It was a crisp autumn day when Felipe met up with Eleanor, Jeremy, and their two boys for their 9th family portrait session together, this time at Brookside Gardens in Bethesda, MD. This location holds a special place in the hearts of the family, since it was the site of one of their first family portrait sessions together nearly a decade ago.
Brookside Gardens is a beautiful spot, known for its sprawling views and huge variety of natural settings. The gardens are also steeped in history, dating back to the 1930s when it was first established as a horticultural research center. Today, it’s a popular spot for photography and special events, though it does require a permit to shoot there. At $75 per hour, the permit can be a bit pricey. But, you can get the best value out of the permit in the last hour of the day since the park will remain open for a while after the slot ends.
As Felipe has been working with this family since their oldest son was just a toddler, it’s cool to see how much the boys have grown over the years. Their oldest child is now a dapper young man, and their youngest has grown into a charming and playful young boy. Over the years, Felipe and the family have developed a great rapport and have established certain traditions that they look forward to each year.During this session, the family spent a lot of their time near the rose garden, and Felipe made sure to include some deliberate homages to classic photos they’ve taken in previous sessions.
The leaves were a fiery red and yellow thanks to Eleanor’s perfect timing for an autumn session. The family always tries to have their portraits made during this time of year when the foliage is at its most vibrant, but sometimes it just works out better than others.
One of Felipe’s classic moves is to use bubbles in his portrait sessions. Toward the end of Eleanor & Jeremy’s session, he had the boys fill the scene with bubbles for some shots with just the two of them. The result was a set of playful and fun photos that perfectly captured the spirit of this family.
