The years pass quickly, and that’s one reason why Whitney wanted a home portrait session to capture her family’s Christmas traditions while Haley is still young. They wanted a session that captured things they do each year around Christmas time, like decorating the tree, making Gingerbread houses, and listening to the Christmas Story and the Night Before Christmas while drinking hot cocoa by the fire.
I mean, how can you not just feel all cozy and filled with the Christmas spirit by looking at these photos? I just love this so much. 🎄❤️
What about you? What kind of memories would you like to capture for your family?
I cannot believe it’s been almost four years now since I began on this adventure as a professional family & children photographer. I was thinking about that during this session because I consider this family to be my first “real”clients. I had been photographing lots of families before I considered myself a real professional, but they were all close friends who I knew very well. This family was the first ones who hired me who I didn’t know really well when they had their first session, so that’s why I consider them my first real clients.
It was for a maternity session and included the big sister to be at a session at Harlinsdale farms. I was nervous about shooting with people I didn’t really know, but I just fell in love with them right away, and not long after that, was blessed to photograph Grayson’s birth. And each year since, I look forward to photographing their family photos. I talked yesterday about how I had a weekend of shooting my ideal clients, and this is definitely one of my favorites.
Each year I say how easy these two adorable kiddos are to photograph and they were the same way this year. There is just so much cuteness and they clearly love each other sooooo much. It’s not just the kids though. I adore mom and dad as well….they are always playful with the kids and we have so much fun just capturing memories. It’s always such an easy session and they are just simply beautiful.
I want to apologize for the large amount of photos in this blog post. I really am trying to get better about that, but I easily had enough photos from this session for three blog posts, and I had a really hard time choosing.
I first met this beautiful family last year, when they hired me for an extended family session after I had photographed sweet Lily’s preschool graduation photo and I just fell in love with them. There is just so much love, and joy and togetherness with them that is just beautiful to be around.
In photography workshops and facebook groups, they talk a lot about finding your ideal clients. That’s not something I thought about at all before becoming a professional photographer, but I quickly realized how important it is to find clients who are a good fit for my style. This past weekend, I had three family sessions, and I walked away from them all thinking about how exactly perfect the clients were for me.
I can’t put into words exactly what makes them so perfect, because a lot of it is just a feeling. But there are a few things that I know I love to see in clients:
They are familiar with my style of work and have come to be because that’s the style that they want, not just because someone recommended me or they found me in a google search (those are all great ways to find me, but my point is that they did look at my photos and made their final choice based upon my work.)
They put thought and planning into their wardrobe selection, but also understand that the primary subject of the photos are the people themselves, and have chosen clothing that they are comfortable in and feel themselves in.
They value photos as priceless artifacts of their time together, and after the session, they take the time to print the photos and enjoy them. (I was so excited to hear how this family printed and enjoyed their photos from last Fall!)
They aren’t looking for perfectly posed and put together photos, but are interested in capturing real memories of their time together.
I feel so thankful to have so many amazing clients who are not only clients, but who have become friends. I love being able to see them grow each year ❤️
First of all, I want to say that any time of year is perfect for a family portrait session. The important thing is to get them done, and to do it regularly, preferably at least once a year as our littles ones grow so fast and are constantly changing. Beautiful memories can be captured any time of year. I’m now booking January photo sessions, and those can be absolutely beautiful (you just need to dress warmly!)
With that being said, lots of my clients really want that gorgeous fall color, and ask me when they should schedule family portrait sessions to get that color. I always hesitate to answer because mother nature is unpredictable and I cannot promise you we will get beautiful fall color at all. Sometimes, an early freeze or drought conditions or other things can put a damper on that beautiful autumn color.
But I can tell you, after some experience and actual forecasts, when to schedule your session to get the best chance of gorgeous color, and that is the first weekend of November (the last weekend in October is a good second choice). That’s when our fall colors peak here in Middle Tennessee. I find a lot of clients who assume it happens a lot earlier than that, and that’s probably because it does up north. Our friends in Michigan saw their autumn peak several weeks ago (and now they are getting snow!).
