Gabriel Van Wyhe Photo Blog » Sharing life through images

I don’t post many of my family portrait sessions.  However, I really wanted to do a post on some of the vintage style images that came out of the Griffith’s family shoot.  This was also a special shoot in that it was a gift to this family as a thank you for them saving our dog!  Our dog, a pug named Samson, got out of the yard for the first time ever – he got out with no tags or collar and this area is very traffic heavy — not good odds for him coming back alive.  Joey was driving by and saw Samson about a block away, grabbed him before he could get hit by a car and was planning on putting up “lost dog” signs to help find his owners (us).  As we were frantically driving around looking for Samson, we met Joey who delivered Samson safe and sound.  A good day and we are so grateful and were thrilled to be able to do a family shoot for them!!

Just a few months ago, Gabe asked me to become his second photographer.  I think there was some uncertainty about how things would turn out and if this would be good for our marriage.  Let’s face it, working with your spouse can either be a dream come true or a total nightmare.  Fortunately, it has been the former.  Gabe is so encouraging and supportive, not to mention, he is a ton of fun to work with.  Doing wedding photography with him has been a blast over the last few months. As my love of photography has blossomed, I have been exploring areas that thrill me and discovering my own little niche.  I am finding it in doing photos of women and families.  I’ve dabbled in boudoir and maternity photography a bit and love capturing the true beauty of the women who invite me in to some of the most intimate aspects of their lives.  One of the unexpected gems of maternity photography is doing newborn photos.  Just yesterday, I did my first newborn shoot of Lily Jane Fletcher.  She is a lovely, sweet baby.  Thank you to Jon Thomas and Amy for allowing me to capture the beauty of your newest addition.  Congratulations and best of luck!

I don’t do a lot of family shoots, as the majority of my business is weddings and senior portraits – however, it is always such a joy to be able to photograph a really fun family where you can clearly see the love that is shared between them.  The Hudson family shoot was actually a multi-generation shoot from grandparents to grandchildren.  Here are just a few of the shots from the day.

It has been such a joy to get to photography this family every couple of months as their beautiful little girl has grown over her first couple of years!  Here are a few shots from the most recent shoot with them.

The Williams family was the high bidder on a family portrait session I had donated to a cause I really believe in which was having an auction to raise money.  I couldn’t have asked for a better family to shoot!  They were fun, loved to laugh, and had two wonderful kids.  With the suprissingly good weather, this was a great shoot and made for a really fun day.

I thought it would be fun to do a quick post with a sampling of shots I’ve taken at recent family sessions – as I simply havent had the time to do a post on each of these beautiful and fun families.

I have known this family for years and the love and respect I have for them is more than I can put quickly into words for this blog.  The Smith family is about as full of life and real as it gets – they live life to the full and the challenges they’ve faced and overcome has made them a family of deep bonds and love.  It was an honor to be able to photograph their family and their daughters one year old party.