A Portrait Session in the Country

If you’ve followed my blog or my photography for any length of time, you’ve probably figured out that I have a lot of cousins. Growing up we always spent a lot of time with our cousins. They were our built in friend group. As I got older, the babies of the family were at the perfect age to serve as models as I honed my photography skills. Tanner and his sister, Cassie, were frequently my subjects when I had a photography assignment in college. I was always amazed that they had the patience to put up with me as I was learning!

I was so excited when Tanner asked me about scheduling a portrait session for him and his girlfriend, Allie. The last time Tanner was in front of my camera for formal portraits was at Cassie’s wedding and that was way back in December of 2017! Where does the time go?! Like his sister, Tanner has always been a joy to photograph. His smile reminds me of our beloved Gramps, who passed away ten years ago this year. Just like Gramps, Tanner has a big heart. I love that he thought to treat Allie to a portrait session in honor of their dating anniversary.

Allie, Tanner and I all have crazy work schedules, so even though Tanner and Allie have been dating for a while, this was my first time to get to meet her. Of course she was just as equally as sweet as Tanner and I had the best time photographing them together. I also love every chance I get to shoot at this piece of family property. It always has gorgeous Golden Hour light and I was freaking out over how perfect it was on this day. Seriously, I walked through potentially snake-infested high grass in sandals (which is totally unlike me) because I was so excited! I have rain boots that I could have worn, but I forgot to pack them and there was no way I was going to pass up such a gorgeous spot!

A Spring Hill College Maternity Session

One of the best parts about being a wedding photographer is the amazing couples that I get to work with. Most of the time, my brides book their wedding photography package nine to 12 months in advance of their wedding. We get to know each other at an engagement session and over months of planning. Then I get to spend eight plus hours with them on their wedding day.

By the time they leave their reception as newlyweds, they feel like old friends. From the initial inquiry through final product delivery, I’m spending approximately a year and a half of time with that one client. It is such a treat when those couples I’ve worked with on their wedding day come back to me for photos to celebrate the next season of their life!

Brooke and Geoffrey were married at St. Joseph’s Chapel in 2019 and their wedding day was one I will never forget! Everything about the day was beautiful, we had perfect fall weather, and, thanks to an amazing planner (shoutout to Kat!), things ran smoothly from beginning to end. It was truly a photographer’s dream! It’s also nostalgic to think back on the Fall 2019 season and how abruptly things changed for our industry just a few months later.

It was so much fun catching up with Brooke and Geoffrey at their maternity session! Their baby boy is due to arrive in October, so we knew we’d be doing this session in the heat of summer. It was pretty hot and sticky on this day, but somehow these two make it look like it’s not! I love that they wanted to return to Spring Hill College, which holds many special memories for them, for this session. It was the perfect choice!

A Mobile Alabama Family Session

August is a hot month around here, so I was looking forward to this in-home family session with my sweet friends Melissa and Christopher and their four children. Their house has the most beautiful window light in the living room, even on an overcast day! This session was in celebration of the arrival of baby number four and he is so precious!

I don’t consider myself a newborn photographer. I’m more of a family photographer who once in a while photographs sessions that include newborns. Usually these sessions that include newborns are with family, good friends or past clients, so we all already know each other. When it comes to this family, I’ve done sessions for them since baby number two was born. I have LOVED seeing these kids grow over the years. They are seriously the sweetest!

After our session, the oldest little one of the bunch sent me a drawing and it was the most fun thing to come in the mail all week. It’s now joined my collection of client thank you cards. I keep these items by my desk because they make me smile and give me motivation to power through editing marathons! It’s been one of those weeks y’all!

With four little ones, you never know if you’ll be able to get them all to sit still long enough for a traditional portrait. This is when having a family member or friend come over to help out is a great idea! We were fortunate to have an extra set of hands helping at this shoot, which made getting the kids attention and smiles all at the right time possible! Yay for teamwork!

Someone is definitely excited about being a big brother!

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!

A Mobile Alabama Engagement Session

My brides often ask me if there’s ever a time that’s too late to do an engagement session. My answer is always, the same. As long as it’s before the wedding day, it’s not too late to squeeze one in! The engagement session does not have to be held close in proximity to the proposal unless you want to use those pictures on “Save the Date” cards. I often photograph engagement sessions within a few months (or sometimes weeks!) of a couple’s wedding day. It’s all about what works for each couple!

I met up with Lindsey and Joey just a little over a month from their wedding date. As owner of Soiree Signatures, Lindsey has quite a busy schedule. Since she’s also in the wedding industry, it meant that picking a time that worked with both of our schedules, plus Joey’s schedule, was going to be tricky. It felt like a miracle that we were able to find a date that worked for all three of us! Once we penciled the date in, I started praying we wouldn’t get rained out because I knew finding a backup date would have been nearly impossible.

Thankfully, we had a rare rain-free afternoon the day of this session. After starting the session at Memorial Park, we headed to a second location that I’d never been to before. Joey had suggested it as a possible idea and I am so glad that he did! I love when my clients introduce me to new locations I’ve never been to before. Best of all, the two locations were just a few minutes apart! I loved the combo so much because it gave us a ton of variety for backgrounds.

We’re in the thick of summer here on Mobile Bay and I’ve been enjoying a brief break from weddings for a few weeks ahead of the fall season starting in September. Lindsey and Joey’s wedding is actually the very next one on my calendar and their big day will be here before we know it!