This beautiful family portrait session from this weekend is a bit past the peak. The sessions I did the weekend before had a lot more color, but I can’t share those with you at the clients request (some are surprise Christmas gifts, and we don’t want to ruin the surprise!) But I’m so glad that this family had such a beautiful day! We had actually rescheduled this session from earlier in October because of rain. Are they not absolutely stunning! I’ve known this gorgeous family for years, but this is the first time I’ve been able to photograph them. They were so much fun to capture and I hope they love the photos as much as I do.
The autumn leaves are going to be gone very soon, so get out and enjoy this absolutely gorgeous color while it lasts!
This was supposed to be an outdoor session but unfortunately, it started raining right before the session time. As I discuss on my FAQ page, there are several options for you if i should happen to rain for your session time. Nicole chose to move the session to her home, rather than to reschedule, which is a great option as I love capturing families in their own surroundings.
Another issue that Nicole had was that little Scarlett got a fairly significant boo boo on her chin before the session (isn’t that the way it always happens?), and Nicole was afraid it would show in the photos.
I reassured Nicole that Scarlett’s boo boo wouldn’t be too hard to remove in editing, so not to worry about it. So I thought this might be a good post to go over what I will and will not edit in family portraits.
What I will photoshop:
That random zit that popped up right before your session.
The boogers in your two year olds nose (but lets try a Kleenex first please!)
The bruise your four year old got riding her bike (or boo boo on her chin).
Generally anything “temporary” that isn’t part of what you normally look like.
That ugly trashcan in the background that I saw, but knew it was worth it to remove in editing.
The horrible bike lane stripe on my favorite path.
Minor “wardrobe malfunctions” that result from clothing not laying perfectly because I don’t operate perfectly posed portrait sessions. For example: your bra strap is showing, or maybe your shirt or dress is poofed out in a weird way.
What I won’t photoshop:
“Can you remove this logo from the shirt I chose to wear?” (I might could depending on the location, print, etc, but if you want it done more than once or twice, I’m going to need to charge extra.)
“Make me look 50 pounds smaller?” (You are beautiful, just the way you are.)
“Can you make most of the photo black and white and leave this one part in color?” (I just don’t want to.)
“Can you get the wrinkles out of my husbands dress shirt?” (Usually, no…especially if it’s a print and not a solid color.)
So my general rule to myself when it comes to editing…I want you to look like you, because you are gorgeous. But if something happened recently that isn’t a part of your normal, let me know and we can probably work on that.
One of my favorite things about my job as a family portrait photographer is getting to know families, especially when they come back for repeat sessions. I photographed this beautiful family around this time last year and just loved getting to know these three beautiful sisters, so I was so excited to see them again this year.
Last year I wrote: “They are totally my happy place. So much energy, and wonder and joy. They were just perfect.” I would say exactly the same thing about our session this year. Only one thing was different…
Last year for their session, I wrote about how important it is to tell me if one of your children is particularly shy before the session. That lets me know that I need to maybe approach that child a little differently and give her time to warm up to me.
But you know what’s great about being able to see client again and again? This time, the children remembered me, and they knew that the session wouldn’t be scary or boring. They came into it knowing we’d play and have fun. This makes it especially easier for kids who may be a little shy. Knowing me coming it to it, they feel more at ease and have an easier time getting into the session.
And I got the chance to see how much they’d grown over the year, and hear about their new interests and what brings them joy. (New Harry Potter fans are the BEST.)
So apparently I invited the “I heart Spring Hill page” to come have photos made with Satan at Spring Station Middle School. 👹
So two things:
We will be doing photos with SANTA 🎅🏻, not Satan 👹. Satan isn’t very festive. 🎄 (Click the link at the bottom of this blog post to get your tickets now..don’t wait as they are selling out fast.)
Also, I should not be allowed to type things. Pictures really are my specialty. And if pictures are worth a thousand words, then I have millions and billions so I should just quit typing.
It’s not that I can’t spell, it’s that I type quickly as things are coming into my head, and then, even if I re-read it multiple times, I SEE it like it’s correct. Have you ever seen those tricks of the mind things where they delete all the vowels from a paragraph, but somehow you can read it anyway because your mind subconsciously fills in the blanks? That’s what I do when I try to edit my own work…I don’t even see the error. I mean, you guys, OF COURSE I meant Santa.
I’d like to say that was the first time I royally goofed in type, but sadly, it’s not.
