What better place to have pictures taken than at the beach?!  Am I right?  It is a combination of the waves crashing, the beautiful sky, the way the sand acts as a perfect reflector to light up your face (ya get me, photogs?), and the overall way it makes people feel happier…all of that make it perfect for photos!  Know this, Kim & I were so excited when we realized we would be at the beach at the same time!!  I really wanted to capture Dan, Kim, and their sweet twin girls out by the ocean.   

Just a couple months ago, I got to attend an amazing workshop hosted by Katelyn James.  I knew I wanted to attend so that I could learn about my business and my craft.  Another thing I knew I would gain from that experience was friendships.  After attending that Magnolia workshop last fall, I met wonderful people who are truly there for me anytime I have a question, concern, need feedback, or just need some encouragement!!  True friends in the business!!  The KJ Workshop was no different!  The very first person I talked to on the first day was Nicole.  

When I started photography, it was solely because I wanted to take pictures of my daughter. I wanted to document things about her life. Then, I wanted to be able to offer my friends and family decent pictures of their own families! I say decent because my photography skills when I started out were “struggling” big time. I still love to document memories for my family & friends…that will never change! So a couple weeks ago, I did family pictures for my sister and her gang.

With non-stop weddings happening, I thought it would be nice to share a family session! This beautiful session happened about a month ago. It was right when wedding season kicked off for us but I knew it needed to be shared with all of you. This family is super special to us because they are our family (and because they are pretty awesome)! Brittany is my husband’s little sister and we are very, very close with she, Taylor, and beautiful little Camryn (or Buns, as everyone really knows her). Brittany and Taylor moved down to Louisiana just months after getting married, a couple years ago. EVERYONE misses them like crazy so we are all counting down the days for them to move back.

I was so excited to meet Ashley & Jake! Meeting new clients, especially right after they become new parents, is so fun because they have just entered in to a WHOLE new world!! I am so lucky to also be a mommy so I feel very fortunate to be able to relate to them on so many levels. Whether that is the lack of sleep or the nursing struggles….it could be the fact that putting on makeup feels like a miracle…or even that walking around is insanely painful! But also, the feeling you get seeing the life you helped create. Looking at this beautiful little human sleeping, while sitting in the nursery you worked so hard to put together. At every session, I can see in the parents eyes how overwhelmed they are with LOVE for their child and I feel so fortunate to capture it.

These past couple of weeks have been so busy around here! Between newborns sessions, family sessions, engagements sessions, and weddings….I did not keep up with blogging all of them! I do not guarantee to blog every single session because sometimes there just is not enough time. However, I definitely want to do my best!

I am so excited to be sharing this family session with all of you! From the moment I started messaging with Jaclyn, I knew I was going to just love taking their pictures!! I love to photograph such sweet families, and it makes it 50x better when they are just as excited as me!

Today, I am going to talk about some tips for planning your family session! There is actually a lot that goes into this and I am probably not hitting on all of it! When you start involving children in picture sessions, things get tricky. Let’s just be honest. You have to be prepared for E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!! Am I right, mamas? Most likely, on the day of the session, the mom has 100 things running through her mind and she is grabbing/doing 50 things just while walking out the door. She is lucky if she remembered to put all of her makeup on or grabbed the right shoes. I am so impressed when families show up with 3 or 4 kids and just have it all together! More power to you because I am struggling to get places with just the TWO that I have!

I am so excited for y’all to see the pictures of this couple! Brittany contacted me a couple months ago about taking her maternity pictures and we immediately set a date & started talking about outfits and locations. We went back in forth on some ideas and decided on two local spots – one being Josh’s parents’ land. This property is GORGEOUS!! The drive way is about a mile long (so you start wondering if you are really just driving into endless woods), but then it opens up to huge fields! I can just picture little kids running around those fields at grandma & grandpa’s house.

When I became a photographer, I did it because I wanted to capture the joyful, beautiful moments in people’s lives for them so that they could hold on to those memories forever! Those pictures could be something that they hang on their walls, put in their family albums, or pass down to their kids and grandkids so that everyone can remember. That is what you want from your pictures, too, right? Well, choosing the person to take those photos for you means thinking through a few things and doing a little research. Now, you may have someone very close to you that is a photographer and you love their work so – BAM – it is a no-brainer for you. However, some people don’t have that. OR maybe you like multiple photographers – GASP! Is that even allowed!?! Of course it is!! I have a lot of photographers that I love and I would absolutely use quite a few of them! So how do you decide who you should choose or what even to look for? Here are 4 things I think you should think about when searching for you photographer.