Niagara Falls/ Family photo shoot
When I realized in mid November that I had not a single family photo of us so far in 2015, I had a series of bad/ sad reactions: no family photo symbolized no family vacation for us in 2015; no family photo symbolized lack of family time togetherness- the downside of a plethora of kid related activities/ sports that frequently had one parent going in one direction with one or two kids while the other parent was with another child; no family photo meant sending those generic Christmas cards sold in the end caps of Kroger aisles rather than sending custom created Shutterfly masterpieces showing off displaying images of our beautiful kids. I couldn't do anything about the non existence of our vacation or about the time spent going to 183 (give or take a few) soccer games over the year but I could (maybe) salvage my Christmas card crisis by getting family pictures taken during Thanksgiving break.
And so it was that on a mild November day (thank you El Nino), we five Rineers and our photographer (Katy) drove to Niagara Falls to get our pictures taken. Spoiler alert: we got some good photos BUT it was not at all smooth sailing.
First of all, the day was mild but there was a 50% chance of rain. Katy noticed the forecast called for an increased chance of rain as the day progressed. So we hurried to get ourselves ready and to the Falls before 1:00 pm when the chance of rain dramatically increased. We also took some pictures inside the visitor's center in front of a fake Christmas tree before we went outside in case the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse. The weather ended up being just about perfect for picture taking- overcast, cool but not cold, and definitely not raining but you could tell by the clouds that rain was imminent. Because we knew the rain was (probably) coming, it added a layer of stress to the event.
Second, Jacob's outfit was not what I envisioned. I packed him a pullover sweater type thing exactly like Donnie's only dark blue. I had a nascent fear that he'd outgrown it but put my fears aside and packed it. When it was time to get ready for our photo shoot, I told him what he should wear for the pictures and he told me he'd outgrown it (I'm pretty sure I saw him wear it about a month ago but he has been growing like a proverbial weed so I wasn't too surprised). He had to wear his black North Face jacket in the photos (North Face- so cliche!). Also, his jacket is dirty. It's not something most people would notice, but I was looking at all the photos with a critical eye and couldn't miss it :).
Third, while I was generally pleased with how everything turned out, one bothersome thing to me was that for every series of photos we took, in at least one of the photos, one person was looking wonky or had his or her eye closed. That's normal, to some extent, but then in the next photo, in the same exact pose, it would be a different person with a wonky eye or an eye closed. In the next photo, in the same exact pose, it would be yet a different person with a wonky eye or an eye closed. In our family photos, there was ONE photo where everyone looked spectacular, i.e. no eye issues whatsoever and in that one photo, the wind had whipped in my hair quite unbecomingly in my face. The perfect photo was truly out of reach for us, BUT I am not complaining too much. The pictures aren't perfect but neither are we!!
When we arrived home from Canada, I wasted no time downloading pictures from my camera and then uploading photos to Shutterfly's website. While in Canada, I'd looked at the photos on Katy's laptop but I wanted to wait until I got home to do the nitty gritty work of doing the card. I spent way too much time on it. I chose a design that had six openings for images on the front. I used only Niagara Falls pictures for the front. Then I chose a back layout that had 12 openings for images. I did a very small, 12 picture synopsis of our year.
While I don't have the physical cards in my hands yet, I like what I saw on the computer so I'm cautiously optimistic that they will look great! I would include a link of it from Shutterfly's site but there is no link to send.
This picture was taken in the walkway between the parking lot and the Niagara Falls Visitor's Center (probably not its official name but it was a visitor's center). There was a series of these cute soldier guys lining the walkway to the building. Cute photo op and note the blue lights strung overhead. I'll bet it's super pretty at night. Also note Abby's leggings display her dance studio name on them. Note to family photographer: avoid photographing Abby's legs for the family photos!! Sophie, Abby and Alyssa pose in this photo. We went to Falls the day that Ceci went to school so Ceci is not in any of the Niagara Falls pictures.
While inside the visitor's center, we spotted this tree and I asked if we could stop to take a few pictures before we headed out to see the Falls. I like this photo but thought that Donnie and Jacob could have smiled a little morefake enthusiastically for the photo.