So I actually have a copy editor. She’s really good at it and bonus…she’s free. Unfortunately, she’s also 12 and at school all day. I could wait, and I know I should, but I get so excited to show these beautiful families their photos, and I know that they are usually on pins and needles waiting to see them, that I just can’t make myself wait.
So instead, I ask for your grace and hope that you’ll love me for my photos and not judge me for my typos. And a big shout out to all my amazing people who are kind enough to point it out to me when I invite an entire town to photos with Satan, or who help point out less interesting errors.
With that, check out these photos from a session that I so look forward to each year. Lucky Ladd Farms is one of my favorite places and the Ladd’s are one of my favorite families to photograph. (Check out their website to see lots of pictures of my baby girl, who has been in love with their farm since she was teeny tiny.)
I’ve photographed the birth of both of these beautiful babies, and documenting their growth through photographs is truly one of the greatest joys of my job. This is my favorite session so far, probably because this age is my absolute favorite. For both of them, the world is still so new and interesting and every tiny thing is a wonderful discovery. I will never ever get tired of photographing toddlers.
Every now and then, there is a photo that stops me in my tracks as I am editing, and the one below of sweet Charlotte running towards her family did that for me in this set. Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as that overwhelming and enthusiastic love a toddler has for her parents?
I recently received a really random text from an acquaintance. She said she new it was an odd question, but wanted to know if there was any chance that I had any sparklers…well past July when they were available at stores and fireworks stands. She needed them for a birthday party she was helping to plan.
I told her that of course I had sparklers. I keep them in my trunk. How many do you need?!?
The sparklers had recently come in handy another time too…I was at the birthday party of one of my closest friends four year old, and they had forgotten candles for the cake. I ran to my trunk and brought her sparklers and we lit those as we sang “Happy Birthday” to the guest of honor. In some ways, it was more fun than candles and maybe that will be a thing from now on.
The sparklers led me to think about the other random things I carry in my trunk, so I thought I would list them for you in case you were curious. So here it is – a list of things actually in my trunk this very moment.
Sparklers
6 quilts in various colors
A bubble machine
Bubble Juice
An extra camera bag with camera (not my main camera…I carry that inside)
A lightstand
Some bottles of water
A lighter
Some smoke bombs
Three clear umbrellas
Sophie the Giraffe
Yummy Earth Suckers
Organic Bug Spray
For Real Bug Spray
A Tide Stain Remover Pen
Wet Ones Wipes
Rain Ponchos
Sun Screen
Sometimes, I don’t use anything in my trunk, but I like knowing it’s there if I do need it. For this session, I pulled out the umbrella, though we didn’t need it thankfully as the rain stopped just before we started, and lots and lots of bug spray. I also stuck a poncho in my bag just in case I had to protect my camera from the rain. And of course, the suckers came out after the session.
What about you? What do you have in your trunk? Is there anything in mine that you are surprised about? Anything you think I’m missing?
I feel like I was super lucky at yesterday’s marathon sessions. I had three sessions scheduled with a 15 minute break between each session. Between my first and second session, it rained fairly hard. But then stopped in time for my second session. It caused some humidity and so vengeful mosquitoes, but we made it through. I warned this family ahead of time that I was going to struggle with their names. These girls are Kaylie and Morgan. My own girls are Megan and Kayla. The similarities helped me to remember their names, but I did, as I knew I would keep mixing them up because Megan is my oldest, but for these two sisters, Morgan is the younger sister.
I finally managed to retrain my brain by the end of the session, and I hope they forgave me. What a fun family to work with! I so enjoyed getting to know these girls and their parents. They were so fun to work with and naturals in front of the camera. We had a fantastic time. Before a session, I have a survey that asks clients what their most important shots are. That helps me to balance the priorities of the session, but I always have in my head a list of shots I want to be able to include in a clients gallery. These girls made it easy to capture those shots.
A family shot with everyone looking at the camera. (Not my favorite, but I feel like I need to include it.)
A candid family shot, that shows emotion. (My favorite)
Individual close-ups of each of your children.
Full body & candids of each of your children.
A more posed sibling shot, if possible. (May be difficult if they are super young.)
Mom & Dad together. (It’s important to capture where the family began.)
Details (feet, hair, lovey, hands, etc)
Mom with the kids
Dad with the kids
Fun, create shots of everyone having fun.
Did I miss anything? What would be on your shot list?
Lisa said something in her questionnaire when she booked me that really struck a cord with me.
