An Armstrong Park Family Session for the Creative People
Come As You Actually Are
Some families show up to a session in matching white shirts and khakis. That is fine, and I will make those pictures look great. But it is not the only way, and honestly it is not my favorite way.
The Kauffman family showed up to Armstrong Park in rainbow tulle, fairy wings, a bright green dress, basketball jerseys, and orange pants. Nobody coordinated. Nobody toned anything down. Every single person walked in dressed like themselves, and that is exactly why these pictures work.
If you want to break the rules, break them. Do your thing, because it is YOU. I am game.
I Am a Photographer and a Musician
People are sometimes surprised to learn I play music too. It matters more to the way I shoot than you would think.
Music taught me about timing and about improvisation. You learn the structure so well that you can leave it when the moment calls for it. A session runs the same way. I come in with a plan, I know the light, and I know the park, and then somebody’s kid does something completely unscripted, and the whole thing goes somewhere better than what I had drawn up.
That is why a laid back creative session is where I do my best work. Give me a family willing to be themselves, and I will follow the music of the day wherever it goes.
Why Armstrong Park
Louis Armstrong Park is one of my favorite places to shoot in New Orleans, and it earns that in about four different ways.
The blue truss footbridge gives you clean lines and a natural frame. The old terracotta wall is a warm, textured backdrop that makes bright clothing pop instead of fighting it. There are wide open lawns and heavy oaks for shade, water for reflection, and enough space that a big family with little kids never feels boxed in.
It is also a place with real weight to it. This is Congo Square, the ground where New Orleans music actually begins. For a photographer who is also a musician, standing in that park with a camera is not a neutral thing.
The Right Now
Here is what I keep coming back to with this set. These photographs are not a record of how the Kauffmans will always look. They are a record of exactly who they are right now.
The little one in the tutu will not always want the wings. The teenager in the jersey will change three more times before he is twenty. The toddler will not stay a toddler through the summer. Right now is a moving target, and it is gone before anybody realizes it was worth keeping.
That is the whole job. Not making a family look like a catalog, but catching the specific, slightly chaotic, completely real version of them that exists today. I am glad we captured these.
Bring Me Your Weird and Wonderful
If you have been putting off family pictures because you dread the stiff posed version, let’s do it differently. Wear the thing. Bring the instrument, the skateboard, the dog, the costume. Pick a place that means something to you.
You can see more of my family and lifestyle work, and if you want to talk about a session that actually sounds fun, I would love to hear what you have in mind.
Call or text 504-957-8412 to commission GK at gkphotography.com
