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One of my favorite things that we did on our Maui vacation was hire a local photographer for a family photo shoot. I take a lot of photos, but usually it’s just of my kids. My husband and I are rarely in the photos. It had been years since we had pictures taken of us all together. My husband agreed that if we were going to hire a photographer, it might as well be in paradise.
I searched the internet to try and find a photographer that fit my personal style preference, but that was also reasonable. I was so happy to discover Tara Lee Photography. I loved her portfolio, she fit our budget, and when I emailed her to check on availability, I instantly liked her.
Next came the fun part – planning family outfits that sort of matched, but not TOO matchy. It was December/early January and we were having cold weather where we lived. I walked around the mall but no one had summer dresses yet. (Why would they? It was about 30 degrees outside!) Luckily it was warmer weather in other parts of the country, and I was able to find exactly what I wanted online.
When we were on our trip, we had set aside one evening to do the photo shoot. Tara asked where we were staying and recommended a beach not too far from us. She gave us directions and we met her there. It was not a major beach or park and we would never have discovered this beach if it weren’t for Tara. Apparently this is THE beach for photo shoots. There were two wedding photo shoots, a maternity photo shoot, and our family photo shoot all happening at the same time. The photographers all did a great job of turning you so it looked like you were the only people on the beach. They were very respectful of each other and took turns getting the “best spots.” It was also fun to people-watch while we were waiting.
My son is 13 and doesn’t like having his picture taken. When I take his picture he usually groans or sighs audibly when I say, “just one more picture!”. But he knew this was important to me and went along with it.
Tara put us at ease and was very friendly and professional. In the car on the way back to our condo, both my kids said, “That was so fun!” I was so surprised that my kids enjoyed it, I thought they were just going along with it for my sake.
We got our photos sent digitally in a few weeks. They were even better than I was hoping for! Now I have created a gallery wall in our kitchen nook highlighting some of our favorites. It is so fun to look over and remember our trip. And as my kids keep growing, it’s fun to see how big they were at that moment in time.
If you have the time or budget, I highly recommend doing a family photo shoot the next time you are on vacation. I am already counting down the days until we can do it again.
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