“I have almost no pictures of myself with my children that aren’t selfies since I am always the one behind the camera. That’s usually how it works though, right?”
Yes, that is how it usually works, and it sucks. I’m so glad that we were able to get Lisa on the other side of the camera with her beautiful family. It’s hard, and as moms we have SOOOO many reasons why we don’t have enough photos of ourselves, but it is so important to our children that we get in the pictures too. In the years to come, the photos we give to our children are such a gift, but they don’t just want to see photos of themselves…they want to see mom (and dad!) in the pictures too.
I just love taking photos of mothers with their babies, and this session was no exception. This group was such a joy to capture and made my job so easy.
And can we just talk about the clothing choices for a minute? I love the color tones so much. The burgundy and the blues against the backdrop of the green trees was just perfection.
So moms, what’s keeping you from getting in front of the camera?
I wish that I could say that this was a lovely, easy experience, but that would be a lie.
Last weekend, I was quite surprised when my husband suggested that we do a family photo session of our own. It seems like every year I forget to Schedule time for our photos and end up scrambling to get them done. But he is usually the last one who wants his picture talken, so I was pleasantly surprised when he reminded me. So I set off to find outfits for everyone that two tweenage girls wouldn’t whine about.
I was lucky and found things that everyone was happy with, except my husband who complained that it was still too hot for long sleeves. Oh well … you can’t please everyone.
So I was all set, and then it rained.
And rained.
And rained some more.
And finally, yesterday, the sun came out. So we all got dressed and drove out to the new park that I had never been to but wanted the check out. And as soon as we got there, my oldest started complaining that her head hurt. Because I knew that meant she’d never cooperate, we went home. Of course as soon as we got home, she felt better.
But that is how it goes. So no problem, because guess what??? There are TWO magic hours inthe day! So we got up bright and early this morning and headed out.
The bad part was that it was super wet from the dew and the kids didnt want to walk too far in it to explore the farm. And I got soaked from kneeling in it. And we got there later than I I wanted and the sun was brighter than I would have liked causing horid grass colors.
But the dew in the grass and all the spider webs were absolutely stunning. And it wasn’t hot at all. We also finished in time to go to a pancake breakfast for a friend’s gymnastics team, so score!
I saw that phrase written in a meme recently and it spoke to me. I love a good dance in the kitchen. My husband…not so much, but he humors me. To me, it’s one of those things that reminds us to savor the mundane…those little moments at home that don’t seem very grand. Aren’t those really are the ones that matter, and that we cherish for years to come? At a lifestyle portrait session, those are the moments I want to capture.
The days are long but the years are short.
Things change so quickly as we are raising little ones, and before you know it, some things that seemed so much a part of your daily life that you didn’t even notice them, are suddenly gone. At my house, there is not a playroom anymore. There is no swing set in the back yard. My children bathe themselves and read to themselves at bedtime. I don’t remember the exact time when many of these changed, but gradually, they did change. I look back to photos of when they were smaller and am so thankful that I have those mementos of days gone by.
Seeing the possibilities.
That is one thing I love about doing these home sessions for families. I look at these photos and imagine all the possibilities they hold in bringing back the past, years from now.
10 years from now, will Renae’s family look at these photos and think about how that was the first year Coen played the violin, which he later grew to master and love? Or will they remember it as that time Coen tried the violin before he found what he really loved?
Maybe Coen and Peri will look at these photos and fondly remember the photo of mom and dad’s wedding day that was hanging over their bed for years. Will they giggle about when Peri was obsessed with Fancy Nancy and the giant caterpillar and Coen (and Mommy) was obsessed with Harry Potter?
Will Peri look around the kitchen and smile at the “Happy Fall” chalk sign? Or remember the kitchen table that the family shared so many meals on before it was traded in for something new?
These are the things that can’t be captured at a park.
The home session advantage.
One advantage to home lifestyle portrait sessions is that we don’t have to worry about weather or sunlight. My outdoor lifestyle sessions are all booked up for October & November, but I have been able to add some at-home session dates to the November calendar for weekdays where the early sunset doesn’t allow for outdoor sessions. You can book one of these spots now on my calendar. These sessions would be a perfect time to decorate the Christmas tree, make some Gingerbread Houses, and just create beautiful memories of your family together capture forever by the camera.
