Mark and Laura brought their full blended crew together for their annual family meeting — and as part of the tradition, updated family photos were on the agenda. I’ve worked with big families before, but this one might go down as a favorite. Everyone showed up, leaned in, and genuinely had a good time.

With kids ranging from 11 to 21 — and a few significant others in the mix — getting everyone in sync is no small task. But they made it easy. Juli came in as the unofficial hype-man of the day, getting everyone to laugh, lighten up, and give me the kind of real smiles you can’t pose.

The couples and parents exchanged a few quick pecks for the camera, which, of course, triggered dramatic gagging noises from the rest of the group — but that just made for better reactions. Always worth it.

We wrapped the session on the playground, where everyone got to act like a kid for a minute — climbing, swinging, and not taking things too seriously. It was the kind of session that reminds you that big families come with big personalities, and when everyone’s game, the photos take care of themselves.

Jina Lee is an on location, natural light portrait and lifestyle photographer. She specializes in maternity photography, newborn photography, baby photography, children photography, and family photography. Jina services areas in and around the Atlanta metro area including, but not limited to, Acworth, Alpharetta, Brookhaven, Buckhead, Canton, Cumming, Decatur, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Kennesaw, Marietta, Midtown, Milton, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Smyrna, Woodstock and Vinings.