Maryland Family Photography // The Batt Family // Rockburn Branch Park

If you are a Maryland photographer, the month of May was a tough one for you. It rained. A lot. All month long. We saw a few glimpses of sunshine here and there, but the skies would quickly cloud back over and the rain would fall again. You can imagine then, how excited I was to wake up the morning of the Batt’s family session and see broken clouds instead of rain. And how that excitement turned to ecstasy at the sight of the sun poking through when we were strolling to our location. It just felt so good to see those rays of light!

Naturally, by 4:00 that afternoon, the clouds had returned once more and the rain was coming down harder than ever, but that is a different story for a different day. For the hour we spent at Rockburn Park, we had sun!

We also had smiles. Lots and lots of smiles! I can only imagine how difficult it is to organize a family of 5 for a family shoot. First you have to find a date that works for everyone’s increasingly busy schedules. Then you have to figure out what everyone is going to wear. Five coordinating outfits?? There has to be a medal for that. Then, the day of, you have to make sure everyone is in their very best moods just so you have a small chance of getting five smiles all at the same time in just one single frame. I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

And yet, this family pulled it off effortlessly. Kathleen and Tim were so relaxed and their kids followed suit. It never fails! Relaxed parents = relaxed children. We gave everyone the time they needed to play and acclimate, and it ended up in some drop dead gorgeous photos. All of this with a party hangover! Grayson had just had his birthday party the day before. I don’t know about you, but the day after any large social gathering, I prefer leggings and fast food all day long. I am super impressed that all five of these incredible people got up, got dressed, and smiled big like it was no big deal! That is some serious willpower.

I loved seeing this family again. The last time was a couple of years ago, and the boys’ personalities have really come through. It’s wonderful seeing how much they’ve grown and who they are becoming. I mean, when I took photos of them last Wyatt was just about McKinley’s age. Who, by the way, is just the sweetest little thing. I’m so happy I got to meet her and take photos of that beautiful smile. And the boys just love her. I pretty much melted when, on two separate occasions, both Grayson and Wyatt cuddled up to McKinley for a quiet moment. They are such good big brothers!

The Batts remind me so much of my family, with my two siblings. Lots of adventures and so much joy. I’m sure life is crazy, but with these five, there must be a lot of fun mixed in!