A Bayfront Park Family Portrait Session

I can’t believe it’s been five years since the Crooker family was last in front of my camera. Realizing it had been that long also made me reflect on how much things have changed for my business since our last shoot. In 2016, I hadn’t yet gone full time with my photography business. It was still a side hustle. I had only recently begun working with Mobile Bay Magazine on editorial shoots and had been photographing weddings for only a couple of years. It blows my mind to think of how much things have changed in a relatively short time! Time truly does fly by!

Just as my business has grown and changed over the past few years, so has the Crooker family! At our last shoot together, their children seemed so little. Now they’re all teenagers! They’ve also grown their family by one via adoption with everything being finalized in the midst of the pandemic. I love how kind and loving this family is and it was such a treat to get to catch up with them!

The Crooker family is so laid back and easy-going when it comes to photos. I loved that they were game for mixing in a few non-traditional poses and I especially loved that the kids asked me if we could take some serious photos to add to the mix of traditional portraits. Of course we can, was my enthusiastic reply!

We barely squeezed this session in before their oldest son, Dyson, headed off to college. I’m sure this close-knit family will miss having everyone under the same roof, but at the same time I know they’re excited for this new season. It was a joy to capture these portraits for them ahead of the start of the college journey!

Sessions at Bayfront Park often include alligator sightings! This one was just a baby, but I couldn’t help snagging a photo of it!