I hope everyone survived the early mornings and the crazy Spring Hill traffic. As an outdoor family photographer in Middle Tennessee, summers are definitely my slow period because it’s so hot outside. I enjoyed the break, but now it’s time to get back to work and prepare for the busy fall season.
I’m so glad it wasn’t unbearably hot for this beautiful family session at Marcella Vivrette Smith Park. It was actually a pretty nice evening for early August. I loved hanging out with this lovely family. Extended family sessions are tough for busy families to organize, but so worth it.
As we transition from summer to fall, I am excited to announce that I am now booking dates for fall family sessions. Fall is one of the most beautiful times of the year for family photos, with vibrant foliage and comfortable weather providing the perfect setting. However, due to personal obligations, my availability is limited, and spots are filling up quickly.
If you’re considering booking a fall session, I encourage you to secure your spot as soon as possible. Whether it’s for holiday cards, updating your family portraits, or simply capturing the beautiful moments with your loved ones, a fall session is a perfect way to preserve those memories.
Book Your Session
To book your fall family session, visit my website at www.crystalfreemonphotography.com. I look forward to capturing more precious moments and helping you create lasting memories with your family.
Don’t wait too long—spots are limited, and they’re going fast! Let’s make this fall a season to remember.
I recently had the pleasure of photographing a senior session for the son of an old friend from college. It was great to catch up and create these special memories. Since he attends Franklin High School, downtown Franklin, his stomping grounds, was the perfect backdrop for his senior photos. Summer is an ideal time for senior sessions, offering a relaxed setting before the whirlwind of senior year begins.
Are you looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you considered following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
I recently had the pleasure of photographing a senior guy session at Pinkerton Park, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. This location was a fantastic choice for senior photos. For me, the most important elements of a photo session location are good lighting and variety, and this location has both. Plus, it’s great to have some updated examples of this location for future clients to reference.
I think what a photographer sees when considering a portrait session location is different from what other people see, so I thought I would outline what I like about this location and the kind of things I’m looking for in great portrait spots.
Simple Greenery with Sun Coming Through The Trees
Lighting is one of my favorite elements in a session location, and I’m always looking for places where the sun is shining through the trees. There are several of these spots at Pinkerton. The first is just the entrance to a trail. It’s simple and probably nothing you would think of as particularly interesting, but I love the way the light comes through at this time of day. A little ways up the trail is another area with tall weeds that are fun to shoot through, creating texture and variety, again with lovely light coming through the trees. This area is pretty shaded, which is important for the early part of a session while the sun is still higher in the sky. We don’t want harsh lighting for the portraits, so I look for shaded areas in the beginning.
Graffiti Overpass by the Creek
One of my favorite spots at Pinkerton Park is the area near the creek, where the overpass is covered in vibrant graffiti. This setting is particularly fun for senior sessions, adding a touch of grunge to the photos. Standing just at the edge of the overpass gives some really nice lighting. Inside the underpass, the lighting is more challenging, but it’s worth it to capture some of the graffiti and the structure itself. Again, this is not a place you’d consider beautiful by any means. And I will also admit that I have to edit out some less-than-desirable graffiti. Down by the creek, the lighting is better and there is more fun graffiti. I also like the texture the rocks add in that spot.
Natural Beauty in the Trees
For these first photos, I just had my senior sit on a stool off the path because I liked the lighting. These are super simple with just greenery for the backdrop, but it makes the senior the focus, which is really what I like. There is another shaded area at the back of the park with some nice trees, and an area where the light coming through the trees makes a kind of arch for a little bit of natural framing.
Perfect Lighting on the Bridge
The bridge at Pinkerton Park is another fantastic spot, especially as the sun begins to set. I like to end sessions on the bridge as the sun is going down. Earlier, the lighting would have been too harsh here, but by the end of the session, it’s perfect. I also like to get shots on the ground with the bridge in the background, as well as a few fun shots shooting down at my subject while I’m up on the bridge.
