Who doesn’t love cute family photos? I haven’t done a family session in a while, so I was excited to get a request from Faafua for to take photos of her beautiful family, as a Christmas gift for her husband Joey.

We met up at Sliding Rock just after 5pm last Saturday and the sun was still about 10 degrees from falling below the horizon. It was a quick session filled with smiles and giggles as baby Alava would run around and stick her toes in the little tide pools.

One of my favorite bits of this session was taking photos of their oldest daughter Tia. She is a beautiful young girl and adorably shy in front of the camera. I asked her to smile and she gave a timid grin. So the awesome father that Joey is, he jumped beside her, and wrapped the garland around him to mimic her pose with silly faces. Her eyes lit up and her smile brightened as I clicked away and LOL’d with Fua at the hilarious scene.

I love the genuine interaction when families get together, and seeing their expressions and their body language when I’m not asking them to pose – those are the moments I love to capture.

And just before sunset, I snapped a few photos of the beautiful and strong Faafua. She’s one of those cool moms who loves her family fiercely and unconditionally. And she’s a heck of a baker too! Thank you Fua for allowing me to be a part of this special memory. Your family is so blessed to have you.