I love the idea of family reunion photos.  Seriously, taking time out of a great family vacation to get the generations together for photos, is a fantastic idea.  The memories remain for years and it’s a wonderful reminder of a great time.  Between cruises and traveling around the Italian countryside, there was one morning available to take the Edvalson/Eardley photos, and we made the most of it!  Three generations, four kids, and five adults, and we were able to take a bunch of great photos in a (relatively) short amount of time (though the men may disagree).  Austin was stylin’ in his hat when Uncle Derek wasn’t stealing it for his own photos and the girls were always full of smiles and charm.  Brooke and Cheryl spent a lot of time planning everyone’s outfits, and I have rarely seen such a large group so well coordinated with color.  I want to put Brooke’s canvas on my wall, but it would be a bit strange to have another family in my living room.  In all seriousness, this is one of my favorite shoots of the year, but it was mostly due to the great family dynamics and the lovely people.

A few months ago, I met Mimi and Ron in Germany and we hit it off immediately.  After a great weekend full of great food, laughs, and volleyball, I knew that we would be great friends.  Throughout that weekend, we found things in common, for instance, our husbands love to eat huge chunks of beef and are on a worldwide search for the best one!  Fast forward to June when Mimi contacted me for a photo shoot.  When I asked the standard question, “Have you thought about a photo shoot location or do you need recommendations?” She replied, “I’ve thought of something a bit unusual that I’d like to run past you.”  Well, nothing gets my imagination going like that and I couldn’t wait to hear her ideas.

As it turns out, she wanted to do a shoot in Tuscany.  How can I turn down a trip to Tuscany?  Of course, Steve was willing to carry my gear with the promise of a large steak from his favorite meat restaurant in Italy, Osteria Acquacheta in Montepulciano.  Add in another great family (blog post coming soon), and we had a wonderful weekend planned.  It took until September to get everyone together.  I arrived in Tuscany with a list of five locations in my head (two locations for each family) and spent Friday afternoon alternately shopping at mercatini (Italian thrift stores) and checking the light at each location so I could plan out the shoots.  After sitting down with a notebook and scheduling the shoots out, the other families arrived, we had dinner, lots of wine, and agreed for a sunrise shoot the next morning at Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta in Pienza.  With amazing light, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the morning.  I cut the shoot short to not overwhelm the men and children since we had four more locations to hit before heading home.

Heading back to the agriturismo, everyone was ready for a great breakfast and then off for a day of exploring, photographing, and eating meat.  Unfortunately, a call came in that both Ron and Paul (from the upcoming blog post) needed to return home immediately for a work emergency.  After an emotional half hour, the Aquinos and Paul left, and it was the responsibility of the Langs and Williams’ to finish the day of drinking wine and eating meat (with a bit of photography thrown in when no one was looking).

The next weekend, the Aquinos finished their photo shoot in a (very foggy) Soave.  We found a gorgeous vineyard with the largest grapes I’ve ever seen (we must have caught them just hours before harvest) and a lovely shoot at Soave castle.  The photos turned out beautifully and I couldn’t be more pleased!  Thanks, Mimi, for such a great idea and taking us on a lovely weekend that unfortunately, you could not enjoy!

Okay, this one is mostly just for me.  After so many years of photographing others, I finally convinced Steve to get a photo of himself.  Since, like most men, he hates getting his photo taken, I promised that it would take less than ten minutes.  True to my word, we were done in eight minutes, including moving to different locations on Monte Berico.  Isn’t he handsome?  I sure am one lucky girl!

Jen and Greg are the quintessential international, cosmopolitan couple.  This gorgeous American woman and suave French man met in Chad, married in Italy, and currently live in Paris.  What could be better than that?  After taking their Italian formal portraits, I was thrilled to be invited to Paris to photograph them in their new hometown.  We began early in the morning, after a slight rain storm, photographing in their apartment and on their street near Invalides.  Wandering around the neighborhood, we were fortunate enough to take pics at the coffee shop, on their favorite street, and on Jen’s favorite bridge, the Pont Alexandre III.  We couldn’t leave without some photos on Paris’ iconic sculpture, the Eiffel Tower, which we shot from the covered Pont Bir-Hakeim and the Invalides.  We ended the day with a lovely lunch at La Poule au Pot Café with Jen and Greg before heading back home to Italy.  What a lovely weekend with such a hospitable, gorgeous couple.

The Jalucas are having a baby!! Stephanie and I have so many mutual friends, but we had never met before this photo shoot. Many people have outfit changes for their photo shoot, Stephanie had shoe changes. I love it!! How fun is that? It took a bit of time for Danny to warm up to having his photo taken, but at the end, he didn’t want to stop! Isn’t he just the cutest little man? It isn’t every day that we have a boy so natural in front of the camera. I can’t wait to meet the new little addition to the family!