Final Thoughts
Pinkerton Park proved to be an excellent choice for this senior guy session, offering a perfect blend of natural beauty with some fun structures. From the graffiti-covered overpass to the sunlit trees and beautiful bridge, each setting provided a unique backdrop that highlighted different aspects of the senior’s personality. I’m thrilled with how the photos turned out and excited to share them with him and his family.
If you’re looking for a versatile location for your senior photos, Pinkerton Park is definitely worth considering. I hope you enjoy these highlights from our session as much as I enjoyed capturing them!
I usually photograph families at magic hour – the hour before sunset. But that time doesn’t always work for my littlest clients, especially in the summertime when the sun sets pretty late. While the best lighting is certainly desirable, the most important thing is for children to be happy and not overly tired. So in those cases, I’m happy to shoot a daytime session.
The one requirement is that the location needs to have plenty of shade because harsh mid-day light isn’t flattering for portraits. (Also, in July in Tennessee it’s unbearable.)
I had never taken pictures at Bowie Nature Preserve in Fairview before, but my husband and our puppy have been hiking there recently. It occurred to me that it would be good for daytime sessions because of all the wooded areas. I am so happy that this lovely family agreed to give it a try with me, because I really like this location. There were even a set of swings nearby for the end of the session. It turns out, that was the first time these siblings had really been in a swing before. (Big brother had tried before but hadn’t been that into it, but at our session he had a great time.) I loved that we captured this sweet little mini milestone in photographs.
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you considered following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
This family portrait session at Sarah Benson Park turned out so great that it makes me want to schedule more morning sessions. I schedule most of my portrait sessions for magic hour. The hour before sunset is my favorite light for photographing portraits. But sometimes those magic hour sessions are too late for little ones, especially in the summer. While I do love evening light, the MOST important thing is that my little clients are happy.
For clients who can’t manage a magic hour photo session, I am happy to schedule a morning session. The only caveat about booking during the day is that we need a location where there is plenty of shade. Harsh sunlight is not great for photos, so location is particularly important for daytime sessions. Sarah Benson Park (formerly known as Thompson Station Park) is a great spot.
It’s kind of funny because Sarah Benson Park is not one of my favorite spots for evening sessions. There is just one reason. It’s the sunset – the sun sets right behind the recycling station. As someone who likes to shoot into the sun, the recycling station is not my idea of a great backdrop. But in the mornings, the sun is coming through the trees on the other side of the park. That’s why it’s a great spot for morning photos.
I’m so glad it worked out well. Little Easton is the absolute cutest, and it was a great day hanging with this new family of three.
Looking for a photographer in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee? I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
I don’t ever remember photographing a summer family portrait session in such pleasant weather as this one. I was in shock that it wasn’t suffocatingly hot. It was especially nice because I felt like I had botched the first scheduled date for this photo session by rescheduling it prematurely. The forecast was calling for rain for most of the day on our originally scheduled date. I texted the client to decide what to do. We discussed whether we should wait and see or just go ahead and reschedule. I suggested we reschedule because every time I take the “wait and see” approach, we end up having to reschedule anyway. But of course, this time it ended up being clear and sunny that evening after we had already rescheduled. So I felt vindicated when the weather was so perfect on our make-up date.
Everyone knows that 2-3-year-olds are my favorite age of kids to photograph at family portrait sessions. One thing that makes this age group even more fun to photograph is when they are still getting to know a new brother or sister. It’s so much fun watching that new relationship and capturing the changes happening in the family.
When I am prepping for a family portrait session, I often think about my own family, and what it was like when my girls were the ages of my little clients. For this session, I thought back to how my oldest reacted when we brought home her little sister. We weren’t sure how she would react, but he was so enamored with this new human. If I put Kayla in her crib and walked to another room, Megan would say, “Mommy…you forgot your baby!” She was very protective. I remember the sweet way her little than would pat Kayla when she cried.
These were the things I was thinking about when I met this beautiful family. Hopefully, I was able to capture some of those special memories for them.
Contact me today if you’d like to book a session to capture your families precious memories.
I am a photographer serving families in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee. I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
🎓 When this Franklin High School senior contacted me about booking her Senior Portraits, she asked if we could do them at the Natchez Trace Parkway Bridge. I had never taken photos at Natchez Trace before, and I’m not sure why because it was a fantastic idea, and a perfect fit for Lauren.
