It makes you feel good as a photographer when you get repeat customers! I photographed the Jackson family about 4 years ago at their home. This time around, they contacted me about doing fall family portraits at a different location.  They asked my advice about the best week and best location for family portraits. I told them that fall weather is the most pleasant time for being photographed and that I've always enjoyed the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park as a family portrait location. It has a scenic lake, where the water is a wonderful turquoise color. The date I chose was also the peak week in our area for fall leaves to be at their most vibrant colors. They agreed to the date, time, and location after seeing my example photos.

I've scouted out many locations at this park in the past that worked well for portraits. We had close to 15 family members for this family portrait session, so I knew I needed a good shaded area that would lend itself to that many people. The Jacksons brought their own chairs and props for the session. I was very impressed because they even coordinated their clothes in similar colors.

The great thing about fall is the weather! It was a comfortably cool day with just a little bit of wind coming off of the lake area. We worked through different family combinations to demonstrate the family dynamics. This family kept me laughing the entire session. I tried different techniques to get them to smile and play around. I had them poke the person next to them and then look at the camera. Then we tried some crowd surfing.

We ended up going over to the dock that extends into the lake. This allowed me to capture the beautiful water and fall leaves while getting the final family portraits. At times, the wind was a little strong, but we managed to get through it.