marietta photographer – atlanta family photographer
I’m typically a #TeamSchoolAllDayEveryday kind of person, but with all three kids involved in extra curricular activities, plus all of them being school-aged now, means homework for everyone like an Oprah special (“YOU get some homework! and YOU get some homework!”). Therefore, we all needed a minute from the craziness. Holiday break was such a nice reprieve from the early mornings, late evenings, and busy work season that never seemed to end (and still hasn’t as I’m still wrapping up some late-November sessions).
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Not that Christmas is all about the presents (but it’s one of the best parts, right?!?), however, we all got some really great ones this year! I was gifted a Pentax film camera by my sweet, thoughtful fiance, and I couldn’t wait to start playing around with it (hence the reason this holiday break was actually documented for the first time in forever). I tested out two film labs (theFINDlab and PhotoVision) and was so pleased with the results from both. I also shot with two different types of film: Fujifilm Pro 400H and Kodak Portra 400, to see the differences in how they captured the light and colors. I love having a new toy, and while I won’t be using it for client sessions (except maybe and image here and there just for fun), it has already brought me so much joy to capture my children and have someone else do the post-processing work!
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So getting onto it…here’s pretty much what we did on our holiday break (captured with my new toy-Pentax 645n medium format film camera):
We pretended it was actually cold and posed for some “Christmas-y” photos…in short sleeves and sandals HA! But the blanket totally sells it, right?!? And, you may notice that this child is one that I can always count on to pose for me with very minimal whining. I don’t even have to bribe her with that much, I think she secretly enjoys feeling like a model.
We took our new bikes (thanks, Santa!) for a spin at Lost Mountain Park. The weather was so great for most of the break (when it wasn’t raining), thank goodness, so we took advantage and spent a ton of time playing outside.
We still woke up early (…okay the kids woke up early, I slept in most/all days!), but we all pretty much stayed in our pajamas until after noon. I think that is the best part about the week in between Christmas and the new year! No one knows what day of the week it is, there’s not many obligations with work (unless you own your own business AHEM, but Beau was off, so that was a nice change), and no one has anywhere that we HAVE to be before lunch.
We did some more photo-op posing on the back porch, but seriously, the weather was so nice that we pretty much stayed on the porch deck any moment that we weren’t playing in the front yard.
We did a *little* reading, not as much as we probably should have, but Santa brought a whole bunch of new books that the kids were all excited to read. I’m not really sure why an LSU book was part of that bunch, but alas, I need to just get over the fact that my middle child (in true middle child fashion) has gone rogue and jumped on the purple tiger band wagon.
It was one of the best Holiday breaks that I can remember, and I think that’s mainly because the kids are in those “sweet spot” ages (9, 8, and 6). You know, that sweet spot where the magic is still alive, but they are pretty self-sufficient, can make their own breakfast, play nicely with each other *sometimes*, and still prefer to hang out with me versus their friends (although Lila is inching her way closer and closer to the friend-side). I just hope that they will continue to let me use them as my little muses until forever 🙂