The one thing I wasn’t sure about with shooting at the Bridge, was if it would offer enough variety for a full session. That wasn’t a problem because there were lots of different natural features like tall grass, honeysuckle bushes (one of my favorite scents!), and trees to offer variety in addition to the bridge itself. Also, Lauren was adventurous enough to walk through the weeds with me to get to the base of the bridge itself for some fun shots.
Lauren actually graduated from Franklin High on Friday and then we took these senior photos on Sunday. Seniors book their photo sessions with me at all times throughout their last year of high school. But I thought it was especially fun to get photos on graduation weekend. It felt like I was a part of the celebration. I so enjoyed getting to know Lauren. She is such a fun, adventurous young woman, and I hope I’ve captured her beautiful spirit in these photos.
Best of luck to Lauren, Hadley and all of the class of 2021 as they are of to new adventures!
I am a photographer serving families in Spring Hill, Franklin, and Columbia in Middle Tennessee. I photograph families at all stages, from newborns to seniors. See my website for more information or to book a session from my online calendar. I would love it if you would consider following me on Facebook and/or Instagram.
We ALWAYS go to the Williamson County Fair on my birthday (or at least within a day or two). I love taking photos of all the beautiful lights and the atmosphere. It’s been a special tradition since Megan was a baby. Last year I still made them go through the little farming exhibit for photos.
As you can imagine, there is no county fair this year. I miss it but also decided that the absolute BEST thing about our trips to the fair is that no one complains. They let me take all the photos I want because it’s my birthday.
I often say that my toughest family portrait session all year is when I take family photos of my own family.
I think the best thing we can do to get through all of this crazy year is to modify traditions and make the best of what we can. For example, my family has chosen not to eat inside restaurants. But last weekend, my husband and I went on a date where we picked up food from Costa Vida and took it to a picnic shelter at Evans park to have a quiet meal together. Honestly, it was better than eating in a crowded restaurant.
So even though the fair was canceled, I didn’t let that opportunity pass me by to take advantage of my birthday to get family photos I wanted. They cooperated better than they usually do and I’m pleased with the results.
What kind of traditions have you altered for 2020?
Now that I’ve managed to get some family photos of my own family, I’m ready to book Fall family portrait sessions for everyone else!
You can book a session directly from my online booking calendar or contact me if you have any questions. Don’t wait to book because I can only fit in so many portrait sessions in the Fall. I always hate turning people away.
“Does she realize she looks like a sunflower, ready to rain sunlight on all who look down upon her?”
Simone Elkeles
Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet one-year-old Ada and her family. I was a gorgeous day for a summer family portrait session, and the heat was totally reasonable. Kayla decided to have the photo session at their Spring Hill home, and I’m so glad she did. They have a beautiful backyard that was just right for a family portrait session. And it allowed the family’s sweet pets to get in on the action.
Summer is almost over and now is the time to book your Fall family portrait session. I have recently added fall dates to my calendar. Unlike last year, I’m going to spread the sessions out more and let clients decide on a location (though I will happily help you choose a good fit for your family). You can see open dates and book one now on my online booking calendar. Don’t wait to book yours. These session will sell out.
“Then followed that beautiful season… Summer…. Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape. Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I had so much fun at this family portrait session in Spring Hill last night. There is something about summer photos that I find magical, despite the heat. I think the quote from Longfellow above sums up why….I love the magical light and the wonder of childhood that you don’t get in the other seasons.
Memories are being made in this backyard. Summer fun with cousins splashing in the pool, jumping on the trampoline, and creating art with chalk…is there anything better? I love being able to photograph families in locations that are special to them, and this home is certainly special and full of love.
It’s been five years since I first photographed this beautiful family as they gathered together for summer fun. I last photographed them around this time three years ago. It was so great to see them again and see how much the kids had grown.
Just like at their very first family session, we started out with more formal portraits, but then let the kids play in the back yard as I shot fun lifestyle pictures. Then they got to change to have fun in the pool. I even brought my GoPro along for a few underwater shots.
