Stories you can see

Originally published August 1, 2022

When I was growing up, my mom kept a few photo albums on a shelf in the living room. One was bound in red leatherette with gold scrolls, another was white with sticky pages and polaroid photos, and another was a padded blue plaid monstrosity with eyelet lace and a cross-stitched lamb on the front. Each book was filled with precious and priceless images from my mom’s childhood, the early years of dating my dad, their wedding, honeymoon, and the life they had before me. Memories held neatly together on a shelf within my reach, each black and white photo encapsulating a moment in time that was important enough to keep forever. Stories I could see.

Maybe that’s why family portrait sessions are my favorite. I get to be the storyteller, writing with light instead of words, chronicling a family’s love for one another. Each family’s story is different and sacred to them, and I consider it an honor to be the one behind the camera with a front seat to the whole thing.

I will never get tired of seeing siblings chase each other, or parents playing “ring ‘round the rosey” with their little ones. It just doesn’t get any better, and the Smith family was no exception! We spent an hour walking through an overgrown field during the most perfect golden light and I was able to present them with some of my favorite family session images yet.

But the best part of the session came a few weeks later, when Matt and Hannah announced that a NEW BABY GIRL would be joining their family! I had no idea that I was documenting what may be some of their last photos as a family of four. Pure joy!

Maybe someday when the newest Smith baby is looking at her mom’s bookshelf, she’ll be able to flip through a photo album and see what her family was like in the time before her.