the age of our kiddos, maybe it’s because we actually arrived on time, maybe it’s because Mandy is so good at what she does…but this photo session was completely different than all the others we’ve had in the past. We were relaxed, we were enjoying ourselves and all of these photos are 100% natural. Sure, we posed for them, but all of the smiles are genuine and some of the moments are even completely candid captures!

Mandy posted on her FB and IG that she was looking for some new models and was offering a free photo shoot in exchange for release of photos. We got a free photo session along with three images for free. We could purchase any other additional images that we wanted. As you can see…I purchased many. Pictures are one of those things that I feel will be around forever and I want to keep and cherish.

Mandy has just recently moved to the area and is still building her clientele in the Dayton area. So if you are looking for a photographer, I HIGHLY recommend Mandy!!! She made us feel so, so natural taking these pictures and in case you can’t tell….the pictures speak a thousand words. SO BEAUTIFUL.

Friends…photography can be expensive! Don’t I know it. I am so so so thankful that we had this opportunity for this photo shoot. I don’t preach the whole “It’s worth it!” statement because I know that for some a photo shoot of this quality is just not “worth it”. If it costs an entire paycheck or more, it’s not worth it. However, if you do have the finances to put towards family photos, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting them done. And I highly recommend Mandy Howard Photography. She has no idea I’m writing this blog post, as that was not a requirement of our agreement. I just genuinely wanted to collect these beautiful photos here and recommend her work to anyone in the northern KY/southern OH.

And that’s a wrap on family photos 2019!