We Shot our own - Calvert Cliffs Adventure Portrait Session | Olea Family

Christmas break has a way of allowing one to forget the calendar. No bells. No rushing. Just time you don’t usually get. That’s how this Calvert Cliffs Adventure Portrait Session came to be.

Denniss and I took our kids, plus Isabella (Michael’s girlfriend), out to Calvert Cliffs State Park with one plan: hike to the water and see what unfolded along the way.

These are my favorite people.Not cooperating for poses - but honestly, this is better.

This wasn’t a “stand here, everyone look pleasant” kind of family session. It was walking trails, hands in pockets, inside jokes, layers zipped and unzipped, and the kind of Southern Maryland winter light that pops in and out and curls up wind when it feels like it, just to keep this photographer on her toes.

Here I am taking a photo of my daughter Ellena, while my son Evan looks out at the shore.

When you’re parents are professional photographers and all they want is one good photo.

The portraits happened in between managing one adult, one teen, and one almost pre-teen who were, unsurprisingly, acting like kids. We made it work with a tripod and a timer. I grabbed photos while we were moving, laughing, and stopping because something caught our eye.

Our eldest son, Michael plays tag with his sister Ellena, along the shore of Calvert Cliffs state park.

Adventure portrait sessions at Calvert Cliffs work because the park gives you permission to do something. You’re not trapped in one spot. You earn the view. The walk to the water and back took about an hour, with the trail stretching roughly a mile and a half each way. This wasn’t a quick stroll out for a photo and back again. It was a real hike, with time to fall into step, kids moving ahead and looping back, conversations unfolding as the path opened and narrowed.

Evan and Ellena explore the shoreline along Calvert Cliffs State Park.

Ellena loved every minute of the one-on-one time with her older brothers, whom she calls “her boys.” By the time we reached the shoreline, everyone was more than a little excited to finally see the water.

The boys slipped into their usual playful mode, inventing challenges for Ellena along the way, while she stayed focused on one very important goal: seeing if she could find shark teeth. The result was a set of sweet, playful images that feel true to them and that I know I’ll love for a long time.

When families have older kids, teens, or pre-teens, getting the whole family to cooperate for family portraits, can feel more challenging than it did when everyone was little. I’ve found that the best approach is the same one I use for all my family photography sessions: treat it like an experience, not a performance.

When a session feels more like a shared adventure or a relaxed family outing, older kids are able to settle in and be themselves. Giving them room to move, talk, and exist without a camera constantly in their face leads to the most natural, candid family photos. That’s consistently when I capture my favorite images of families with older children.

That doesn’t mean teenagers still won’t act like, well, teenagers. Case in point, my son Evan, sneaking a “bird” into one of the shots.

Michael and Isabella fell easily into the rhythm of the hike and more or less forgot anyone else was around, which is exactly what happens when you’re in that early, tender space of loving someone.

By the time we reached the beach and wrapped up a few group photos, I couldn’t help myself. I pulled them aside to capture a handful of portraits of just the two of them.

If I am going to be completely biased and completely unapologetic, they are incredibly compatible and so beautiful together. Photographing them felt natural, effortless, in the best way. If you’d like to see more of their images, I shared a separate blog post just for their Calvert Cliffs Couples portraits.

I’m just a photographer - mom, asking her kids to stand still long enough to take one good photo.

Denniss and I handed a few of our cameras over to Michael, Evan and Isabella, and let them capture a few images of Denniss and I.

This is why I love Calvert Cliffs adventure portrait sessions for families. They capture people as they are, not as they’re asked to be. The way kids move through space. The way relationships reveal themselves when no one is trying to perform. The way a simple hike to the water becomes something you’ll remember long after.

These images aren’t about a perfect holiday moment. They’re about a real one. Christmas break. Boots on the trail. Family, plus one more, finding their way forward together.

If your family loves being outdoors, moving together, and doing something a little different, a Calvert Cliffs adventure family photography session might be the right fit. These sessions are designed for families who want photos that feel natural and lived-in, not staged. If you’re interested in family photography in Southern Maryland, Northern Virginia or Washington, D.C.,and want an experience that gives your kids room to be themselves, I’d love to plan something meaningful with you.