A Longleaf Pine Forest Family Session

I adore this sweet family! Joanna has been friends with my sister since high school, her aunt was my first grade teacher, and I photographed her brother’s wedding last October. I was so happy that I still had a slot open on my calendar for a fall session when she contacted me. It is always extra special when you get the chance to work with family friends!

Fall is the most insane portrait session season. Since we don’t get cooler weather down on the Gulf Coast until closer to mid-October, everyone waits until then to schedule portrait sessions. Add the seasonal influx of family sessions to a full calendar of weddings and editorial shoots and you have what I call insanity season. Insanity season is the reason I’m just now sharing some of my favorites from this adorable family session that I photographed back in November.

It was a bit chilly the day of this session, but sweet little Annie was all smiles. The session coincided with her first birthday and was the first session for the family since Annie’s newborn photos. I just couldn’t get over how happy Annie was the entire shoot! Joanna’s mom and sister joined us for part of the session, which was definitely helpful in getting some great expressions from Annie.

Having help from Joanna’s mom and sister also meant that I could get some mom and dad portraits of Joanna and Heath. I think this is a must for all parents on a family shoot (even though most say they don’t need a portrait without the kids, I always encourage it)! The light was so dreamy! The wedding photographer in me just couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a few couple portraits!

Look at this golden light!!! Such. A. DREAM.

View more family sessions here!

A Lifestyle Newborn Family Session

I was in business as a portrait photographer for three years before I ventured into the world of wedding photography. My calendar back then was full of mostly family sessions and a few high school senior shoots here and there. But I was hooked on weddings from that first dip of the toe into the pond and it changed the course of my business.

Today I take on about one family session per month. I know that sounds extremely limited, but each wedding usually has at least one other session paired with it. Whether it’s another date for engagement portraits, a bridal session, or rehearsal dinner coverage, the calendar fills in fast with those shoots. Since I also do commercial and editorial photography, this leaves very little time for family sessions. I love the variety of work I get to shoot, so when I do have a family session make it’s way onto my calendar, it’s a real treat.

My friends Melissa and Christopher reached out with the news they were expecting their third child well ahead of his due date. With Heath, their first son, due to arrive at the end of September, we planned a lifestyle family session for early to mid October. That’s one thing about babies…you never know exactly for sure when they’ll make their appearance. Heath ended up arriving a little ahead of his due date, meaning we did this session closer to three weeks old. He was still in the sleepy stage though so it was perfect timing!

In fact, little Heath slept for most of his session, even when his older sisters were hugging and kissing him. It was the sweetest thing! It seems like yesterday that I was taking his sister’s newborn photos. I can’t believe how fast time flies! It was such a joy to work with this sweet family again. Enjoy my favorites from their shoot!

Already smiling for the camera on cue!

View more family sessions here!

An In-Home Family Portrait Session

Some of the happiest times a family will experience together are when babies come into this world. I’m fortunate to live in my hometown, which allows me to be near much of my extended family. This means when it’s time to celebrate the holidays, milestones like graduations, and the arrival of new family members, I’m able to document those moments with my camera.

Documenting memories for my own family was how I began my photography journey. Although I don’t take my camera to every single gathering, I almost always have batteries charged and ready to go. The day my newest cousin, Henry, made his entrance into this world, I headed down to the hospital with the rest of my family, camera in tow. There is something so special about gathering to welcome new life into this world. And we had a bit of a wait for Henry!

The wait at the hospital always seems long until that moment comes when you get the news that the baby has arrived. Then, it suddenly seems as if you haven’t been there that long. Everyone gets lost in the excitement of seeing the baby for the first time. With Henry, we were all taken with his cubby cheeks and his head full of hair! It was all we could talk about while I documented the moments of everyone meeting him for the first time.

I don’t often photograph newborns, but I of course fit a lifestyle family session for my sweet cousin into my summer schedule. Thankfully, Henry didn’t arrive during busy wedding season! I love photographing newborn family sessions in the home because that makes them so personal. Henry’s parents put together the sweetest nursery for him! Check out their maternity session post for those details!

I told Alex and Taylor (Henry’s parents and also my cousin and cousin-in-law), not to stress if Henry didn’t sleep well during his session. This is the beauty of lifestyle portraits! They’re less about squishy poses and more about relaxed photos. Well, to my surprise, Henry slept so well through the entire session that we were able to get plenty of family shots and a few lightly posed portraits. I just can’t stop smiling when I look at these photos. Little Henry has certainly brought a lot of joy to his whole family! Enjoy this preview of his first official portrait session!

