Rebecca Vinacour Shot My Family! (A Family Portrait Session Review)

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Now that Baby Max is 4 months old and holding his head up so nicely, Handsome Husband and I decided it was time for a professional photographer to step in and document our family of five. Enter Rebecca Vinacour of Rebecca Vinacour Photography, who graciously gave us a free family mini-session – thanks, Rebecca!!

I had the pleasure of meeting Rebecca at our SMB Moms Night Out  at La Maison in May–hopefully you got a chance to stop by her gorgeous vendor booth while you were sipping Chardonnay!  I highly recommend spending some time chatting with any photographer that will be working with your family–it puts you a step ahead on the day of your shoot.  Rebecca asked such thoughtful questions about the cast of characters that is the Aaron Family; she was trying to get a sense of who we were in advance of the shoot.  Did I mention how important this is?! Do it.

From this brief meeting at Mom’s Night Out, Rebecca learned that our family is much more “urban” than “desert” and more casual than formal. She chose a perfect location for our shoot–the Roosevelt Arts District in downtown Phoenix.

Handsome Husband and I were feeling pretty confident about this whole photo shoot thing.  We had an arsenal of toys, bottles, sippy cups and snacks and, most importantly, our spirited Sophie had just woken from an epic 3 hour nap.  We were ready for anything! HA!

The second we got out of the car, Sophie proceeded to throw the BIGGEST TANTRUM THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN. Seriously.  It likely registered on the Richter Scale.  I am certain that NASA officials are still scratching their heads wondering what bizarre cosmic event occurred in downtown Phoenix last month. I still get a headache just thinking about it.  Here’s a quick visual for you:meltdown

You would think that would be the end of our free family mini-session, right?? Some photographers might have suggested rescheduling the shoot (or giving the screaming child some valium or something), but not Rebecca.  She’s a trooper.  She didn’t seem rattled at all.  On her website, Rebecca boasts, “I have no problem reverting to my five year old self if it means getting the perfect shot of your kids!” And how.  She ran, crawled and executed stunts of gymnastic proportions all in the name of capturing my CRAZY, wonderful daughter on camera.

Even though I had doubts at the time, Rebecca insisted that she was getting gorgeous photos.  I kept apologizing for the herculean amount of work she was having to put into our shoot, and she kept calming me with statements like, “You’re not seeing what I’m seeing–you’re just stressed out because it’s your child.  I’m getting great shots.  I think you’ll be really happy.” Huh? Are we at the same photo shoot? Do you see how red my daughter’s face is?  Are you aware of the buckets full of snot coming out of Sophie’s nose right now?

Somehow, Rebecca Vinacour did it; she shot my family. Moms, you know all of those times when you run to grab the camera to document some intimate snippet of your family’s life and you just miss it?  Or it just doesn’t translate into a photo quite the way you were seeing it in real time? (Or you just can’t find the stinking camera?!)  Despite the odds, Rebecca captured the impossible.  She captured the way my family feels.  She captured the slightly manic beauty of Sophie.  She captured the tender love that teenage Zoe has for baby Max. She captured Handsome Husband and I doing our best to lovingly parent two small children; our delicate dance of struggling and smiling. She captured how we operate when no one else is looking. She captured who we truly are; a not-perfect, kinetic family with boundless love for each other. And for that, we are truly thankful.

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Want to see more of Rebecca’s amazing photos? Here’s a gallery of some of our favorites!

Rebecca Vinacour may be reached at 917.403.5899, [email protected] or through her website: rebeccavinacour.com

(Thanks again to Rebecca Vinacour Photography for sponsoring this post!!)

1 COMMENT

  1. Kelly
    Finally found a way to keep up with my niece!! Now I will be able to know what your crowd is doing. Everyone looks great! Zoe is so tall and handsome. Can’t wait to get to meet Max and see Sophie again. Love to Joshua and hugs and kisses to all. See you soon.
    Aunt Nancy

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