In The Clouds

It has always been a dream of mine to do sessions that have a story to them.

The term “story” tends to get kicked around a lot these days by photographers, and rightly so, since wedding and family photos really can be about telling the story of a wedding day, or the bond a family has.

This just might be me with my head in the clouds (where it belongs as far as I’m concerned 😀 ), but when I say that I dream of telling a story, sometimes I literally want to tell a story of fiction, with every photo being a “panel” from a comic book or still-frame from a romantic comedy, and the characters are you and your loved ones. A story with a moral or a theme — maybe one that is important to you. Or something that’ll just make everyone laugh!

So when the Braun family contacted me about doing a family session, and I found out that Monsieur Braun is an avid hunter and he wanted a few photos to feature his self-made bows, my brain went into overdrive coming up with the context of why a family would need to carry a bow and a quiver of arrows in the first place.

My immediate conclusion was that the world had been turned upside down and that this awesome family had to brave the wilds of the post-apocalyptic wasteland. 🙂

That hits me on every level. I mean, it’s a post-apocalyptic family session! May the inner geek triumph with clenched fists and a skyward gaze!

Oh. But I also felt it most important to get the more “standard” family photos, and to get them well. Our location, at about 6,000 ft on Saddle Road, made for a great atmosphere.

He also wanted a couple shots of his bow at full draw, like above, and I was stoked about this because bows are insanely cool, and they make me think of Rambo, 300, Gladiator, Troy, Lord of the Rings, and manly thoughts overall. So I told him to pretend that he was hunting, which he does as a hobby, and I had a geek moment like I’ve never had during a session.In the end, I didn’t get to do a full-on epic tale of survival, mostly because I didn’t have enough time to really think it through, but I got a taste of my dream and I’m hungry for more. I love family photography; I love what it can mean and how important it is. But I’d also love to see how far we can take it. Let me know if you’re interested and we’ll come up with some awesome ideas! 😀

And of course, big thanks to the Braun family for an amazing session!

– Jim

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