So what do you think? Would you be up for an at home lifestyle portrait session?
When Jessica contacted me about doing this family portrait session, she told me that she was going through a divorce, and wanted a way to document a new beginning for she and her daughter, Kaila. She wanted the photos to show a strong, united pair.
I think that documenting new beginnings is a perfect reason to schedule a portrait session. I thought Jessica’s words in her survey to me were beautiful.
She said ” I want to show Kaila that we are still a family even though we’re divided now and that we will be stronger and better from everything. I want her to see how much love there is for her and how much fun we can have together.”
I love it when clients really put their thoughts and feelings in my client survey. It really helps me to have an emotional connection with them, and to understand truly what the photos mean to them. I can’t even explain why this matters. The closest I’ve come to verbalizing why it matters to me is the quote by David Alan Harvey that says “Don’t shoot what it looks like. Shoot what it feels like.”
Maybe it’s all in my imagination, but I somehow think I do a better job with the photos when I feel that connection to the clients story.
I know it felt super easy to capture a strong, united pair when I was photographing Jessica and Kaila. Photographing mothers with their babies (no matter how old!) is always one of my favorite things and I just loved watching these two interact with each other. It’s so obvious just by the look in Jessica’s eyes that there is so, so much love for this beautiful little girl.
I first fell in love with photography when my youngest was a baby. That’s when I got my first DSLR. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to capture those precious moments with my girls when they were so little.
With my oldest, we had routinely taken her to Sears portrait studio, because that’s what I thought you were supposed to do….I didn’t know any better. Every few months, I would take her there, and they would prop her up on a table with some cheesy backdrops, maybe throw her in a fake bathtub, or lay her buck naked on a mirror with some fake flowers around her and take her picture. The photos were beautiful, because they were of my beautiful baby girl, but something was lacking.
Then, once she passed that baby stage and became a toddler, it just no longer worked at all. They would expect her to stand on an “X” on the ground and look them and say cheese. Well, I just haven’t met many toddlers who will do that.
Then when my youngest was born, a friend from work recommended a “real” photographer named Lauren Gill. I just loved the photos my friend had, so I hired her. The cost was quite a bit more than the Sears portrait studio, but as soon as I saw the results, I fell in love. The photos captured so much more than those fake posed photos we had gotten before. She captured all those little things about the girls that I wanted to remember…Kayla’s adorable giggles, or the way Megan did (and still does) twirl her hair…all those funny little expressions or gestures that you want to remember always.
I wanted to learn to do that too. So I bought a camera and slowly learned as much as I could. I took photos everywhere…at playdates, birthday parties, and every day moments at home. Those early photos are SOOOO bad, but I am so thankful for them, as they are moments in time frozen.
That was about 10 years ago, but that’s the time that I feel taken back too each time a photograph a family with a baby. I want so badly to create something special for those parents, because I know that it all goes by so quickly. I want to capture those silly expressions, that fascination with the world around them, and the pure joy at just being.
This sweet girl made that job so easy and I absolutely fell in love with her (and her sweet parents) during our shoot. How blessed am I to have a job where I can do what I love while meeting wonderful new people.
I’m so in love with the beautiful wardrobe choices that my friend Emily made for her family’s summer portrait session. I admittedly don’t feel like the best person to be giving advice about wardrobe choices, as fashion has never been a topic I have felt particularly comfortable with, but I absolutely know what I like for a session when I see it, and this is it.
I’m drawn to colorful photographs and prefer rich, deep colors & jewel tones. I don’t mind a good neutral color scheme either, but its colorful choices like the ones below that I really love.
Lucy’s dress is definitely the focal point, and when choosing clothing for a family photo session, that’s a great way to start…pick one person’s outfit (doesn’t really matter who) to be the focal point and then build the rest of the choices around that one piece. I’m obsessed with this deep mustard like yellow color, as I think it looks beautiful in most outdoor photos (deep purple is also a fantastic choice). But I do warn clients to be careful with yellow, because if it’s too neon, it can create a color cast on the person’s face which is really hard to correct in post processing. But Lucy’s dress is just right.
And I love how Maggie is wearing a bit more neutral of a top to balance out the bold print of Lucy’s dress, but ties in the floral pattern in her shorts. And mom’s orange pants are the perfect pop of color and look beautiful with the mustard. It all comes together looking beautifully coordinated, but not to matchy matchy.
