We decided to save money on school pictures this year and take them ourselves. Luke was easy to convince. All I had to do was point out that the forest backdrops were fake and he was ready. Levi was trickier. After explaining prices and how much we could save he was finally swayed by me telling him Ian could be in the ones we take. The three brothers together. That did it, he was in. Done and done.
Sunday afternoon the plan went into action. I have three incredibly talented friends who do photography. One of my dearest ones took this family picture two summers ago. I remember sweating, itching, and threatening the boys through clenched smile. The picture ended up like this:
Instead of realizing she is incredibly talented I set out with false, very false confidence.
We ended up in Fredericksburg at the train station. Three freight trains and one passenger train later we made our way to some cool looking buildings we had seen from the platform.
Noticing I had forgotten step one in having them wear something nice, unstained, and matching I positioned them anyway.
Thirty minutes later I had over forty shots and not one to mail out. I also promised myself to buy the over priced, fake backdrop school pictures this Spring. Until then, here are my three boys in all their glory...
Luke and Levi were up first. After the first few shots I gently explained that Stables' boys are strong and sturdy and that all people can get this thing called a double chin in a picture. "Lift your chin up a bit and smile." I lost them at double chin. They were thrilled to find out they could make them at any time.
Forget the older boys I thought, lets try all three. Less control, just let them be together and be natural. Natural is Ian shoving a stick in Luke's ear and jumping down ten times to pick flowers. We did all laugh a lot and I have some great memories captured that do not have one ounce of fake in them.