This was a little better but I don't like how Abby's leggings display her dance studio name. Also, while I purposely didn't go matchy matchy (not because I don't like matchy matchy because I do), I didn't want/ mean to go so utterly non matchy on our bottoms. Jacob is in khakis, Donnie and I are in jeans, and the girls are in two different colored leggings. Our legs were a body part that were not going to make the cut (so to speak) in a family photo for the card.
The tree that we were standing in front of was adjacent to this huge window, with a fairly nice view :).
My favorite inside family photo!!
I took this picture of the Falls from inside the building
The three kids- Jacob's expression here won't do but the girls look astonishingly adorable (pardon my unabashed bragging!!) to me.
Much better, Jakey!
Maybe it's because I think they're adorable (biased, I know) or because they're sweet most of the time or because they're wearing fake fur fluffy vests or because despite three years between them they are each other's best friend, but I could have taken photo after photo of them. My girls- Abby and Alyssa
Cousin Sophie joined the mix
Katy and me- Katy says she looks like Peter Cottontail with the white ornament near her tuckas!!
Finally at the Falls~
Donnie's eyes!
Jacob's eyes and mouth!
Jacob's eyes (and mine aren't looking so hot either!)!
Decent but Jacob's eyes are not 100% opened...
Abby's eyes...
All eyes are normal but my face is veiled with my hair
Alyssa's eyes...
Well, I declared this one as good as it was going to get. Alyssa's eyes aren't open as big as they normally are when she smiles but they aren't closed either...
I also like this one but Abby's eyes were half closed.
In these next few family photos, everyone looks good. What cracked Katy and me up when we looked at them on the computer was the composition and how Jacob's position makes him look like he's a giant. Compare him to Donnie and me. He looks significantly bigger and taller than Donnie and me. While he is bigger than I am in real life, he is not as big as Donnie is. Of course I don't blame our photographer for the composition- as the Falls were not devoid of tourists, we felt like we couldn't stay and tarry in one spot for a long time. All of the pictures taken outside were taken in about a five minute time frame. There was no way, short of being rude and spending a ton of time in one spot, to spend a lot of time getting everyone's position just right.
I like the symmentry in their height differences- the difference between Jacob and Abby's height is about the same as the difference bewteen Abby and Alyssa's height.
Love the picture (the kids are all right, too :))
Katy and Sophie...
And that's a wrap... let the selfies begin!!
And so it was that on a mild November day (thank you El Nino), we five Rineers and our photographer (Katy) drove to Niagara Falls to get our pictures taken. Spoiler alert: we got some good photos BUT it was not at all smooth sailing.
First of all, the day was mild but there was a 50% chance of rain. Katy noticed the forecast called for an increased chance of rain as the day progressed. So we hurried to get ourselves ready and to the Falls before 1:00 pm when the chance of rain dramatically increased. We also took some pictures inside the visitor's center in front of a fake Christmas tree before we went outside in case the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse. The weather ended up being just about perfect for picture taking- overcast, cool but not cold, and definitely not raining but you could tell by the clouds that rain was imminent. Because we knew the rain was (probably) coming, it added a layer of stress to the event.
Second, Jacob's outfit was not what I envisioned. I packed him a pullover sweater type thing exactly like Donnie's only dark blue. I had a nascent fear that he'd outgrown it but put my fears aside and packed it. When it was time to get ready for our photo shoot, I told him what he should wear for the pictures and he told me he'd outgrown it (I'm pretty sure I saw him wear it about a month ago but he has been growing like a proverbial weed so I wasn't too surprised). He had to wear his black North Face jacket in the photos (North Face- so cliche!). Also, his jacket is dirty. It's not something most people would notice, but I was looking at all the photos with a critical eye and couldn't miss it :).
Third, while I was generally pleased with how everything turned out, one bothersome thing to me was that for every series of photos we took, in at least one of the photos, one person was looking wonky or had his or her eye closed. That's normal, to some extent, but then in the next photo, in the same exact pose, it would be a different person with a wonky eye or an eye closed. In the next photo, in the same exact pose, it would be yet a different person with a wonky eye or an eye closed. In our family photos, there was ONE photo where everyone looked spectacular, i.e. no eye issues whatsoever and in that one photo, the wind had whipped in my hair quite unbecomingly in my face. The perfect photo was truly out of reach for us, BUT I am not complaining too much. The pictures aren't perfect but neither are we!!
