A 50-Year Love Story | Extended Family Portrait Session at Plum Creek Park, Kent Ohio
Some sessions are just about getting everyone together for a nice photo. And then there are sessions like this one, where the reason everyone showed up makes every single frame mean a little more.
This extended family gathered at Plum Creek Park in Kent, Ohio on a warm July morning for something worth celebrating twice: the Fourth of July weekend bringing the whole crew back to town, and 50 years of marriage for the grandparents at the center of it all.
Fifty years. Let that sink in.
When Everyone Comes Home
This is one of my favorite things about extended family sessions, the ones where siblings and their kids and their partners scatter across the country, and then life lines up just right and suddenly everyone is in the same zip code again. That's exactly what happened here. The grandparents and one of their children live right here in Kent. The other two siblings came in from out of town, kids and significant others in tow, turning a holiday weekend into something a little more intentional.
Thirteen people. One park. One golden morning. And a 50th anniversary worth honoring with more than just a dinner reservation.
Why Plum Creek Park Works So Well for Extended Family Sessions
If you haven't done a portrait session at Plum Creek Park in Kent, Ohio, it's worth knowing about. The park offers a really natural mix of open grassy areas and wooded backdrops, which is exactly what you want when you're photographing a large group. You can spread out for the big full-family shots, find shade for the smaller groupings, and move between environments without going anywhere. For a family of 13, that kind of flexibility is everything.
We met up early, before the July heat had a chance to settle in, and the light was warm, bright, and completely cooperative. The images from this session are some of my most vibrant of the year. Big smiles, colorful outfits, sun-drenched backdrops. The park delivered.
Everyone was only loosely coordinated. The Photos Are Great Anyway.
One of the questions I get most often from families preparing for a portrait session is some version of: "What do we wear?" This session is my new favorite answer to that question, and honestly, it's not the answer anyone expects.
There was only loose coordination for the outfits in this session. We had some reds, some blues, white, and even a pop of green and pink. One of the kids showed up in a shirt with words on it, which happens to be just about the only thing I ever suggest avoiding. And you know what? The photos are bright, vibrant, full of personality, and look great.
Here's what I've come to believe after years of photographing families: the anxiety around clothing coordination is almost always bigger than the actual problem. When people dress like themselves, in colors they feel good in, in clothes they're comfortable in, something relaxed and real comes through in the images that no amount of matching outfits can manufacture.
That said, I do have a few gentle guidelines I share with clients if you want them. But this session is proof that even without them, it all works out.
The Heart of the Session
Big family sessions have a lot of moving parts. Corralling kids, figuring out the grouping combinations, making sure grandpa doesn't blink in every single shot. But even in the middle of all that chaos, there were moments in this session that stopped me a little.
The grandparents, 50 years in, still cozy together. They were so warm and friendly, eager to talk about their life and their love. Kids chasing each other across the grass while the adults laughed. The kind of relaxed, unhurried energy you only get when a family genuinely likes each other.
These multi-generational sessions tend to be a little more structured because of the list of groupings we aim to capture, but the smiles are genuine and the love shines through.
Thinking About an Extended Family Session in Northeast Ohio?
Extended family portrait sessions are one of my specialties, and summer weekends are honestly one of the best times to make it happen, everyone gathers in town, the light is long, and the parks in Kent and the greater Akron area are at their most beautiful.
If your family has a reunion, a milestone anniversary, or just a rare window where everyone lands in the same place, I'd love to help you make something lasting out of it. Get in touch here and let's talk about what your session could look like.
Tara Carman Photography is based in Kent, Ohio and serves the greater Akron, Cleveland, and Canton areas.