Over the course of a typical family photo session, I sometimes have the opportunity to take a few photographs of mom and dad alone without the kids, but it’s rare that I get to spend an entire photo session focusing on an adult couple. The shoot with this wonderful duo was an exception to the rule. Celebrating their 20^th wedding anniversary, Ed Jenkins and Nancy Silva are dear friends of my longtime clients, Adam and Margot Price. Because of this, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Ed and Nancy once or twice over the many years I’ve worked with the Prices. In fact, I even photographed the Prices with their eldest daughter Vivienne at Ed and Nancy’s home a few years ago.

With their milestone anniversary coming up, Nancy was eager to enlist my portrait photography services knowing that she could entrust me for this special occasion. The couple already has photographs commemorating other anniversaries and wanted to continue this beautiful tradition to celebrate their many years together.

One benefit of working with adults is their cooperation and ability to follow instructions. 😉 Though I love photographing kids, it was a nice change of pace to work with this pair. We met at the couple’s home in Falls Church, and captured some lovely photos. Nancy had even consulted me about clothing choices ahead of time, and picked elegant attire. She looked smashing with her hair and makeup done professionally, too. Wouldn’t you say?

An interesting challenge was finding poses to accommodate for the height difference between Nancy and Ed, since Ed is quite a bit taller. It’s not dissimilar to the challenge of posing families that include parents and small children. The key is finding positions that look natural where the difference is not so pronounced, such as having the taller subject seated or seating the couple together.

They’ll be adding to their special collection of commemorative photos from previous anniversary photo shoots with some lovely framed prints, as well as a small album of the rest of their favorites from our session together.

About the Author:

Julie Kubal is a child and family portrait artist and photographer serving Washington DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. She is passionate about creating warm and meaningful artwork through modern portraits and lifestyle photography at a location of your choice!