Even though my primary focus as a photographer is wedding and elopement work, the cornerstone of my work is relationships. So this summer I decided to see if I could bring the same level of relationally-driven photography to the chaos that is family sessions. Rather than trying to tame the chaos of life with young children, I’ve approached each session with the mentality that life as a young family is defined by spontaneity, adventure, with a touch of craziness. To bring that element of real life to these sessions, I’ve simply instructed families to go adventure together. To chase butterflies, dig holes in the dirt, play hide and seek in the grass…to just let the kids be kids, and document the moments that unfolded. And that’s exactly what happened on this adventurous Rosy Mound summer session with the Carter family – and it was pure magic.
We spent almost the entirety of our time together in a small field next to the lot we parked in, but I quickly learned that young children can find plenty to entertain themselves when even in the smallest of areas. We played hide and seek, made silly faces at each other, had races up and down the sidewalk, and ran through the grass – all the while capturing the little expressions of delight as the children explored a new world together.
The best part of this session, though, was simply allowing these adorable kids to spend some time adventuring the park with their parents. The clear love that this family has for each other was incredibly heartwarming and made capturing their relationships all that much more beautiful. I’m forever thankful for families who open up their lives to my camera and allow me to simply document their lives in such an authentic way – I’ll be swooning over these moments for many years to come.
