Wendy Malley Photography

My Attempt at a Family Picture-

November 12, 2012

It has been a few years since I managed to get a family picture.

There wasn’t must interest in it last year so I let the kids off the hook; but this year, it was over due and had to be done.

I started in September, trying to co-ordinate a time when everyone was available.

I wanted the spectacular evening light, that only happens just before sunset, but would settle for early morning light as long as it was soon after sunrise.

As I didn’t have any enthusiasm for a traditional photo, I took inventory of our  available settings for a fall shoot, the clothing/ props we had at hand and the personalities involved.

After looking for a while for ideas,  I found an advertisement from Tommy Hilfiger that showed what looked like an eccentric family in the English countryside…

Ha! – We could pull that one off! – and I had just the bunch that would play the part, hamming it up.

With 7 individuals who all have different schedules for school, work and all their other activities, I knew it would be a challenge to set a date for our photo shoot.

September proved to be a bust, but that was ok, I still had a few weeks to play with.

Then came October when the leaves were at their most glorious, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get everyone together for an evening shoot.

I became more desperate and decided that I would have to settle for a morning shoot, but even that didn’t happen.

I watched October end with sadness, as I knew that it would be too cold in November for what I had planned.

We often get snow in November and I knew I would never get my brood to brave the sub zero temperatures, no matter how much I wanted them to.

As November crept in, I watched the weather network closely as I had a date circled on my calendar. I had a morning that everyone would be home, if only the weather co-operated.

The day dawned bright and (miraculously warm, I mean 20 degrees warm,, almost unheard of warm.)

I got up early and packed my gear, and tried to (in the nicest way – I needed everyone in the best of humor for this.) to get everyone up and moving.  It was slow and tedious work.

With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I watched the clock as the morning passed. Thankfully it was a cloudy day, and that would give my some leeway with the light.

When we were FINALLY ready to leave, suddenly, out of nowhere, we had a “disagreement” as only sisters can have. (If you have daughters or a sister you know what I mean.)

It had been a while since we had one, and I had secretly thought that the time for these had passed, but nope, there it was, and suddenly we had silence, and clenched jaws.

And we also had a brother who thought the whole thing was hilarious, which didn’t help in the least.

but no, this was my picture day,I get to take other people’s family pictures all the time,it was time for MINE!

So off we went, in seperate cars I must say; but that was ok, we had a half hour drive ahead of us, (tempers would cool by then).

We found the place I had scouted out the month before and unloaded out gear, just as the BRIGHT nearly noon sun broke through the clouds (WORST light of the day…).

And by the looks of the faces, the drive hadn’t helped things – so what to do.

(I wanted to pack it up and head home, and order a new family from some internet site….)

but I didn’t.

I pretended that I was mom at her happiest and set everything up and started taking pictures.

It didn’t matter if anyone was looking at the camera or not, I was taking a bloody picture.

Abbie was oblivious to the whole eposide and thought it was great fun and her mood started to rub off,  so I actually got them to sit,but my glorious ideas of  a silly spoof of the magazine add had flown out the door and were already in the deep south.

As my anger mounted, I felt my face get beet red, and I gave up.   One of the kids had headed to their car to leave. -There was no saving this day. It just wasn’t meant to be.

I called an end to the shoot and packed up my thing. As I was heading for the truck I saw that the kids stopped to look at a monument that explained the look-out.

Seeing they were all standing close enough together to get them all in the frame of my camera, I ran over to where they were and started snapping.  (Hey… I was desperate.)

Just as I got them in focus, I tripped over a rock that I didn’t see in my haste, and down I went… crashing.  I managed to save my camera from the fall, which was the most important thing, but had struck my knee on another rock.

When I finally managed to get up, my wonderful family was all laughing -at me.

It only took mother nearly doing herself in to break the mood.

As only sisters can, everyone was laughing, and all was right (or nearly right) with the world.

I hobbled back to the hill and got them to sit on a blanket where I thought I would get something decent of them that I would be able to use, but the laughter had set off Abbie, who was now too silly to pose and would rather dance than sit.

I snapped a few and then a couple more after Rachel secured her by putting her up on her shoulders, but that was it.

No great family pose. No individual shots… Nothing.

I couldn’t take any more, my knee was throbbing and I felt it start to swell and who why would a want a picture that would serve as a remembrance of this day?

I knew when I was beat

On the way home, my husband, (who had remained very quite through the whole thing as after so many years together, is starting to know when not to talk to me) said what a nice sunny day it was.

I looked out the window and pretended not to hear him.

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That night I loaded the files to my computer to take a look at the “mess” that was my try at a family picture.

I dreaded looking at what I knew wasn’t there… but when the files loaded, I took a second look at them.

There before my eyes, was not the perfect pictures complete with smiling models and perfect lighting that appeared in the magazine, but my own beautiful family, who loved me enough to sit for these images that no one but me wanted.

The images technically lousy, and the posing is basically non existent.

But, I love them.

I love these images that that tell the story of a not so wonderful morning; that perfectly capture my  family in all our glorious imperfections.