A Saturday afternoon with Chanda's family, Atlanta family photographer

Kaleen Enke February 19, 2020

How do you spend a rainy afternoon?

a family plays the game Sorry during a documentary family photo session

We have had our fair share of rainy days in Atlanta lately. While I live for warm sunny days, there’s something a little snuggly and nostalgic about a gloomy day that can make it perfect for a documentary family photography session.

How does your family do rainy days? Do you stay in your pajamas and lounge around? Do you go out as usual and make the most of it? Do you take advantage of any lulls in the rain to still play outside? What you do or don’t do on a rainy day says as much about who you are as a family as what you do or don’t do on any other day. And when it comes to photographing your family, it’s so much more about who you are together than what you do together that makes the resulting photos meaningful.

On this particular gloomy day, I met up with Chanda’s family at Dr. Bombay’s for some ice cream. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed to have the same idea to visit the tea house, as the place was full. Since it wasn’t currently raining, Chanda’s family decided to dry off some tables to sit outside. It took no time for the goofing off to start, and I was instantly this family’s biggest fan.

After the ice cream, we went back to the house, and they started to play the game Sorry. You spend your time in the game trying to get all your people out into play, all the way around the board, and then safely back home. This would seem like a fitting metaphor for life except for the part of the game where everyone else is trying to take out your people and send them to the beginning to keep them from getting home. Even the polite nudge of the title to say “Sorry” when you take out an opponent seems a little disingenuous. Competition is fun though and nothing this family shies away from.

After the game, Chanda convinced the others to start reading the book Wildwood together. While the boys were not so enthusiastic about the read aloud to begin with, it was only a matter of a few sentences before everyone in the room was wooed by the playful words of Colin Meloy. The reading led to snuggling which eventually led to wrestling and playing and then everyone had the energy to break through the dreary day and play some basketball out on the street. I’d say it ended up being quite the perfect afternoon.

There’s no need to let the weather rain on your parade if it is not sunny on the day of your photography session, there’s still plenty of life to live that is worthy of being seen and remembered.

This shoot was part of a Day in The Life in Atlanta session, where I worked with various photographers to show one day and how different families spent the day. To see the total day, follow this link to see the next part of the day. If you follow all the way through, you will be able to see photos of my family too.

A mom cradles her son's face in her hands at dr. bombay's in Atlanta

a family sits and eats ice cream outside of dr. bombay's in atlanta

a child laughs at his dad as he jokes around with ice cream at dr. bombay's in atlanta

a close up of a man laughing while eating ice cream

an image of a boy who is being hugged by his dad from behind on a street in Atlanta

a dog leads their family out of their house

A man bends down and looks at a dog who he is holding in his hands as the dog looks up at him

a family sits in a living room plays sorry together and a boy lies on the floor beside them

a woman looks at a man with a mischievous look as he looks at her with disappointment during a heated game of sorry

a woman leans her head on her hand as her son does the same thing in the foreground

a boy smiles while lying his head on his mom's lap as she reads him a book

a dog pulls a thread out of a toy while a boy snuggles with him and a man places a leg on him

a woman looks at a man who is playing with a dog while she reads a book to a boy who is sleeping on her lap

a man dribbles a basketball while his arm is being pulled by a boy

a man tries top get away while a boy wraps his hands around his waist from behind

a boy holds a basketball and prepares to shoot as his family stands behind him

A mom cuddles her son in the street during a family basketball game

a boy dribbles a basketball in the street as him mom tries to steal it from him

a boy grabs onto a basketball hoop pole and holds a basketball

a man shoots a basketball while a boy puts his hand up to block the shot

a boy swings and grabs the tether to his dog in his front yard in Atlanta

a man and a woman snuggle on a couch as a boy crawls towards them them

a woman lays her head on a man's shoulder and smiles as she looks at her son (not in the frame)

a boy lies on the floor and snuggles with his dog

Rites of Passage, Atlanta Family Photographer

Kaleen Enke February 17, 2020

A coming of age celebration

I was fortunate to get to photograph a coming of age celebration this past summer. The event was a colorful and magical day full of cousins and hands adorned with henna. Capturing important milestone events like this is so satisfying to me as a family photographer. I get to record family history with all the tradition, extended family, and real life moments that make your family unique.

During the celebration I loved watching all the family members interacting and playing games. As the girls waited for their henna to dry, I was fascinated by how they carefully played in order to not disturb the beautiful designs on their hands. While I was completely taken with the beauty of the saris and the food, I also enjoyed the elements that were similar to my own family gatherings like kids running around being silly and a much loved family punch recipe.