When we arrived home from Canada, I wasted no time downloading pictures from my camera and then uploading photos to Shutterfly's website. While in Canada, I'd looked at the photos on Katy's laptop but I wanted to wait until I got home to do the nitty gritty work of doing the card. I spent way too much time on it. I chose a design that had six openings for images on the front. I used only Niagara Falls pictures for the front. Then I chose a back layout that had 12 openings for images. I did a very small, 12 picture synopsis of our year.
While I don't have the physical cards in my hands yet, I like what I saw on the computer so I'm cautiously optimistic that they will look great! I would include a link of it from Shutterfly's site but there is no link to send.
This picture was taken in the walkway between the parking lot and the Niagara Falls Visitor's Center (probably not its official name but it was a visitor's center). There was a series of these cute soldier guys lining the walkway to the building. Cute photo op and note the blue lights strung overhead. I'll bet it's super pretty at night. Also note Abby's leggings display her dance studio name on them. Note to family photographer: avoid photographing Abby's legs for the family photos!! Sophie, Abby and Alyssa pose in this photo. We went to Falls the day that Ceci went to school so Ceci is not in any of the Niagara Falls pictures.
While inside the visitor's center, we spotted this tree and I asked if we could stop to take a few pictures before we headed out to see the Falls. I like this photo but thought that Donnie and Jacob could have smiled a little more
This was a little better but I don't like how Abby's leggings display her dance studio name. Also, while I purposely didn't go matchy matchy (not because I don't like matchy matchy because I do), I didn't want/ mean to go so utterly non matchy on our bottoms. Jacob is in khakis, Donnie and I are in jeans, and the girls are in two different colored leggings. Our legs were a body part that were not going to make the cut (so to speak) in a family photo for the card.
The tree that we were standing in front of was adjacent to this huge window, with a fairly nice view :).
My favorite inside family photo!!
I took this picture of the Falls from inside the building
The three kids- Jacob's expression here won't do but the girls look astonishingly adorable (pardon my unabashed bragging!!) to me.
Much better, Jakey!
Maybe it's because I think they're adorable (biased, I know) or because they're sweet most of the time or because they're wearing fake fur fluffy vests or because despite three years between them they are each other's best friend, but I could have taken photo after photo of them. My girls- Abby and Alyssa
Cousin Sophie joined the mix
Finally at the Falls~
Donnie's eyes!
Jacob's eyes and mouth!
Jacob's eyes (and mine aren't looking so hot either!)!
Decent but Jacob's eyes are not 100% opened...
Abby's eyes...
All eyes are normal but my face is veiled with my hair
Alyssa's eyes...
Well, I declared this one as good as it was going to get. Alyssa's eyes aren't open as big as they normally are when she smiles but they aren't closed either...
I also like this one but Abby's eyes were half closed.
Abby and Sophie
In these next few family photos, everyone looks good. What cracked Katy and me up when we looked at them on the computer was the composition and how Jacob's position makes him look like he's a giant. Compare him to Donnie and me. He looks significantly bigger and taller than Donnie and me. While he is bigger than I am in real life, he is not as big as Donnie is. Of course I don't blame our photographer for the composition- as the Falls were not devoid of tourists, we felt like we couldn't stay and tarry in one spot for a long time. All of the pictures taken outside were taken in about a five minute time frame. There was no way, short of being rude and spending a ton of time in one spot, to spend a lot of time getting everyone's position just right.
I like the symmentry in their height differences- the difference between Jacob and Abby's height is about the same as the difference bewteen Abby and Alyssa's height.
Love the picture (the kids are all right, too :))
Katy and Sophie...
And that's a wrap... let the selfies begin!!
At the very end of our time at the Falls, Katy took a few pictures of Donnie and me. I loved them except that I wish he hadn't put his jacket on because he didn't have it on for most of the pictures. Oh well.
I loved our imperfect photo shoot!
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