I've had "take family photos" on my to-do list every year for all the years since we've been a family of three and I've always talked myself out of it. I don't love the way I look, we don't have the money, can't figure out a good time, and on and annoyingly on.
I'm very good at a few things, including travel planning, becoming invested in fictional characters, and also making excuses.
Anyway, we planned a trip to Austin in early April, to take Kyle to a MotoGP race. I decided I'd send Natalie--one of my favorite people on the entire planet, and also an insanely talented photographer--an email to see if she might be free sometime that weekend to squeeze in a family photo shoot. I figured, hell, if she couldn't, she couldn't. If she could, no excuses.
She could.
We had just driven three-plus hours to Austin, and I was sweaty and gross, and I basically threw on some makeup and hoped for the best. And, you know, I was one million times happier with the pictures than I even hoped I'd be. Natalie is an absolute natural--no, really, she's found her real calling and what an incredible vibe to be around--and she had Kyle posing and smiling and acting like his charming self in minutes. She put us all at ease.
I make it a rule not to give unsolicited advice with just a few select exceptions. Those exceptions are: 1) No matter what kind of wedding you have, take a honeymoon; 2) For the first two months of having a new baby, don't talk to your partner in the middle of the night unless the house is on fire (no good conversations happen the first two months of having a new baby between the hours of 12-7am); and 3) HAVE A FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT.
Amending that advice to include: if you're in Austin, hire Natalie to shoot it.
I'm so glad we did this. Thank you, Natalie.