My last session of 2021 was an extended family session in Florida with the Millers. It was an incredibly foggy morning, not what I expected out of central Florida in December. Regardless, we made the most of it and enjoyed our time together. So, you can imagine my excitement when Courtney reached out to me about capturing the other side of her family! Most of the Pelfreys live pretty close to us in Northern Virginia and the whole crew was getting together for the first time in two years. As a Christmas gift to Nana, they decided to coordinate a NOVA family photography session to document the occasion.

Northern Virginia Extended Family Photography

With as foggy as our session with the Miller family was, I asked Courtney to promise to bring sunshine for this one. She followed through – thanks, Courtney! 😉 – but I guess I need to be more specific next time. While we had sunshine, we hadn’t thought about the temperature. Well, that’s not entirely true. I checked the forecast a few days ahead of time and saw 45 degrees and sunny. That sounded great for a Sunday in December! What slipped past me was the wind chill. When we arrived at Lake Fairfax Park, it was about 45 and sunny… with 25 mph winds… which made it feel more like 20 degrees. 🥶 It was chilly for all of us, but especially the crew that was joining from Orlando!

I had initially picked out a spot with beautiful light but realized after one group photo that the kids were not going to make it there. (Seriously, the screaming was out of control!) So, we quickly moved up the hill next to a building that could block some wind for us. While the lighting wasn’t exactly what I wanted, it was worth it to have less wind and happier kid faces. I worked as quickly as I could to get all the normal combinations and then instead of letting the kids lead the rest of the session like I typically do, we moved to warm cars to drink some hot chocolate. I’ve never ended a session with hot cocoa before, but we just might have to make that a thing! We loved spending some extra time with this sweet family and the kiddos enjoyed the treat.

Pelfrey fam, thank you so much for trusting me to capture some of the joy (and chaos because #reallife) of your reunion. I hope you had a wonderful time together and will cherish these memories for years to come.

If you’re interested in booking a NOVA family photography session, please reach out to me and we’ll get something scheduled!

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