Any time I know a couple from my church get engaged, I get a little giddy and feel the excitement I’ve felt for friends when I was a school girl. Which makes perfect sense when I think about it because church is really the school of life for believers. Anyway, this couple is so sweet, they’re infectious and I’m so excited to share their photos with you!
It’s International Women’s Day today and I have five images to share that I feel depict just some of the beauty and diversity in the lives of women. Our lives change with many different seasons and our capacity to balance so many roles is something worth celebrating!
With a snow storm in the forecast, it’s fun to look back at this family session in the peak of Fall foliage last year. The fall gets so busy that it’s easy for lovely sessions like this one to get lost in the shuffle. But now that the holidays are past, it’s time to catch up and reflect. And with these school-aged boys, I’m reminded that lifestyle sessions are great for families regardless of the age of their children.
My thought when I first received this session inquiry is, hmm, what can we do to keep the session fun for this 6- and 8-year old boy? Well, that answer came naturally when this mom asked about a woodsy location. There is so much to explore in this Cranberry location that the boys found their own fun! And when the whole family joins in and goes with the flow, the rest is magic!
This is my favorite picture of these two. I’m a mom of two boys too and I just love to see them play like this!
We walked along a path through the woods, stopping for family portraits here and there.
The session was fast-paced and the boys never lost interest.
Seeing our children enjoy each other’s company is one of the most rewarding moments as a parent. I know from my own experience, that photos of my two boys laughing together are some of my most prized possessions.
If you or someone you know is looking for family portraits with a fresh and fun approach, I’d love to hear from you! It’s not too early to start planning for spring sessions! Contact me here to get started with planning.
Hartwood Acres is a favorite location and a popular one when the garden is in full bloom. It’s not hard to see why, what a lovely setting for a family portrait in July! I’ll start with a favorite shot of these sisters—their mama challenged them to a staring contest and the giggles were just about to bust out!
The mansion at Hartwood Acres offers so many lovely angles and opportunities for standing or seated portraits like this one.
This family brought their own blanket and I love how it naturally brings them close without any posing required.
This is another favorite of the two sisters.
We also did some individual portraits of the girls.
Moments before this portrait, this dad almost caught a butterfly! It keeps photo shoots fun when families can be playful like that!
And one thing all moms and dads should do is be photographed together without the kids, because they were husband and wife before they were parents!
If you or someone you know are interested in updating your family portrait, I’d love to hear from you! Please use this contact form to get in touch.
This is my second family portrait session with this beautiful family—they are in different phases of foster-to-adopt with their daughters. If you have an interest in fostering or adopting a child, I highly recommend you check out the post from their previous session. I thought about not blogging this session because this post will be limited to images that don’t show the girls’ faces (for their protection), but there’s so much good here (and I’m not talking about the photography!) that I couldn’t skip this opportunity to share a bit about this family’s story.
The love they have for these children is so touching. Of course these darling children are lovable—and they will be loved as if they were biological, but what gets me is the risk families take in opening their hearts and homes to lovingly fill a gap in a child’s life, all without the guarantee of knowing that they’d be able to stay. That’s the thing about love, there’s always a risk. And true love isn’t about what you’ll receive in return, but the bravery and sacrifice that comes from the heart.
This is their oldest and I was blessed to be able to photograph his adoption last year.
If you, or someone you know is fostering to adopt, I’d love to hear from you! I’m planning a day of sessions for families who are opening their hearts and homes and would love to include you!