My birthday was so lovely, and my friends and family are amazing. I took lots of photos at the fair, and saw so many amazing people there. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to say happy birthday. As always, I celebrated at the Williamson County Fair. I love the Fair and enjoy it every year, including this year.
Things that Aren’t Supposed to Change:
We had a good thing going year after year. I took my tiny, adorable children to the Williamson County Fair. They put on their little aprons and walked through the Little Farmer’s exhibit and got a photo of them picking a fake apple off of a fake apple tree.
Then we pet the real animals, look at the baby pigs, & head out to the midway to ride little kid rides, like the caterpillar and the bumble bee.
After that, since their daddy is a chicken, just us three girls would take a ride on the Ferris Wheel together. Then we’d get a funnel cake and go home.
Preferably the sky would be beautiful and the light would be coming through into the animal barn in just the right way. But I’ve come to terms with the fact that I can’t control light, or the sky. So that’s fine. #thingsicantcontrol
Things that changed at the Williamson county fair 2019:
First of all, who chopped down my tiny cardboard apple trees? Full disclosure…maybe my 13 and 11 year old daughters were not upset to have one less pretend farming exhibit to walk through. But I’m not ready to give up on the apple tree photo yet. I guess I should be thankful that the exhibit has remained so consistent for so many years, but the apple tree was my favorite because they caught the interest of one-year old toddler Megan and was one of my first lovely memories of the fair. Now it’s gone.
And let’s talk about that ugly double Ferris Wheel. All week long, people were messaging me and asking “Have you seen the Ferris Wheel?…. I don’t think you’re gonna like it.” Hats off to my people for looking out for me.
I’m trying to accept it. There are probably lots of people who disagree with me and think it’s cool. Honestly, it’s probably more efficient. Usually, I’d be all about something being more efficient. But not this time. At the fair, I’m all about the nostalgia. I want it to be the same, big, round, classic Ferris Wheel that it’s always been. Not this new fandangled thing. (Yes, I do sound twice my age.)
Side note: Open up your emoticons. Do you see a double ferris wheel?? I think not. 🎡
I was *almost* ready to forgive the Ferris Wheel for being different, when we got in line to ride it. Then I realized that the stupid thing only holds two people. What?????? But, the three of us ride together every single year. #fail
The one benefit to not being able to ride with them was I was able to get photos from a different angle. So there is the bright side. ☀️
Change can be good.
Admittedly, I might be a control freak. I want the fair to stay the way it’s always been, and for my kids to stay little. I’m trying to come to terms that I have no control over either of those things.
You’d think after 13 years she’d be better at it.
Exhibits change. Apparently, Ferris Wheels get weird and have smaller seats. Kids get older and want to hang out with friends at the fair. They stop fitting into the tiny farm aprons and lose interest in milking a fake cow. I am so very thankful they love me enough to wear the apron and milk the cow anyway just for me. Maybe in a year or two they will want to bring dates to the fair. These things are inevitable.
Then she got to be a little piggy.
But that’s OK, because the new can be good too. It’s exciting to see the young women my girls are growing into. It’s fun to watch them have fun with their friends, and explore the things they are interested in. It’s fun to make new traditions.
I’m learning to accept all these things.
But I’m still not sure about that Ferris Wheel. 🤨🎡
If you haven’t been to the Williamson County Fair this year, there is still a little time left. Check here for the hours for this weekend! Really, despite all my teasing, they do a fantastic job of organizing such a huge event. I 💙🎡
A few years ago, my friend Stephanie from college hired me to do a portrait session for her oldest daughter Logan as she was about to start middle school. She wanted the session to focus on Logan as she made the transition from elementary to middle school, and I thought it was a great idea. We do milestones sessions all the time for babies, and then again when kids are seniors in high school, but those middle years often get left out. We need to document the lives of our tweens and younger teens too. I’d love to see more clients interested in photographing tweens
This year, Stephanie contacted me again, and this time it was a big year for both of her daughters. Logan is about to start high school, and her little sister Molly is about to start middle school. So she wanted a session for both of them to document this transitional time period in their lives, and I was super excited to get to hang out with both of them. They are really fantastic young women and we had the best time. They are both gorgeous and were so easy to photograph.
