Client Interview Series: Feels Like Family with The Schafers
These client interviews are created to share unedited feedback from families I’ve worked with over the years. Included are family photos, shared with their permission.
Meet the Schafer Family.
I met Melissa and Kenny early on as I was starting my business. At the time they had a daughter and were expecting their second child. They now have three girls, and I’ve photographed two newborn sessions at home, a session at a cabin, a session in their sweet town of Hilliard, a gingerbread making morning, and sessions in metro parks and playing at home on the trampoline. I kinda feel more like an out-of-town aunt to these kids than their photographer, and when I come to their home the girls greet me with smiles and act as if I fit right in… even if it’s been a year or so since I’ve seen them. It’s lots of giggles, laughter and playing each time I’m with them, and I always leave feeling happy and loved.
Here’s what Melissa had to say…
Me: Can you share what it was like to meet me and what your first impression was, what your first session was like?
M: My first session with you was a newborn photo shoot with my middle child, shortly after we moved to Columbus. When I initially contacted you and you gave me the overview on how to book and what the session would be like, the thing that stood out in my mind was ‘Wow, she really knows babies!’ This was because throughout the entire conversation, you assured me that you would work around whatever baby was doing or not doing and that I didn’t need to stress about anything. The one thing I requested was a picture of my sleeping newborn, but understood that if it didn’t work out, that would be ok. Little did I know, I was asking you to get picture of a kid who doesn’t sleep! To this day, she is my worst sleeper. You spent hours at our house with noise machines, heartbeat imitators, bottles (you name it, you tried it!), trying to get this little lady to sleep so I could get my coveted ‘sleeping baby’ picture. Even after I assured you it would be ok if the picture didn’t happen, you weren’t ok with it. And by this point, you were invested.
Long story short: You got the baby to sleep, we have beautiful pictures of it, and it’s probably the last time my daughter fell asleep because an adult wanted her to.
This is a session from when their third daughter was born.
Me: During photo shoots I have hugged and helped your kids, rocked them to sleep as newborns, and airplaned them to laps for photos. What makes you comfortable with that?
M: You know kids. I guess you know adults too, given that I’m writing this about you! But you have this unique ability to identify the shy kid and ask them just the right questions to engage them and light up their smile. You have the rowdy kids’ number and are ready (unbelievably!) to hand them your camera so they can be part of the action. A session with you is like a kids’ improv class: whatever the kids want to do, you respond with the classic “Yes…and?” to satisfy the kids’ interests while creatively guiding them to the next thing you actually want them to do. Kids are so genuine that they can spot a phony from a mile away. You are the real deal and kids recognize it quickly. It took merely minutes for my kids to warm up to you and start telling you about their favorite dinosaur, tragic boo-boo, or what dessert Mommy and Daddy promised them if they behaved. Because our kids have such positive memories of past photo sessions, they get excited to see you again, and want to tell you all the things that have happened since the last time they saw you. When the kids are happy about an event, the parents are happy – which is why our family photo sessions are actually FUN and not a chore at all.
Me: How does it feel now when you contact me for a session, or when I show up for a session?
M: Since we’ve done a few photo sessions with you, and the kids have become comfortable with you, calling you up for another photo shoot is like calling an old friend to catch up. “Oh hey, Erin, our kids have aged about a year, and look nothing like they did last time you saw them. Can you come take pictures of us?’ You are incredibly organized and after catching up for a few minutes, you will give a recap of the places, times of year, and ‘themes’ of our prior photo shoots to start to figure out what we’re in for this year: something similar, something different, something out of the box. I tend to come to these conversations with no direction for you, other than to get some good pictures of our family. Specifically I’m always in need of some pictures of the kids where they’re not doing that terrible ‘school picture say cheese’ smile. You take this total lack of direction and are able to suggest venues, times of day, seasons, etc. to complement pictures we already have or to give us something new to hang on our walls. You totally take the guesswork out of booking a photo shoot, so all you have to do is show up!
These next photos are of our session in Hocking Hills in 2021. To grab something a little different, they invited me to the cabin they’d rented, and we got to relax, play, and swing in the woods.
Bonus story shared…
M: In addition to being an incredibly gifted photographer, Erin has a true talent for home picture display as well. As mentioned above, we’ve done several sessions with Erin and we’re starting to accumulate a timeline of our kids’ lives. However, I do not have a creative bone in my body and had no clue how to display pictures in a cohesive manner in our house. You just print it out and put it in a frame, right? Yeah, don’t do that. In what will be deemed the best Christmas present of all time, my husband secretly met with Erin and said he wanted to give me the gift of photo decorations. Erin came to our house, discussed the areas he’d like to display pictures in, and created a fully customized plan to display everything from our daily candid shots taken with our phones to photo sessions with Erin. She even had suggestions on how to display the kids’ artwork in the hallway so we’re not always sticking it on the fridge. The design Erin created for us is expandable and interchangeable, so as we take more pictures, we’re able to swap out the old ones and put in the new, without any advance planning. Waking up on Christmas morning, seeing our house decorated in family photos was the best present I’ve ever received. I cannot thank Erin enough for taking the time to help us decorate our house with warm memories of our family.
The early years with the Schafers, 2015/2016 when I first met them and when their second daughter was born. Spot the baby posing, the trends (hello slanted photos) and editing styles that evolved.
A little context for this next session (below)…
Last year instead of a traditional family session, I was invited to Gingerbread House Day with the Schafers. This session was a treasure. It’s been a tradition in their family for years, and includes grandma and more candy than you can imagine. They decided to capture it all that year. They make the houses from scratch, put them together weeks in advance, and have an amazing day of decorating them that includes every type of candy imaginable. It’s magical - a kid’s dream.
I don’t often shoot with warm house lights on - if you know me well, you know I tend to turn off overhead lights and head for the brightest windows - but this felt so cozy and homey and on par with family and tradition.
(As I was leaving, I was gifted with my own homemade gingerbread house and the leftover candy, which was approximately a thousand pounds worth, to make our own gingerbread house. My kids thought we hit the jackpot.)
I love my time with the Schafers. Look, I realize not everyone needs me to come in and become instant friends with your family, but the way these sessions go it’s hard not to. They are personal - I’m in your home, playing with your kids, asking them to show me their favorite toys, their favorite stuffed animal, their bedrooms, their books. They tend to sense the trust their adults have given me and open up pretty quickly.
My favorite thing is when I leave sessions and get that text that says “Thank you, that was so easy! My kid asked when Miss Erin could come back to play!” That, to me, is perfection.