Rites of passage are an important time to celebrate the growth of a child becoming an adult while grounding them in the love and tradition of family. Does your family celebrate any rites of passages? What traditions are part of those celebrations? How do you record them to pass them down to the next generation?

I’d love to learn about your family traditions and capture them for your family.

grandparents lead their granddaughter into a room as a surprise while an aunt looks on as part of a coming of age celebration

a mother smiles as she looks at her daughter's henna design during a coming of age celebration

an image of a henna design on hands during a coming of age celebration

a boy pokes a girl in the stomach playfully as she puts her hands in the air while the henna is drying as part of a coming of age celebration

A young girl laughs as a little boy touches her knees

A mother gives her daughter some punch to drink while she lets the henna on her hands dry during a coming of age celebration

young boys play fight on their older cousin during a coming of age celebration

A girl uses a plastic knife to scrape dried henna off her hand during a coming of age celebration

A boy places his hand on another child's head in the window by the food table at a coming of age celebration

a girl gets henna applied on her foot during a coming of age celebration

A girl puts her hands in the air to dry the henna and looks up at the design alone in a room full of people during a coming of age celebration

a family plays pictionary during a coming of age celebration

7 Reasons to Book a Holiday Documentary Family Photo Session

Kaleen Enke November 19, 2019

Maybe you missed all the fall mini sessions or maybe you put off getting family photos all year. Well, it might not be too late. Here’s why you should book a holiday family photo session.

1. Your home, your memories.

Your photos should not just be about your people, but they should be about your places as well. The environment is the setting in your family story, and what better time to capture that environment than the holidays. The details that make your house your home are what will cling to your memory and take you right back to that time and place in your family history years from now. Close your eyes and think about what your home looked like decorated for the holidays as a child. What details do you remember?

a mother holds her baby and helps him taste a candy cane during a holiday family photography session

2. Think of all the fun things you can do.

The holidays inspire fun family activities, and there are endless possibilities for photos. From baking cookies, to decorating gingerbread houses. From cutting down a tree, to drinking hot chocolate. There are tons of ways to make memories worth capturing. And if you find yourself playing some reindeer games, I’ll be happy to photograph those too.

image of two gingerbread houses, one with an angry face

3. Cause traditions.

Traditions are an important part of family history. They get passed down from generation to generation or started anew. They are what make your family yours. They say, “This is what we do as a family during the holidays.” Traditions are what the kids look forward to year after year, and they are what you work so hard to make happen because it wouldn’t be the holidays without them. Your traditions are worth capturing and remembering for you, for your kids, and for your kids’ kids.

4. It’s time you get to spend and celebrate with your family.

One of the best parts of having documentary family photos is that it’s time you get to spend being present with your family. It’s not another thing that you have to go do or check off a list. Instead, it’s your life that you get to live for the day with just the intention of being together as a family. Plus, there’s no pressure to pick up your phone and photograph the experience, you get to just be in the moment as your baby explores how a pine tree feels for the first time or as you enjoy the muffins and hot cocoa you all just made together.

a baby reaches up to touch a pine tree at a tree farm during a holiday family photo session

A mother holds her child on her lap as they eat muffins and drink hot cocoa at a table with another girl

5. You can include the extended family as well.

The holidays are all about family and often not just your immediate family. Why not document a big family gathering? Including cousins, and grandparents, and aunts and uncles is a gift that will become even more meaningful in the years to come.

a man pushes a child on a swing as many kids play on and around the swingset

6. There are every day routine moments that happen as well.

Real life doesn’t pause for the holidays. It’s still a documentary family photo session, so it’s still unposed and unscripted even though you may know what activities you want to do. With the documentary approach, you are going about your life as your fun holiday selves, and I get to capture whatever moments unfold before me. Those include the moments in between the activities as well, the moments of you doing the hard work of parenting like washing hands or letting them know they need to stop eating the muffin batter or pulling on the dog’s tail.

a child holds onto the tail of a dog as a finger points at him suggesting that he shouldn't be doing it

7. And we can still get that portrait for the Christmas card or for Grandma if you want.

Even if you’re not into posed portraits, it’s always nice to have a photo of everyone together. We will do the portraits quickly, so you can get on with the fun day you have planned. If you want Anna to be in the picture too, it’s totally fine with me. Anna will add context to the time and place of the portrait in later years. Personally, I like portraits when they are loaded with personality and full of feeling. If you are looking for that perfect portrait though, I’m probably not the photographer for you…or maybe you need to just, “Let it go.” Sorry. I had to.