I couldn’t get over what fantastic weather we had for this late July session. I was a bit worried it would be insanely hot, like it typically is this time of year, but we got so lucky with a beautiful mild evening. Preservation park has definitely become one of my favorite places to photograph sessions. My only complaint is that it’s quite a bit of walking (and up a giant hill) to get to the spots I really like to shoot at.
Since we do’t often think of doing a special photo session for younger teens or tweens, so I wanted to outline a couple reasons why you might want to consider one.
Reasons for photographing tweens & Teens
They are changing so fast. We typically book lots of photo sessions for our babies and toddlers because “they are changing so fast” and we want to document all those seasons and changes. Well, that’s happening now too. It seems like you look a way for a moment, and when you look back, your baby is gone and somehow a young woman is standing in her place. #dontblink
Even if they don’t admit it, they enjoy the extra attention. I don’t actually know this for sure and it’s probably not true for every kid, but I think most of them welcome the opportunity to be made a fuss over just a little bit. Especially when they figure out that my sessions are pretty laid back and casual and we are just gonna hang out and chat.
They are really becoming amazing, unique human beings and a session is a chance to get to know them better. We joke a lot about how tough it is to parent teens, and believe me, it is. But also, it’s so freaking cool to be able to have these real, meaningful conversations with these amazing people that you MADE. A photo session is an opportunity to stand back, take a deep breath, and appreciate your beautiful creation.
Maybe the photos will help them to see what amazing humans they are, if they don’t already know it. As tough as it is to parent a teen, it’s probably even tougher to be one. Maybe the photos will help them see how beautifully made they are, if they don’t know it already.
Before you know it, it will be time for that Senior Portrait session. As my friend Michelle always says, “the days are long but the years are short.” Before you know it, this season will be over, and you’ll wish you had documented it.
So there you have it…5 reasons to either pick up the camera and get photos of your “big kids”, or hire a professional for either a family portrait session or a session of just your older kids. Did I miss any?
I’m going to start this off by saying I can’t believe I’ve never been to Point Mallard Water Park before. I had some friends go last summer, but I couldn’t make it. After going there, I don’t understand why it hasn’t been a place that we go several times each summer. I’ve heard a few people talking about it, but in general, it feels like one of the best-kept secrets for a day trip from Spring Hill. Or possibly maybe I haven’t been paying attention and am the last one to figure this out. Either way, I am really glad my friend Christy decided we should go yesterday, despite the iffy chances of rain. (Note: Megan isn’t really into waterparks and had the option to spend the day with her daddy alone, so it was just Kayla and I and our friends.)
So where is it?
The water park is in Decatur, Alabama….which is sort of Huntsville. Our plan for if a downpour began and ruined our waterpark adventures was to go to the Space & Rocket Center instead. It takes about an hour and a half from Spring Hill. Christy picked Kayla and me up around 8 and we stopped for gas and for breakfast and still got there about 15 minutes before they opened at 10 am.
How much?
This is the really cool part. Admission is generally $20 for adults (12 and over) and $15 for kids. But Monday – Thursdays (excluding holidays) are half-price days. So it was only $10 per adult and $7.50 per child. (Please check their website before going to double-check prices and half-price days.) Just as a comparison, Nashville Shores is generally $36.99 for adults and $28.99 for kids, though you can sometimes get deals for tickets for $24.99. That’s a big difference. And spoiler alert, I liked Point Mallard better than Nashville Shores.
What we liked about point mallard:
The park was clean and updated. I was shocked when my husband said he used to go to Point Mallard as a kid. The place did not seem old to me at all.
It wasn’t super huge, but had pretty much everything you’d want in a waterpark…a wave pool, lazy river, kids play zone and multiple water slides.
The park is situated on a gorgeous lake. It’s a really beautiful spot, and they even have a little sandy beach on the lake.
It was not crowded at all. Since this was my first time there, I’m not sure if that’s what it’s always like on a weekday (we were there on a Monday) or if the threat of rain kept the crowd down. Either way, it was awesome. The girls never waited to get on a waterslide, and we never felt crowded.
