falk family

The military way of life is wonderful and difficult.  I have met some great folks in the 17+ years and it never gets easy saying “see you later”.  We never say goodbye.  I met Mariel about 8 months ago at a social gathering.  She was one of two newlyweds stuck with a bunch of seasoned wives.  We had a great time that night and many friendships were formed and Facebook pages shared.

Naturally, I checked out her page and saw that she is a freelance make-up artist.  My antennas went straight up and the ideas started taking over my brain.  I contacted her about a me_me_me.com session that was in the works and I still needed a make-up guru.  She jumped right on in and we were off.

Needless to say, we became fast friends and had a great time here at Fort Irwin.  This is not her first time in front of my camera but it is her first with her family.  Our friendship was meant to be and I will miss them as they head off to their next Army adventure in Virginia.  Craig and Paul, my husband, both love to play the guitar and are self taught.  They even have the same musical taste.  Pierce is friends with Aaron, my son, and did a few school projects together.  How often does life fall into place so perfectly?

Early on she mentioned wanting a family session.  We talked about it quite often but it was never the right time.  Once Craig had his orders to Virginia and they had their pack out dates we knew it was time to set a date.  Their session was scheduled to take place 3 days before the packers were to arrive.   After a few snags with the original date we had the session at a beautiful location on Fort Irwin with Tiefort Mountain in the distance.

Before I forget to mention the obvious, the desert winds were in full force and my wonderful assistant April braved the winds to hold the off camera flash and then a reflector.

Beautiful family.

The golden hour has arrived.

I love this time of day.

“The love of my family is life’s greatest blessing.”

Pierce is not very fond of the camera so I knew it was going to take some work to get him relaxed and smiling.

Seeing this image on my camera was enough to make Pierce laugh and start having fun.

Just the boys.

He is, however, a typical teenager and it breaks Mariel’s heart to see her baby growing up.  He has quit calling her mommy and the whole touchy feely with mom is not an option.  I tried to break it up a bit for them and kept switching it up on whose turn it was in front of the camera.  I didn’t want to lose Pierce’s interest too quickly and I had to get him with his mom.  He quickly learned that I am stubborn and will get what I want from a shot.  It was a small gift from me to Mariel since I took about 20 images of Pierce giving her a kiss on the cheek.  It was a work in progress but I have my favorite.

Love.

“There has never been, nor will there ever be, anything quite so special as the love between a mother and a son.”

If you remember from the beginning I informed you all that Mariel and Craig are newlyweds.  Well, these images will melt your heart with all the love they have for one another.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

“Loving someone and having them love you back is the most precious thing in the world.”
~Nicholas Sparks~

Now it’s family time again and we mustn’t forget Oliver.  He is such a good dog and obviously loves Craig as he followed him everywhere.  You can always find him somewhere in the family images.

I couldn’t leave this one out.

Yes, I managed to get Pierce by himself and smiling.  I knew I could break him down if I tried hard enough!

Love the genuine smile.

I can’t forget Oliver.

Tiefort is the one landmark that will go with all of us when we leave Fort Irwin.  Craig has spent many nights there in the heat and cold on training rotations.  Mariel has spent many hours in front of my camera with Tiefort in the background.  Oliver spent an unknown amount of time in the desert before he was rescued.  Pierce, well, he’s a teenager.

Every one of my session seems to have the same ending.  I tell everyone that we are done and we start to load up the gear and close it all up then, either as we are walking to the vehicle or already driving, I see one more must have shot in a new location.  Well, it happened here and I abruptly stopped and got out of my car and had them get out for just one more.  You have to admit it was worth it.

Mariel, Craig, Pierce, and Oliver, you will be missed and I will see you later!