I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — repeat clients make my heart so happy. It means they trust me; it affirms that my work is what they need in their world and on their walls; it makes it feel like a friendship. I get to watch their kiddos grow up and change and it builds a really beautiful comfort level between us during photo sessions.

One of the questions I receive most from family and childrens’ session clients is along the lines of “Should I bring props to my photo session?”

Sarah and Mike are new(ish) to the neighborhood and bring with them a total of three kiddos. The five of them feel more like extended family most days — Sarah and Mike are so fun to be around and their kiddos are frequent visitors to our backyard.

When Caroline’s mom reached out to me, she said she wanted to be sure that they had memories of every stage of Caroline’s ever-changing life and personality and really wanted me to capture her as she was about to turn one.

After years of photographing families, I can say with 100 percent certainty that most clients find picking outfits for everyone in their family to be the most stressful and difficult part of a photography experience.

Having the kids with their grandparents is incredibly special — it’s not always easy to coordinate traveling and locations and schedules, but we were able to include everyone together while grandparents were visiting for the holidays. I love seeing how each one of them interacted with their grandkids.

I love the way you can tell a family’s story just by capturing how they interact and how they love each other. Sometimes, it’s laughter; sometimes, it’s hugs and affection; sometimes, it’s silliness. And, sometimes, like with this family, it’s a little bit of everything.

I loved hearing how much Lori wanted to capture her family, especially her two amazing little kiddos, in images to really freeze time on this time in their lives.

The world is uncertain but one thing that’s not: moments and phases and bits of childhood fly by and you can’t go back, no matter how much you may want to do so. What we can do is (safely) freeze time with images.

Marie has such a fun personality — a little bit of sass and a lot of confidence — and I loved capturing not only that but her huge love for her family and their love of her. We explored the area and were able to capture a lovely variety of groups, moments and memories.