Wuehlers: Can you roll with it?: Family Photos

I opted for black tops and wrecked jeans for our family photos. Black because Brent and I have lost a significant amount of weight this year and black is kind to a more lithe silhouette. I also wanted to do a quiet nod to Black Lives Matter. The wrecked jeans were fitting because, let's face it, 2020 has been a complete mess. It also gave me an excuse to buy Brent some hipster jeans to replace the sad, baggy, worn-out ones he's been hanging on to. My favorite family photo to date was taken a few years ago on a beach, so I thought we'd return to that happy place. I didn't want to hire a photographer, I asked everyone to be patient and just snapped these with my old iPhone but I have to say, I'm pretty darn happy with how they turned out.

First the family group photos:

Then the sister photos:

My mom once received a Christmas card from a family with several daughters with their legs crossed in the same direction and she has gushed about it so much I've tried to recreate it... but I can't seem to quite get it right! This photo is okay, I just don't know that it is gush-provoking.

Next up were Liesel's individuals:

The amount of photos may appear like favoritism towards my oldest girl but Liesel truly enjoys being in front of a camera. She's incredibly patient while I get just the right shot and is up for trying anything. Draw a huge heart in the sand? OK! Her sisters were really anxious to put on their swimsuits and play.

This is far and away my favorite. I can't get away with posing her in cutesy little toddler shots anymore. I felt like this one captured how she's a tad more serious as she grows into adolescence and yet the wind whipping a couple of locks of hair speaks to her ADD. She's thoughtful, and almost completely put together but not quite. That's Liesel 100%

This was another series of shots it took a while to get right. Dance poses can be really dynamic but you have to get them just right or it looks awkward. I was happy even the prep for her big leap looked pretty.

Her shirt flew up really high in those initial attempts but she tucked in the tank top just enough to get this one.

Another one that took some finagling. Her elbow covered her face and then her hair. She couldn't do much to adjust once she got that scorpion pose and she could only hold it for so long. We did this one over and over and Liesel never complained. She wanted a good photo too!

I kept promising everyone we were just about done and then I'd think of more poses. Yet again, Liesel didn't mind. The idea for this one came from Pinterest. Theoretically, you wet the object (in this case, a roll cutter) and then roll it around in sand and it looks like you are peering out of a perfectly shaped cave at someone on the beach. Well, as you can see, the sand didn't stick but the photo turned out pretty great nonetheless. Liesel tried wetting and sanding that thing more than once and she was delighted with the result. This is her favorite photo:

Next are Ireland's individual photos:

She's such a sweet and sentimental girl, her photos really reflect those aspects of her personality. I asked her if she wanted pictures with her glasses on or off and she immediately responded, "ON!". Aside from differentiating her from her older sister- people don't ask if they are twins as much since she's had glasses- but she's very proud of the fact she's bookish.

Ireland tells me it was actually quite hard to balance on top of that log!

And now, Brigitta's individual photos:

Not only was Brigitta anxious to get into the water, but the seagull over her shoulder was squawking loudly. Just after I took the photo above, I said, "You want to chase him, don't you?" Gita admitted she did so I let her run after that stupid bird and actually, I kind of love the photos I got as she chased him with her hair flying behind her.

Finally, Sydney's individual photos:

This is the kind of cutesy toddler photo I don't feel like I can get away with for Liesel so much. It's just better with smaller feet! This one actually took me so long to get just right (her feet kept sinking as the waves washed over her) that Sydney was really done.

I caught just a couple more photos of her by the water and called it a day.

I really don't have many photos with Brent and I asked Liesel to take a few.

Whatever pose we did, we'd give each other a quick little kiss. Afterwards, I realized some of these looked way more saucy than they actually were. Even though I've lost weight, I still have some love handles and here I asked Brent to just be sure to cover that up with his hand.

When we quickly kissed, somehow his hand lost some serious altitude (which I don't remember feeling) and this looks like we are about to have a throw down right there in the sand. What I thought might be a cute couples photo ended up looking waaay more passionate than I intended- although Brent like this one a lot and felt it was totally appropriate for a Christmas card to all our friends and family. "You're my wife! I have every right to kiss you! I'm not ashamed of that!" Well let's just say this is not the one I chose for the Christmas card.