What do you think? What are your favorite colors for photographs?
I’m really struggling with how to start off this post, so I’m going to jump right into it.
This is my beautiful friend Chelsea and her daughter Molly. Chelsea is one of the most kind hearted and loving people I’ve ever met and would literally give the shirt off of her back to anyone who needs it. And my heart is hurting for her.
I’ve been photographing Chelsea & Molly for several years now. Last year, she wanted to include her parents and her brother Chris in their session. Chelsea’s brother, Chris, had recently gotten out of jail. He had struggled with addiction for years, but at the time, was clean and doing very well and the family was full of hope for his future. We met at Harlinsdale Farms and it was a gorgeous evening full of laughter and love, and of course photographs.
On Saturday, I photographed this session for Chelsea & Molly. They are one of my favorite families to photograph always, as the love and connection between these two is truly something special to capture.
On Sunday, Chelsea’s brother Chris lost his long battle with addiction.
Chelsea and her parents received the heartbreaking phone call that he had been found unresponsive at home and it was later confirmed that he died of an accidental overdose.
They loved him so and his loss is is heartbreaking for their family.
I sat with Chelsea last night and listened to her talk about her brother & how much she loved him. It has been years of heartbreak for her family, but she wants to focus on all of the good memories she has of him. I didn’t really know Chris at all, but I do know that he looked at his sister and his niece with such admiration and love.
As they mourn the loss of his precious life, Chelsea and her family hope that Chris’s story may help someone else to seek the help they need to overcome addiction. And to seek help again, and again and again, until they beat it, if that’s what is necessary. When lost in addiction, a person might believe that their life doesn’t matter. But I promise you, it matters. Addiction impacts so many people and has reached epidemic proportions. Below are the beautiful faces of people who have been heartbroken by this disease.
Chelsea & her family are asking that anyone who would like to honor Chris’s memory do so by making a donation to the Dismas House of Nashville. The Dismas house believes that second chances saves lives, and their mission is to provide a safe haven for offenders transferring out of prison to aid them in beginning a new life.
Sometimes, clients already have an idea of the type of location they would like to use for their family portraits, and other times they come to me for suggestions. Sometimes, my suggestions sound a little crazy and not like a “normal” place that you would want to have photos made.
You have to use your imagination.
Lucky for me, if you are a client who is also my friend, then you trust me when I say “meet me by the U-Haul place off the side of the street. That’s exactly what Erin did without blinking, and I love her for it.
I happened to notice the spot when I was scouting for light before our session, and it just called out to me. I snapped the first two photos below with my cell phone, just so I could show you how ridiculous it probably looked as a location option. It’s really kind of a dirty, uninteresting stretch of road with a broken down old building, a billboard facing the interstate, and a parking lot full of U-haul trucks.
But on this particular day, the light, the clouds, the wildflowers, a little fence and the way the weeds were growing caught my eye. Now, if I go back in a few weeks, I might find the place completely uninspiring, but for Saturday, it worked. So I wanted to show it to you as an example of how it might look to you, versus how it looks through my camera.
For when scouting out locations for a portrait session, the most important factor is the light, and then a healthy dose of imagination to see what it might look like through the lens of the camera.
What an absolutely gorgeous day it was for this family portrait session at Harlinsdale Farms in Franklin. We had the best time exploring the farm and goofing off. These boys were just too much fun and I just adore all their expressions and interactions.
Summer is almost over and I’m booking Fall sessions now! These will fill up fast, so don’t wait to book your spot!
Please note that there are currently two different options for choosing a date on my calendar. One is for August sessions and for Fall weekday session where you may choose the location for your session.
The other choice is my Fall weekend session calendar. In order to get in as many clients as I can for the busy season, I will be choosing the session locations for these dates so that I may book clients back to back at the same location. On the calendar, you will see the tentative locations for these dates. However, it is possible these may change depending on how the locations look once Fall comes.
“Life is amazing. And then it’s awful. And then it’s amazing again. And in between the amazing and awful it’s ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That’s just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.” – L.R.Knost
My new photo project:
I did a personal project about three years ago that I called “This is Motherhood” In that project, I asked mothers to allow me to take a simple portrait of them, and then I asked them to tell me about motherhood. I gave them a few prompts or thought starters, but mainly was just looking for some insight or experience they had with motherhood that might mean something to other mothers. I was blown away with what women were willing to share with me. Their stories ranged from funny to heartbreaking, and all of them were honest and inspiring.
