When a friend I met on Instagram, who takes beautiful pictures and has photographer friends, asked me if I was willing to do a family session because she wanted me to do it, you can image the emotion. I met Mirin (@mirinclos) at the Petit Atelier-Bistrot photography course and gastronomic experience organized by Inés (@lespetiteschosesdudimanche) last year at Empordà (Spain). We had been following each other for a while on the social media network, but the real connection started when she picked me up to go to Inés’ house together. We had a lot in common: I had given birth to Théo just three months ago, she was pregnant with Valentina, we shared a pretty similar sensibility…
After the Atelier course, my friendship with her and the other participants went beyond the screen and I can’t imagine my life anymore without our endless WhatsApp conversations about this or that.
It wasn’t very clear where and when we would do the session, but I was about to spend a few days in her region during my holiday and it seemed the perfect time to do it then: summer, a session on the beach… I felt really honored she wanted a session with me (a session, not just a few pictures from a friend), but the fact that she was a friend meant I was under even more pressure: what if I disappointed her or she overestimated the quality of my work?
While I was preparing the session, I felt really anxious. The feeling increased when we realized we misunderstood each other regarding how we were all to drive to the beach where the session would take place. I understood Mirin and her family would pick me up; she understood they’d pick me up but I’d take my own car too, as they were already 5 in their’s. But Philippe had left for a walk with the kids, the car keys and NO phone… Just imagine how I freaked out when I called my hubby a hundred times with no answer.
In the end, we made it to the beach on time. It took me just a few seconds to forget all the stress: when I saw Mirin’s beautiful family and the connection they have with each other, I felt possessed by the camera. I don’t dare to reveal the number of pictures I took. I didn’t want to miss a single gesture, caress or stolen kiss.
On top of the car incident, the weather wasn’t on our side. It was supposed to be sunny but it turned out to be rather cloudy, very windy and humid, which made it very challenging to keep the lens clean. To tell you the truth, I love cloudy and windy weather, so we weren’t discouraged by this and we were lucky enough to enjoy a few sunset rays at the end of the session, which gave a bigger visual variety to the whole session.
I hope you like the photos as much as I do. I was lucky because my models couldn’t be prettier and perfectly understood what I was looking for in the session. Thank you so much, Mirin, for trusting me with this.
What lovely photos and a beautiful family!