Portrait of a Family

Early fall 2022 – family portrait session DiNozzo family

Ziva ran the hairbrush through each of the girls' curls, not that it tamed the unruly mass of curls on any of their heads. Tali's curls had a mind of their own, especially when freshly washed. Rivka and Beth had less curly hair, wavier, and lighter in color than Tali, but just as fly-away as their older sister's curls. Ziva sighed; attempting to tame her daughters' curls was almost as frustrating as her own hair. Only Anthony, of the five of her children, had Tony's straight hair. Even baby LJ had the dark curls of his mother.

Was it too much to ask for a mother to want that her children look presentable for a family portrait? They were planning three sessions with a photographer, one for formal portraits, today's session, plus two additional casual sessions. The photographer was a friend of Tim McGee's sister, Sarah, and came highly recommended by Delilah. Jess had tamed the active and rambunctious McGee twins for portraits on several occasions.

She smoothed the sapphire blue dress that Beth was wearing. It was the same dress Tali had worn five and one half years ago in Reno to her parents' wedding. Five and one half years and four children ago, well, Anthony was on the way, so technically, he was at the wedding. She had found a similar dress for Rivka and the twins looked very dressed up in their matching dresses. Anthony had on a blue shirt with navy pants, and a gray tie. He had insisted on learning to tie a tie instead of getting a clip on one. Ziva checked him; the boy had done a good job with the tie. Tali had on a navy blue dress; she had managed to get it on without mussing her curls too much. Tony was holding LJ, who was in navy pants and a lighter blue shirt. He had a clip on bow tie, but kept pulling it off. "Never mind the tie, Tony."

Ziva smoothed her navy dress over her curves, noticing Tony watching her appreciatively. His navy pants and blue shirt with gray tie matched the boys' outfits. The first group picture had Tony and Ziva seated on a bench with LJ in Ziva's lap. The other four children were positioned standing around their parents. The first of the snaps was probably the most serious, with small smiles from each one of the DiNozzos. When the second picture snapped, LJ was looking back at Tony.

On the third picture, LJ squirmed. Picture four, one of the twins sneezed and the following two pictures had all of the DiNozzos grinning huge grins. Jess noted that all five children had their father's grin. The oldest had her father's eyes, a deep emerald green. The other four had the chocolate brown eyes of their mother.

Shots were posed and taken of Tony with each child, with the girls, and with the boys, and finally with all five. The same series was done with Ziva. Group shots of the girls, the boys and all of the children followed. Individual shots of each of the children were captured. Finally, Jess posed Tony and Ziva for several shots of the two of them. Her favorite was the one where she had told them to look at each other, and they had gazed into the other's eyes.

"Great shots, we will meet on Saturday at the park for the next session. Do you want to meet in the morning or afternoon?" Jess had openings for either session.

"1000 work for you?" Ziva responded, "That should be a good time for all of the kids."

The appointment was set and Tony helped Ziva get the kids' stuff gathered up to head home.

On Saturday, Ziva let the four older kids choose their own outfits for the day. Tali and Anthony chose jeans and t shirts, while the twins picked shorts, skirts and shirts. She put a one piece outfit on LJ and she and Tony picked casual clothes in colors to match the kids'.

Jess had suggested bringing some of the children's favorite toys, so Ziva packed each child's favorite stuffed animal and some books in a large tote bag.

The session started with the kids playing on the playground and Jess captured several candid shots of each of the children. One of Ziva's favorites was of Tony holding LJ in his lap as the two went down the slide. LJ had laughed and squealed with excitement and Tony grinned one of his thousand watt grins. One of Tony's favorite shots was of Ziva reading to the children.

Jess had the family pose on a bench, with each child holding his or her favorite stuffed animal. She had several shots of the family, and when Anthony got tired of holding his red Ferrari bear, he rested it in the crook of Ziva's arm. Jess had captured Anthony putting the bear on his mother and then a few more pictures with the bear on Ziva.

When the kids were turned loose on the playground again, all four of the mobile kids ran and played. Jess tried to take more candid shots, but not a one of the DiNozzo kids stood still long enough. LJ fell asleep in his stroller and Jess took a few shots of the sleeping little boy.

Ziva talked with Jess while Tony played with the twins, "I think they are not going to hold still any more today. Shall we schedule another session?" Jess asked Ziva.

"How many pictures do you have so far?" Ziva had estimated close to two hundred pictures to be sorted through and favorites chosen. She wasn't going to have a lot of pictures printed for others, but wanted the digital images to save for memories in the future. Aunt Nettie was probably the only one who would get pictures in printed form.

Jess looked at the counter for the SD card, "Three hundred twenty six, counting all of them from both sessions."

"IMA! Look at us!" Rivka and Beth called out to Ziva. Tony was lying on his side on the ground and the two girls were sitting on him like a bench. Anthony and Tali heard their sisters call out to Ima and ran over and sat on their Abba. All four kids were grinning their DiNozzo grins and Tony had a matching grin.

Jess grabbed the camera and took several pictures. Ziva walked over and pretended to sit on Tony with the kids, making them laugh. Tony made a face, and Jess snapped several additional pictures. Tony rolled onto his stomach and Ziva and the kids piled on top of him. More candids that later became favorites were snapped of the four kids piled on their parents.

LJ woke up and Jess brought him over to the others. He squealed and laughed with his brother and sisters as they all piled on top of their Abba and Ima. Jess tried to capture the pure joy and happiness of the family playing together.

In the final shots, Tony sat up and pulled Ziva into his arms, snuggling her from behind. LJ was in Ziva's lap, and the other four had their arms around their parents from various positions on the sides. The picture was Nettie's favorite that year and when Ziva had the family Christmas cards printed, she used the photo on the cards. Everyone commented on how much the family was having fun and how much love was in the picture.