Alex and Taylor’s first “baby” was their fur baby, Bear. Bear wasn’t at our shoot, but I love this sweet little toy that looks so much like the real-life Bear. I just know that Bear and Henry are going to be besties. I look forward to when Henry is old enough for a portrait with him!

This is Henry just getting comfortable. He was in a deep sleep most of the shoot, but at one point he curled up in this pose on his own and I just loved capturing his expression!

Taylor plans to take monthly photos in this rocker, so we made sure to use it for a few photos.

Henry says this photo thing his hard work! Is there anything sweeter than a newborn yawn?!

Of course I had to grab a photo with Henry at the end of the shoot!

Even after all the photos, he was still fast asleep!

A Spring Hill College Family Portrait Session

It has been a crazy busy summer around here! I took a two week break from blogging to refuel my creative energy after a busy spring/summer wedding season. I love putting together my weekly posts, but it was time to rest and recharge.

After a two week break from the blog, I found myself missing the time spent writing. I am excited to get back in the swing of things this week! While all was quiet on the blog, I was out shooting quite a bit. If you’ve followed my stories on Instagram, you’ve seen a sneak peek of what I’ve been up to. If you’ve not been following on social media, I promise to share some posts in the near future about those projects!

Today I’m excited to share a preview of the session I had last week with the Swain family. Roberta initially contacted me for senior portraits for her second eldest daughter, Brooke. When we were emailing about the session, she asked if it was possible to get photos of her other daughters taken at the same time. We ended up settling on a session that was a combo of family portraits, and some solo shots of Brooke to celebrate her high school graduation.

I absolutely adore senior portraits and I especially love photographing close-knit families. This session gave me the opportunity to do both! Once we’d completed all the family photos, I took Brooke aside to focus on some solo portraits of her. Roberta told me before the session that her daughters weren’t super into having their portraits taken, but they were total naturals in front of the camera and I think by the end of our time together they just might like photos a bit more than they did before. 🙂 I had so much fun working with this sweet family and it turns out that we have many mutual acquaintances. It was another small-world Mobile, AL moment!

These four sisters were such a JOY to photograph! They’re beautiful ladies inside and out!

Brooke is only a couple weeks away from heading off to college. As much as I love photographing a senior at the beginning of their senior year of high school, there’s something extra special about doing the photos right before they leave for college. It’s sort of the last hurrah and the anticipation of starting that first semester of college is something you never forget. I could tell Brooke is so excited to begin this new chapter!

View more senior portrait sessions here and more family sessions here!

 

A Midtown Mobile Maternity Session

Wedding days are day one of a new life together. They’re day one of a new family. When a bride and groom walk down the aisle at the end of their ceremony, they are walking into their future life together. I always love witnessing this moment and capturing it forever with my camera.

I remember Alex and Taylor’s wedding like it was yesterday. It was a hot, but beautiful, June day. I was so excited to get to photograph my cousin and his wife-to-be as a bride and groom! Since I was the second photographer at their wedding, I’ve never shared any of the images here on the blog, but I definitely need to dig into my archives and pull out my favorites sometime in the near future!

You know how they say that a woman glows when she’s expecting? Well, Taylor definitely has the mommy-to-be glow! In fact, I suspected she was pregnant shortly before she announced the news to our extended family. There was just something that seemed different about her, an extra bit of joy in her already cheerful nature. And she still had that glow the day of this maternity session!

Taylor has such a great eye for decorating and I absolutely adore the nursery that she and Alex have put together for their little one. We decided to do their maternity portraits at their home. I loved shooting in the nursery and was equally excited that their neighborhood has plenty of beautiful trees and shrubs. I found one spot where the light was so dreamy that we stayed there for most of the outside photos. I always say that background is secondary to good light and it’s SO true! Be sure to scroll down to see the dreamy, golden light!

Taylor asked if we could include these books by Jimmy Fallon in their portraits. I thought it was such a cute idea! They’re definitely in preparation mode!

Can we talk about how sweet the name Henry is?! Paired with the middle name, Wallace, it sounds positively regal!

See Alex & Taylor’s Gender Reveal!

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