Steve, Gel, Amber & Scarlette

A family session is a challenge when there are kids aged one to five years old, but I don’t see this as a challenge. I see it as an opportunity for me to capture the realness of the family. Authenticity has always been my drive. I struggle with stiff poses and too perfect shots. That’s just not how I work. I always think that years after, I want my clients to remember not how well they posed but the emotions they would feel looking at the pictures. The sound of their laughter or the whine or cry of their child perhaps because of something they disliked.

Isn’t it supposed to be like that?

Photographs help us remember emotions rather than just looking at it plainly because it is PERFECT. Perfect skin. Perfect dress. Perfect pose. Perfect everything. But emotions?

In our world today, social media and all, we have looked past what’s REAL. I, on the other hand, would like to stick to my TRUTH.

I first met Gel and Steve when we did Gel’s maternity session four years ago. Then there was Amber when she turned one. Last Saturday, I met Scarlette! It was a riot of a happier kind. It was a good kind of challenge. The kids had their own agenda. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. There was a lot of bargaining and begging.

I hope Amber and Scarlette would look at these photos fondly when they become adults. I hope they’d bring this to their school when it’s that time when they need to submit a family photo for a school project like the family tree.