A Maximus Visions Story · No. 04
The Marlin Family
Editor's Note
Some families book one backdrop. The Marlins did the whole North Pole — and dressed for every stop.
Christmas 2025, in the studio: two parents, three kids, and five worlds to walk through. It started formal — black and gold on a white staircase, the kids each getting their own frame — then went darker and more editorial in front of the black-brick tree, where mom finally got a moment that was hers alone. From there the session loosened its tie: flour and a rolling pin in the Christmas kitchen, falling snow on the winter whites set, and the ending every December deserves — matching pajamas at a gingerbread house and a pink candyland tree decorated by the two girls of the family. One session, a year's worth of walls to hang.
Session
Holiday Portraits
Season
Christmas 2025
Setting
In Studio · Five Backdrops
Style
Editorial · Playful
Frames
27 Selects
Chapter I
The Grand Staircase
The session opened at its most formal: a white staircase laced with garland and red ribbon, the whole family in black and gold. Then, one at a time, each of the three kids took the stairs alone — because everyone deserves their own frame at Christmas.
“Each kid took the staircase alone — a dress, a gold vest, a tie. Three solo portraits before the family even changed sets.”
From the studio journal
Chapter II
Black & Gold
The heart of the session: a black-brick room, a darkened tree hung in gold, and every combination of five people the light allowed. Dad with the boys, mom with her daughter, the kids carrying their little sister like a gift — and at the end, mom in her gown with a frame all to herself.
Chapter III
The Christmas Kitchen
A short, warm stop between the glamour: a holiday kitchen with a red mixing bowl, a gingerbread-man apron, and flour on the rolling pin. The details every December actually smells like.
Chapter IV
Winter Whites
Then the snow came down — indoors. Flocked pines, white poinsettias, and a golden reindeer standing guard. The family gathered under the falling flakes, and mom's black gown did exactly what a black gown does against a wall of white.
Chapter V
Pajamas & Candyland
Every Christmas story should end where Christmas actually lives: in matching pajamas. The five of them lined up at a gingerbread house taller than the kids, mom stole kisses she'll be glad she has in twenty years, and the two girls of the family closed the session decorating a pink candyland tree.
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A handful of dates each season. Editorial coverage from the morning details through the last dance.