The Gifts of a Matriarch

A few years ago, Lucille, right, was given a gift certificate for a photo shoot. She finally called to schedule the shoot when she was planning her mother’s 90th birthday party.

That’s Lucille’s mom, Frances, in the center. I felt privileged to be there, and to meet Lucille’s family and friends.

Frances is beautiful! I really enjoyed talking to her. She told me stories about her family, and about raising her children and being a mom, and some sad stories about missing friends and her husband.

She seemed so happy to be surrounded by her family that day.

Obviously, I love the pictures of Frances with her daughters. These are my favorites!

My inspiration for covering this event came from this picture I took of Frances’s birthday cake. It looks like a stack of gifts, and I remember looking around the room and thinking that without Frances’s life of 90 years, half the people in the room, the daughters and sons, the grandchildren, wouldn’t exist. The room was so packed with people, I could barely move around! What a nice testament THAT is on a 90th birthday!

So ultimately, my concept for the presentation was for everyone to understand the gift of Frances’s life, and the gifts she has given all of them — gifts of love and example, the untouchable things. I love this family picture, above. I love it for the simple fact that it isn’t posed, that it tells the story of the day in one shot, and that it includes Frances’s children.

It’s always fun to swing around and get a shot of the serenading crowd before the candles are blown out.

Well done, Frances! (Love the smoke from the candles!)

Normally, a shot of hands cutting a cake wouldn’t be so interesting to me, but in this case, I see more than just a hand cutting a cake. I see decades of tender loving care, a beautiful tribute to a life well-lived.

I loved that scrapbooks were floating all around the room and that everyone seemed to love looking at them. Know what else I love about this shot? The CAMERA on the table! I love it when something ends up in a shot that helps define the time in terms of technology. And it’s a great juxtaposition with those old scrapbook images in black and white and sepia tone. And as a bonus: Frances is in the background too!

The party was held at The Breakers, a beautiful restaurant and hotel in Spring Lake.

When I first walked in, just as lunch was wrapping up and it was almost time to cut the cake, I heard a few toasts to Frances that were so sweet.

I love this shot. I think it’s my favorite one of the whole day. I kept concentrating on bringing all the energy into this woman that they all love so much.

I got the sense that the party for Frances was not so much a celebration as it was a gift of thanks to her from her children.

I also did some snapshots of each of the families. It was very windy, so I my idea was to take pictures where the importance of relationship overshadowed any wind-blown hair issues.

I love this one because there are three distinct groups in this one shot, and yet, there’s a sense of personality coming through each face, and a sense of family unity too. Isn’t it interesting that the men are all standing straight on to the camera, while the women are turned into the men? I didn’t set it up that way. I remember just telling them to touch and to “get closer, closer, CLOSER!” Did I mention that I love this picture? I love that Lucille’s son is adjusting his glasses, too. There’s something about it that seems so real, and personal, in his case. I could be wrong, but I think it captures one side of his personality. (There are others in the full gallery that show his playful side as well, which I also love!)

Love this one too. Those sisters have such great smiles. I smile every time I look at this picture. Can’t help it. Their love is contagious.

One of my favorite things is when a couple asks me to take a few pictures of them, they stand straight on to the camera, and I shake my head and go, “move, dance, turn, grab her, DANCE!” The natural smiles are a result of getting people to relax, enjoy each other, and forget about the camera.

Every once in a while, I see a beautiful light falling behind a beautiful face, and I just call a name and a beautiful shot results.

Other times, I happen on to long leather gloves being pulled off spontaneously in a setting sun, not very often though.

The cousins went out to the beach for a long-jump contest. Love this shot!

Check that out! She has the same form as her dad, above!

And there’s that beautiful smile again. Wow! I love her passion!

I loved this series too, and couldn’t decide which one I liked best.

Maybe this one.

Sweet.

Another example of a shot where we need to appreciate the wind-blown hair as being a gift of the ocean. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!)

Love this one!

Ok, call me crazy, but doesn’t mom look like Princess Diana in this picture? Beautiful!

There she is again. I love how her pictures echo the picture of Frances with her daughters at the top of the post, and yet, it’s completely different in tone and setting.

It was a perfect afternoon! We had the beach all to ourselves!

The pyramid was their idea, and I simply will not provide details about how long it took them to figure out how to make a pyramid without the ideal number of people. Maybe it’s kind of a cliché shot, but I still love this picture! Know why? The natural smiles are priceless!

Long-jump contest. I love this shot. Doesn’t he have awesome hair?

Frances, you have a wonderful family!
Peace to all,
–jules