There were several options for food. There was a pizza place, a barbecue place (which I’m not sure was open when we were there) and a place with all your standard park foods. I had a hamburger and fries and Kayla had chicken nuggets. It was nothing special but good enough. We also bought ice cream cones and I remember thinking that the $2 a scoop price was reasonably priced for a place like that.
You can bring your own floats. I didn’t actually know this before we went and I told Kayla she had to leave her banana float at home, but I had I known it was allowed, this would have been a bonus for her.
What we didn’t like about point mallard:
There are two sections to the park and they were kinda spread out pretty far. This is probably good when it’s crowded so it doesn’t seem so cramped, but the first time we walked between the two sections, we did so barefooted and I regretted it. The ground was really hot and there were also sections where the road was gravel and my tender feet did not appreciate it. Then we left out of the exit in the second section and had kind of a long awkward walk back to our car near the first section. Next time we would probably park closer to that second section near the wave pool.
You could only use goggles that didn’t cover your nose. This wasn’t a big deal and I’m sure there is some safety reason I don’t fully understand, but it annoyed Kayla slightly. It was also clearly stated on their website which I didn’t read before we went.
You have to rent wave pool floats. At waterparks I’ve been to in the past, the big innertube floats for the wave pool are just available for anyone to grab. At Point Mallard you have to rent them for $5. One of Kayla’s favorite things to do is to ride on the float in the wave pool so I rented her a float.
In Summary
We all had a great time at Point Mallard. The ride didn’t seem that long and I thought it was a better park overall than Nashville Shores. We are definitely adding this day trip to our normal rotation.
We went to St. Louis 3 years ago, and I meant to write this post back them. At the time, I had decided that blogging our adventures would be something useful that I could share with my followers. As an ENTJ / Enneagram 1 / Type A personality, planning is something I’m really good at. I love researching vacations in-depth and for me, the planning is a big part of the fun. I know that not everyone feels that way (I have a good friend who practically has a panic attack at the idea of a Disney vacation because of the planning involved), so I had every intention of blogging our trips so that others could learn from my intensive research if they liked. It just never happened. And I always felt like I should do it right after a trip. Like if I waited too long, then it was too late.
But recently, a friend decided to take her family to St. Louis and started asking me about all the details of our trip. I started thinking about how much easier it would be if I had blogged the trip, to share my information with her. Then I thought, why not just go ahead and blog it? Most, if not all, of the information is still relevant and useful. Who cares if it was three years ago? So here you go. I plan to do more if people seem interested. I know I often get asked about our Disney and Universal planning as well.
Why St. Louis?
I had wanted to go to St. Louis all my life, so much so that it had become a running joke between my husband and I with me whining about how he’s never taken me to St. Louis. When I was a kid, I had an assignment to do a report on a state. We did not get to pick the state, but it was assigned to us. All my friends got “cool” states like Florida, Hawaii, and California. I was so bummed to have gotten Missouri. This was back in the olden times, and there was no internet to help us do the report, so we had to call the chamber of commerce for the states we got and ask them to SNAIL mail us travel brochures. (Kids, can you even imagine??) For reasons I don’t completely remember, I became fascinated with St. Louis, and in the Arch in particular.
So in 2016, I finally took matters into my own hands and decided that we were going to St. Louis on vacation. I’m not sure why it took us so long. It’s a perfect choice. It’s only about a five-hour drive from Spring Hill / Nashville and there are tons of free or almost free things for a family to do. Our trip was during the week of July 4, chosen only because that was when my husband was on vacation for shutdown. As a point of reference, my girls at the time were 8 and 10 years old.
An Overview of Our Itinerary:
HOTEL Selection:
We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in a suburb called Creve Coeur. We knew that we wanted to stay at a Marriott because that’s where my husband stays when he travels for work and we collect reward points from there. One of my clients tagged a friend of hers from St. Louis in my post asking for suggestions and she ended up messaging me and being so super helpful. She suggested a couple of different Marriotts that would be fairly close to activities we would want to do.
