Photographing a Photographer

My friend Nanci of Nanci Imagery is a talented photographer.  We tentatively launched our businesses around the same time and thankfully had a Village that believed in us and our untapped talent.  Over the years, we have honed our skills and developed our niches.  Nanci loves the technicality and perfection of staged newborn photography and is INCREDIBLE at posing and off camera lighting… all the things I struggle with. My style has morphed into perfectly imperfect lifestyle portraits.  Each session has posed portraits, but the images I love best are the candid ones.  They aren’t always technically perfect, but they hold a moment between my clients and that – to me – is perfection.

My kids don’t always love posing for me so each year I hire a photographer to take our family portraits.  I love seeing my family through someone else’s lens.  This year Nanci and I agreed to swap sessions.  She photographed my family on the Portland waterfront and nailed it. I have images from that session displayed all over my house and I treasure each one.

In March, it was my turn to photograph Nanci’s family.  She chose Bald Peak State Park because she loves the evergreen trees and wanted them as a backdrop for their session. Nanci’s main request was at least one good family photo and individual images of her with each of her boys (including her hubby). It’s intimidating to photograph a photographer, especially after a winter hiatus from a ton of family photo sessions. I totally second guessed myself.

“What if I’m not creative enough and the photos are boring? Or worse, what if I’m trying so hard to be creative I forget to pay attention to the technical aspect and I mess that piece up? What if she HATES them?”

I made myself crazy on the drive to the session before I remembered to pause, pray, and ask God to help me.  I prayed Nanci’s photos would be a perfect blend of technically sound and creative, and that God would enable me to authentically capture her family. Thankfully, Nanci was thrilled with her images and even said something along the lines of, “This is SO us.” WHEW!

Here are some of my favorites from their session.  Thank you Nanci for trusting me with your family portraits.  I had a blast.

#jodistilpphotography #familyportraits #baldpeakstatepark #danceparty #threeboys #boymom #familyoffive

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