Taking Heidi’s Family Holiday Photos

For some crazy reason, Heidi trusted me to take her family holiday photos. I was honored and so incredibly nervous. This was the first time I was taking photos of someone outside of my own family and I was so worried I would mess it up. I found this desert area outside of the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort where we were able to grab some gorgeous sunlight and desert views. I am so happy with how everything turned out.

Her kids were amazing! I wore a funny reindeer hat with jingle bells (so they would look at the camera) and brought them two cupcakes as a reward once we were finished. That pretty much sweetened the deal and we were able to get some great smiles. As we were leaving the first location, we got in our cars to drive to this cool wooden bridge that I had spotted. Maya (Heidi’s daughter) asked if she could ride with me. So, I strapped her into Kelsey’s car seat, blasted a little Taylor Swift “Shake it off” and we continued the photo shoot at the bridge.

Seriously, that Maya has a personality larger than life. She kept posing herself in the middle of the family (front and center) and I would have to say, “Maya, honey … can you back up just a bit?” It was the cutest. And her love for her brother, Matthew, is just heaven to watch. She was so great with him and you can see how much he just adores his big sister.

When Heidi and Mitch would pose for pictures, the kids would just laugh and laugh. They loved seeing their parents in front of the camera. “Let’s have them kiss,” Maya would say. And then immediately, I would get the parents to smooch and I would hear the sweet little giggles of their kids in the distance.

So much love and laughter at this photo shoot. It makes me think this is why photographers do their job. It’s the moments like this that are captured behind the camera that make for the best memories. Thank you, Heidi, for this great experience!