Sonora, CA Family Photographer | Family Picnic | Christine Dibble Photography

The plan sounded perfect…an evening picnic in golden light, under a tree littered with white blossoms and hand-made banners, capturing family photographs to welcome “Dadder” home on vacation from military deployment… Well, the golden light was absent when thick black storm clouds moved in. And then during set-up it was discovered that the picnic had been left at home on the kitchen counter, which made for some unhappy little people. But down in the bottom of a bag was a single military issue MRE–Meal Ready to Eat–which was very fitting since the whole shoot was for a soldier. So Mom worked the kind of magic that moms work everyday and managed to cheer her two kids enough to enjoy a bit of pretend in their own secret thicket with a photo of “Dadder” looking on, and we managed to capture this family just as they are.