The Bäckström Family

When I came home from New Zealand on New Year's Eve, I hadn't seen my niece in a year. When we left, she was a 2-month-old baby; when we came home, she had grown to become a beautiful young girl. 

Needless to say, this was one of the best parts about coming home. The other equally wonderful part was that she was going to have a little sister, who I would hopefully get to meet before I went to London. Seems like she wanted to meet her aunt as well, because the day before I left—she arrived.

These photos are from an afternoon that I spent with my brother and his family. Can't wait to go visit this summer, and capture the whole family of four!

The Benseman Family

A week ago I got an email from a girl named Hanna, asking if I could take some portraits of her family before she left for a couple of years in the UK. Said and done, the following weekend I came to her house to meet up with her and the rest of the family. And what a family. After five minutes, I almost felt part of it. They were so friendly and bubbly, and really affectionate with each other. This, I thought, is the definition of what a "family" should be like. I was there for a mere 40 minutes, but it put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

More "posed" shots than I'm used to, but I think you can see their energy in all of these pictures.