Epic Family Pics with McClanahan Studio

Nick and I have been talking for awhile now, how we need need to get family pictures taken again. Life just kinda gets away from us, and our kids are growing soooo fast. *insert weeping emoji*

The last family pics we had taken were when Cypress was just a baby, and SISTER IS 4 NOW, sooooo…

Some friends of ours, Dan and Alex McClanahan, own McClanahan Studio in Ames, IA. Dan’s dad was actually the officiant at our wedding 10 years ago, and we all went to the same church when we were in college. Nick and I have been stalking admiring their work for years, and decided to pull the trigger on having the photograph our little fam!

BEST. CHOICE. EVER.

Go ahead and take a few minutes to take that pic in.

Oh my goodness, this photo shoot was so SO much fun. They photographed us individually, and then put it all together into that one AMAZING photo.

Cypress hanging from the chandelier is actually her just hanging from a pipe clamp between two ladders in the living room. She was hesitant at first, and just generally confused. But eventually she started having fun and totally rocked her portion of the shoot.

Dell made painty hand prints (the same blue paint that’s on the bottom step of the staircase!) on printer paper and we added vertical drips before letting it dry and transferring it to the wall. It totally looks like paint on my white walls, doesn’t it? And our girl Dell got a chance to pull out her suspicious/ornery face that we know all too well.

Paisley’s part is to be sliding down the banister, which I’m sure she would have loved to do in real life. Haha! But instead, she posed on the piano bench with a leaf-blower in her face. At the last minute, we decided it would be amazing if she had paint brushes in her hands… so instead of going and dipping brushes in paint, I ran upstairs and found this project from the good old days and broke off a couple paintbrushes for her to use. A small sacrifice. 😉

Dan even worked some of his photoshop magic right before our eyes by moving Paisley right into the scene, sliding down the banister!

I had my photo taken in-place in stairway. We legit dipped these empty paint cans in paint (just the rim!) and let it drip down just so. (The red one is from this project!) Most of these paint cans had VERY WET paint on them while we were photographing! Alex ‘helped’ me balance paint cans on my head, and then Dan photoshopped her out of the frame.

Nick and his miter saw had ‘their’ pics taken in-place in the entryway too. I wish I had gotten a shot of the part where they used a dark sheet behind him to capture the sawdust. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been visible in the final image!

There’s so much that went into making this amazing image, and it as fascinating to watch Dan and Alex work their magic and make it all come together! Dan had special lighting out the front door, coming in the windows, and one shining down the stairs as back-lighting.

Here it is again!

We’re getting a huuuuuuge print of this image to hang in our new kitchen above the stairway that goes down to the mudroom. CAN. NOT. WAIT.

Here’s a mock-up that Alex put together to show the scale and location of where it will go. It’s going to be amazing when the kitchen is all done!!

That’s one thing I love about The McClanahan’s work, they custom tailor the photo session, and then photograph specifically for the location you’ll be displaying it in your home. (see some examples here!)

While they were here, Dan took some quick and casual family pics of us just being together, which turned out pretty darn amazing too!

And some pics of Nick and I together, which I’M SO OBSESSED WITH.

Can you tell I’m standing on a big stack of wood in the pic below? Otherwise my face comes up to his belly button region. Look where my knees are compared to his. LOL!

We got some headshots taken as well, which will be so nice when we have speaking engagements and such.

In addition to family portraits and headshots, the McClanahan’s also do INSANELY AMAZING senior portraits. Can I just show you a few? Ok great…

Dan also does some pretty incredible Commercial Photography that you should most definitely check out. And be sure to follow them (and stalk their amazing pics!) on their Facebook and Instagram!

This was such an honor to be photographed by such an epic photography power couple, and we’re SO PUMPED to get our kitchen finished and that amazing pic up on the wall!

~Bethany