allen family | portland family photographers

Oh, I can't believe how long it has taken me to get these on the blog. I am not biased, of course (it's not like I shot their wedding, their maternity 2x and Walter's newborn photos before this...), but this sweet family shoot is my favourite of all time.

More lifestyle family photos, please! 

If you're feeling this style, send me an email at tasha@vanassestudios.com

Cheers, friends.

you are | portland portrait photographers

You are. You are many things, many wonderful things, many complex things, many challenging things, but you are not terrible.

The Terrible Twos. What a terrible thing to say. They're challenging, certainly. Exhausting, trying, testing and very temporary.

Honest moment here. It breaks my heart when people shame their children. "Who would do such a thing?!" you ask, indignantly. Lots of people, and few of them do it intentionally, I'm sure. In a time of great sweeping change, in a time where we're examining our thoughts and our actions harder than ever, and striving to change the injustices of our society (and we still have a long way to go), there are moments I feel we've forgotten about our own children. 

Children are supposed to grow up. To change. To push boundaries. To question authority. They are supposed to experience big, scary emotions and freak out when they don't know what to do with them. 

You guys, being human is a lot to deal with. You and I have been doing it for awhile, we're used to the ebb and flow, the rollercoaster that at times claims our physicality, emotionality and full brain power. We've dealt with most of this before. But what if all this was new? What if you were feeling sadness, happiness, frustration, anger, disappointment, injustice in all their iterations for the first time? What if the magnitude of your own capacity to emote took your by surprise (p.s. I hope it still does, at times)? What if you felt as though you couldn't quite explain the hurricane raging in your own head, body, threatening to burst out through your chest in a show of fury, tears and fists and kicking and screaming? You'd be a little unpredictable, too.

So, daily, we learn (this is for us, too, big people). We grow. We accept that some things are going to happen that are out of our control. That there are times we just have to deal. That there are others that we need a moment to be angry, to be sad, to be frustrated, to feel deeply the injustice of it all. One day at a time, one hour at a time, one moment, even.

I am not a perfect parent. Straight up, I'm pretty sure I suck sometimes. But we all suck sometimes, right? Whether we're 30, or 97, or... 2.

family photo sessions | portland family photographer

If you had asked me a couple years ago if I thoroughly enjoyed doing family sessions, I'd probably laugh it off and tell you... well, no. Not really. I enjoyed doing them for former clients, because I know them, and it's always lovely to reconnect. But I never reveled in chasing kiddos around, trying to force everyone to smile, and dealing with crankies, tantrums and obstinance. 

Until now!

(Sorry, I can never pass up sounding like an infomercial.)

Honestly, family portrait sessions, the way I've chosen to start doing them, have been some of my favorite sessions of the year. What's changed, you ask? My approach. My attitude. The fact that I've seen first hand on a daily basis how incredibly fast those kiddos grow, and how almost every moment is sweet if you look at it in the right light. Also, who wants posed family portraits? If you do, no judgement, of course. But I'm not your girl.

I love weddings, I'll always love weddings, But it's not the pomp and decor and fanciness that I love. It's the people. The love. And those people, many of them, grow up and start families of their own. It's a natural progression. More people, more love. So, bring on the families.