We knew we wanted a pool, and also preferred a suite with a separate living area from the bedroom, so this is the hotel we chose from her suggestions. It was perfect. Nothing fancy, but the room was nice and big and allowed Kayla to go to bed before everyone else, and had an indoor pool and hot tub for the girls to play in. There was a mini-fridge and microwave that enabled us to bring our own food for breakfast. There was a bistro that served food and the staff was very nice…especially when Megan smashed her finger in the hinge part of the public bathroom door near the pool. She screamed bloody murder and half the hotel staff came running to help us and bring us ice. (She was fine…just bruised.)
Sunday: Driving to St. Louis and Magic House
As I said, it’s only a five-hour drive, so we left early, stopped for lunch, and then drove straight to The Magic House – St. Louis Children’s Museum. Admission was $10 a person (now $12 a person). So while the Magic House was really cool, on the day we were there (July 3, so everyone in the world was probably on vacation), it was SOOOO crowded. It’s in this really neat old house with lots of small rooms and hallways so it was not fun with so many people. That being said, my kids loved it. I wasn’t sure they would because it seemed to be aimed at a slightly younger demographic, and there was a big room they weren’t even allowed in because they were not under eight years old, but they seemed to find plenty to keep them occupied.
There was this one exhibit where they had to follow all the clues to see who committed a crime, that even had detective costumes for them to wear. They spent FOREVER playing at that exhibit. They also had this temporary Art & Technology exhibit that Megan (my artist) really loved. She decorated a coloring page with a bus on it, then they put it in a scanner and her bus became part of this 3-D neon digital world that was being projected onto a big wall. She got to watch the bus she designed to travel through the digital town full of buses, houses, and airplanes that other children had designed.
After Magic House, we checked into our hotel, had dinner at the hotel Bistro there and then let the kids play in the pool until bedtime.
Monday: St. Louis Science Museum and Independence Day with Fair St. Louis
My husband is not a big fan of huge events with lots of people…especially the driving/parking part of all of that, so this item on my itinerary took a little persuading, careful planning, and a little luck because I wasn’t 100% sure it would work.
Fair St. Louis is a huge Fourth of July event that included a concert by FloRida (who my 10-year-old at the time loved) and fireworks (which I love). It started at 1:00 at Forest Park. So my plan was to go to the St. Louis Science Center and Planetarium in the morning, which is also at Forest Park, and then leave our car there for the Fair St. Louis event. In my mind, the Science center was really close to Fair St Louis but I underestimated how big Forest Park is. I also wasn’t 100% sure we would be able to leave our car at the Science Center, but we got lucky. They did allow us to leave our car there, and there were buses that took us from the Science Center right to the Fair location.
I had not-so-great point and shoot with me for most of these photos, and wasn’t trying very hard, so please forgive the crummy pics.
The concert was fun. There was soooo much mud, and we couldn’t help but laugh at people (mostly drunk) slipping down the hill in it. People were absolutely covered in it. It was sort of Woostock-ish. The kids probably got a little too much exposure to misbehaving adults, but all in all, it was pretty good for their first concert, and the fireworks were AMAZING.
Tuesday: City Museum, Crown Candy Kitchen & St. Louis Arch
The City Museum is one of the neatest places I’ve ever seen. Of all the museums we visited, this was our favorite. It’s a hundred-year-old warehouse in downtown St. Louis in which artists have repurposed the pieces of old cities to build miles of tunnels, slides, climbers, bridges, and castles. It’s really neat and easy to spend a lot of time in there. It’s $21 a person for admission. I would call this a can’t miss attraction if you are visiting St. Louis!
I especially love the photo of Kayla throwing a tantrum in the “Odditorium.” #memories
Crown Candy Kitchen was a place that everyone kept recommending for us to eat, and they were not wrong. So, so good. I’m pretty sure my husband was in heaven with his “Heart-Stopping BLT.”
After dinner, we took an impromptu walk along the St. Louis Riverfront trail – a 12-mile paved trail along the Mississippi River, between the Gateway Arch and the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge.
So, a note about the Gateway Arch: I had mentioned in the intro that I had always wanted to see the Arch. You can probably guess that my main interest was in photographing it. I wouldn’t be opposed to also going up in it, but we happen to have two family members who are pretty afraid of heights. Not to mention any names, but to go up in it, it would have been Megan and I alone. I made the decision before we got there that going was not as important to me as finding a place to view it properly.
