Last Sunday, Ryan and I headed out to Val Vista Lakes to take family portraits for the Cummins family.  I should clarify – when I say Cummins Family, I’m actually referring to the joining of three families: parents Craig & Nancy Cummins, their daughter April Mecham and her three kids,  AND their second daughter Ally (soon to be Nyberg) and her fiance Matt.  (You may remember Ally & Matt from their super cute engagement session back in March.)

Sunday was especially warm so we all knew going in that this shoot would be an adventure.  As you may know, asking three kids under the age of 5 to “sit quietly & pose for the camera” is not all that realistic – ha ha ha :-)  When we arrived at Val Vista Lakes, we found the pool and lake area to be full of residents out to enjoy the summer sun.  So of course this resulted in endless distractions for the kids!  Can’t say I blame them though – playing in the grass and jumping in the pool was looking pretty good to me too!  There was quite a bit of chasing, pleading and more than a few “please come back here’s”, but I think we were still able to come up with some great shots. 

My favorites of the whole family:

Loved the interactions in this one!  I think Dylan is actually trying to pick his little sister’s nose!  Now that’s what I call brotherly love . . .

Here’s a shot of Dylan: age 4

And Ashton: age 2

And 7 month old Avery – how cute is she?  Gorgeous blue eyes!

It was really cute watching the whole family try and keep the kids happy . . .

Loved this candid with Dylan & Craig

Avery was a lot easier to catch so we had a few more chances to get some great shots of her and mom, April.

Love this sequence!

Towards the end of the shoot, we tried to get some shots of April and all three kids, but the by this point they were less than thrilled with the idea.  These next two about sum up our efforts . . .

Poor April!  You can’t help but laugh :-)  We did come away with this one though that I absolutely love!

I think Ryan and I both needed a nap after this one, but it sure proved to be entertaining!  Thanks to the whole family for braving the heat!

Posted in: Portraits | Tags: Arizona, Child Life Portraits, Family Portraits, Gilbert, Val Vista Lakes