The visiting families at Deep Creek have absolutely captured my heart this summer! For a few years now, my summers have been filled with family portrait sessions, mostly of those who are coming from hours and states away to visit our beautiful little corner of Maryland. But this year absolutely takes the cake! I’ve never had a calendar so full of family portrait sessions! So full of friendly faces, kids giggling, grandparents celebrating anniversaries, family reunions, feet splashing in the water…

It’s been one heck of a busy summer, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way… 🙂

One of the families I was so thankfully able to capture was the K Family! We hit it off as soon as I walked in the door! They offered me coffee and conversation around the kitchen island and shared plenty of smiles and stories as we got to know each other. And 15 minutes later, we hadn’t taken one single picture. 

Fast forward another 45 minutes and we found ourselves successful in capturing a happy family (1-year old included!) in beautiful morning light at a place they all have come to know and love, Deep Creek. Lacey was the one who set things up for this session, so I asked her if she could share a little bit about why they come to Deep Creek and why they enjoy it. Their reasons are some of the same reasons I hear over and over again, so I wanted to share…

From Lacey:

Since our family has started to grow with kids, instead of actual gifts for Christmas, we decided to do a trip instead and chose Deep Creek. We’ve all been to Deep Creek on separate occasions, but never as a whole family. Each of us have had great times in Deep Creek whether it was for a bachelor or bachelorette party, a wedding or a trip with friends. Deep Creek was the perfect place for us because it’s an easy drive from Pittsburgh, there’s so much to do and it’s very family-friendly. I could definitely see this trip becoming a tradition!

Fun Fact: I shared a few of these pictures on my Facebook page and my sister immediately texted me about them. She loved the colors we captured AND she said that even though she didn’t know this family, she wanted to hang out with them! HA! The next day, I had a Facebook friend tell me the same thing. 🙂

One of my favorites. 🙂

Another Fun Fact: The first spot we used for these pictures was an empty lot, across the street from the K Family’s rental home. There was even some landscaping opposite the tall grass in the lot, just a few steps beyond where I was standing to take these pictures. Even though it didn’t look like a great photo spot, it ended up being the PERFECT! The bright morning sun was diffused by the trees, the high grass added even more softness to the background and there was just enough flat, grass space for them to stand and move comfortably. SCORE! 

Grandparents and their first grand baby…

When photographing multiple families at one time, I make sure each family gets their own pictures, and if able, some pictures of the kiddos individually as well. This little lady nailed it! 🙂

And I always offer mom and dad a picture together, too! Sometimes they tell it’s been since their wedding day that they’ve had a “nice picture” taken…

Love their laughs. 🙂

This might be the best picture of the session! The grandparents know how to laugh for the camera, too!

First we smile and pose normally…

Then we laugh about something (or nothing!) and get those genuine smiles out!

We migrated over to another road for some final pictures. I also wanted to add some movement to the session and knew that with the sunlight coming in behind them and the tree-lined road, this would be a great spot to make it happen! We also added some sunglasses to the mix. 🙂

Do you want to hang out with K Family, too!? 🙂 I know from experience that they are definitely a family I’d like to hang out with again!