According to the internet, that meant going to the Malcom W. Martin Memorial Park. It was a perfect spot to get photos of the arch.
Wednesday: History & Art Museums
Wednesday was our museum day. I also had tentatively planned to go to the Botanical Gardens, but it didn’t happen because everyone was tired and ready to go back to the hotel. The Art Museum and History Museum were both free, which is one of the really cool things about St. Louis – a lot of the activities are free or not very expensive.
Three of us enjoyed the Art Museum. One of us did not. 😂 My only regret was that she didn’t throw her 2nd tantrum of the week in front of a more recognizable piece of art. It’s probably good for me to note that the Art Museum would not be a top choice for any small child, but you know…sometimes grown-ups want to see stuff too.
She enjoyed the History Museum quite a bit more, primarily because they had a section called the “History Clubhouse” that was a hands-on learning play place for kids. If you are choosing between the Art and History Museum for little kids, choose the History museum.
Thursday: St. Louis Zoo
It was raining when we first got to the zoo, but that wasn’t a big deal because they have a lot of indoor exhibits. The Zoo is a really awesome one, and the most awesome thing is that admission is free! There were some things we paid for though, such as feeding the stingrays, carousel rides, and riding the railroad train…which you will want to do because it’s a big place. We got the Adventure Pass to cover all the extras for about $12 a person.
This was Kayla’s happy place and made up for the Art Museum.
One of the girl’s favorite things was playing in a mister fan at the zoo. It’s the little things I guess.
Friday: More Gateway Arch, St. Louis Citygarden Budweiser Plant & Dinner at the Biergarten
So my husband loves me so much that he suggested a second stop by Malcom W. Martin Memorial Park to get more photos of the Arch, and I’m glad he did because it was completely different in the morning light than the first photos I took.
Citygarden is a really neat park in Downtown St. Louis with a fountain the kids can play in. They absolutely loved it. It was a lot of fun and also free, and Bruce and I really enjoyed just relaxing and watching them play. We brought them a change of clothes for afterward so we could head to the Budweiser Plant.
Budweiser offers a free tour of their plant in St Louis which was neat, but the real attraction for the kids, of course, were the Clydesdales. After the tour and hanging with the horses, we had dinner at the Biergarten.
Saturday: Grants Farm & then Drive Home
Usually, on a road trip, I feel like we waste two days of the trip driving. The great thing about St. Louis being so close to Nashville was that we were still able to fit activities in our travel days without being too rushed or tired. So before we hit the road for Nashville, we went to Grant’s Farm. Grant’s Farm is the ancestral home of the Busch family (as in Anheiser Busch) and has lots of fun activities for kids. Admission is free (yay, St. Louis!), but there are a few extras you can buy, such as feeding the parakeets, which was a favorite for my girls.
So was that useful information?
I would love to hear whether or not you found that to be useful information and would like to see more blog posts on our adventures. If so, please post a comment below!
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?
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.
“I love the rain. I love how it softens the outlines of things. The world becomes softly blurred, and I feel like I might melt into it.” – Hanamoto Hagumi
It’s no secret that I love the sun, and obsessed with chasing light. But not everyone knows that I also love the rain. A couple years ago, I did a rain session with my friend Christy’s daughters. We planned it and then waited for the right weather to hit, and then I called her and said, “It’s go time.” We met at a park and I photographed her adorable kids playing in the rain. It was so much fun.
That wasn’t exactly the situation for this family portrait session at Harlinsdale Farms. They were hoping to avoid the rain, but mother nature had other plans. We were able to get in a few photos before the rain came, but then once it did, I couldn’t help but to wrap my camera in a poncho, hand these sweet kids some umbrellas (I always keep these in my car because they still let light in), and to keep shooting.
And I have to say, I’m not really sorry it rained. These two kids are just so perfectly adorable with the colorful little umbrellas and those smiles. It’s just one more thing that I absolutely love about kids this age…they really know how to embrace the rain.
