I would venture a guess that when many photographers turned pro, one of the things in their mind to drive and inspire them to do so was quite a few observations of other work and the thought 'I could do that myself'.  Whether it was true or not, it makes sense.  Once we all started down that road however, that one term, 'professional' revealed itself to be the absolute beast that it is.  Being a professional photographer is a relentless journey of constant self-improvement and self-criticism to define and communicate an individual style.

Having said all that, what a completely weird and wonderful experience to BE photographed by another professional this year!

Weird because your mind doesn't have to simultaneously process the hundred and one variables that we deal with during the capture of a professional image.  Wonderful for the SAME reason - just letting yourself be directed!  (In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a pain in front of the lens, its a good thing this session was done by a friend! :) )

Shannon and I had the pleasure of being photographed by another husband and wife portrait studio team from Victoria this year - basically we did a 'swap', each photographing the other.

So where I'm going with all this is, family portraits are just about the toughest kind of portraits there are to do well.  For the image quality and the enjoyment of the experience, leave this one out of the 'do it yourself' category - you'll be glad you did!

Many thanks to Laura and Randy Pollard for this image!