The Nearny family started this tradition in 2019, the year before the world went quiet. Every year since, we have come back to Junipero Serra Park. Same location, same general idea, same people. Just a little older each time, the kids a little taller, the parents a little more settled into themselves.

They like consistency. The same spots, the same kinds of shots. There is something quietly profound about that kind of discipline. The commitment to documenting a family not as an event but as a continuous unfolding thing.

I always look forward to this one. They are calm, no noise, easy to be around. By now we know each other well enough that there is no warm-up time. We just start.