For some months now, I’ve felt the desire to do another photo project, but I couldn’t get my mind around what exactly it would be.
I knew that like the first project, I wanted it to be about strong, beautiful women (though not necessarily just mothers.) In my line of work, I see a lot about how women are down on themselves, never feeling “enough”. I have a desire to somehow show them through my lens, that they are enough. Just the way they are.
I also knew I wanted it to be different from the first project in that I didn’t want it to be just a single portrait, but a more of a story telling photo essay for each woman. I wanted it to be set in her own environment doing her own thing. I wanted to show women doing hard things, amazing things, but also ordinary things. I wanted to photograph women living life. Embracing it even.
But I wanted some kind of quote or theme to tie them altogether and I’ve struggled with finding what that would be. For a while, I had settled on “She believed she could, so she did.” I liked that it implies some action…as I wanted to include some activity in the stories, and not just some portrait. But something was bothering me about that quote, and I finally figured out what it was….lots of times, she doesn’t believe that she could. But she does anyway. Because she has to. Many times, women don’t know their own strength. I want my project to show them their strength through the photos, so that quote just didn’t feel right.
Then, as I was browsing the internet, I came across the quote above, and it just felt like exactly what I was looking for. I want to photograph women doing heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful and ordinary things. I believe there is beauty in every moment…the hard, the wonderful and also the mundane. I want to photograph that beauty.
Breathtakingly Beautiful with BrandiLee
Ok so I didn’t take these photos for my project, but taking them helped me to decide on exactly what it was I wanted my project to be.
I first met BrandiLee last October, when I photographed a family portrait session for them. Last week, a friend of Brandi’s contacted me. She told me that Brandi had been selected by The Mom’s We Love Club as their featured mom for August. The Moms We Love Club is an Instagram account dedicated to loving on struggling moms through spreading awareness, prayer and fundraising. For the feature, they needed lifestyle images of BrandiLee at home. I was happy to have the honor of shooting for such a great cause, so we picked a time and I showed up to photograph real life. Brandilee will be featured at The Moms We Love club starting August 9, so please follow the page, and share the posts when you see them.
As far as strong women go, I’m not sure I know any stronger than BrandiLee, though I’m positive she didn’t plan for life to be that way and that she often feels that she is not strong enough to deal with what life has dealt her. I cannot even begin to do her story justice, but please, please go read about this precious family on their GoFundme page, and if you are lead, consider making a donation.
The quote struck me so when I read it, because honestly, editing these photos took my breath away.
What struck me the most was the joy.
And first let me say that I know it’s not all joy. I don’t want to minimize in any way the horrible heartbreak this family deals with on a daily basis. I cannot even imagine. I know there must be anger, and tears and so much pain.
But also, there were giggles, and hugs and helping mama make tortilla sandwiches, and licking the butter off the knife. And funny snap chat videos, and being excited when Daddy gets home. And asking for more watermelon. And snuggling with brother on the couch. And bedtime kisses.
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” – Babe Ruth
I am just so excited about this photo session. It helps that they are of some of my favorite people.
I’ve talked about Beth before in my blog, but for those of you who don’t know, she’s one of my oldest and dearest friends. We met way back in 1995 during our very first week of college and have been friends since. I’ve been photographing these boys since birth (though admittedly pretty poorly at first). Beth has always been there for me when I really needed someone, and particularly early this summer when our family was having a rough time, so I really, really wanted these photos to be special for her.
Baseball is to her family like hockey is to mine, so she had the idea to have the session at ballpark and I thought that was an absolutely perfect idea. I’m not a fan of props, but I love incorporating things, places, or activities that mean something to the family in photographs. I also love any kind of activity that kids can do to feel like they aren’t at a photo session…or really the whole family can do that becomes a lovely memory that I happened to photograph, rather than some big chore of a photo shoot.
And this was absolutely perfect. The boys did a fantastic job. I love how adorable Lincoln is in these, and Cole looks like a serious badass. And the whole family had a great time playing and having fun in a place that is like their second home. This is what speaks to me as a photographer, and I hope it comes through in the photos.
