Whether you are the mom of a high school senior, or "simply" want some updated family portraits, the process of finding a photographer, picking outfits, making your kid(s) smile is such a difficult task - this is where I come in. Keep reading my story to see why I am so passionate about families and seniors!

My story starts back in the 2000's when my mom would wrangle and threaten me and my 3 younger siblings to sit still and smile for a [dang] picture. More often than not, by the time the photo was finally taken, the youngest one had tears streaming down his face from his oldest brother putting him in a choke hold and trying to force a smile so the process could finally be over. (I promise we liked each other, but photos and kids do not mix well --- unless handled properly :) )

Then we jump to 2015 when I had my senior portraits taken and I absolutely hated every. single. photo. They had me pose with my neck sticking out so my head "looked smaller" and told me it felt weird but it looked good. When they were editing, they asked if I wanted my freckles removed (maybe I'm weird, but my freckles on my face are ME, no I don't want to look different in my SENIOR YEARBOOK?!) I was extremely offended because she asked to "at least remove [my favorite freckle on my face]" and I said no. When it finally came time to pick my official senior portrait, I let my mom pick because I hated them all the same. I remembered how uncomfortable and awkward I felt during my session and that's all I could see in my photos.

Lastly, we'll fast-forward my story to when I had my baby in 2019. Every month I had set up a commemorative monthly phone photo shoot for her progress photos but I also wanted professional newborn photos. 

The problem was that I couldn't justify spending thousands of dollars on the experience ALONE and then seeing that I only received 15 photos and the opportunity to purchase more after the session at $50 a photo. I waited and searched for a photographer that could give me what I wanted - a simple experience, no crazy set ups or costumes, just a fun time that my husband, baby, and I could enjoy and then have photos to remember it by, "without spending an arm and a leg". 

Let me tell you, all photographers hate that saying because "one man's arm and a leg is another man's chump change" or however that saying goes.*

When my baby was a week shy of 6 months old I went to my husband crying that she isn't a newborn anymore and we still didn't have any pictures of her cute little nose and fingers and toes. I cried that she was going to be crawling any day now and when that happens, she won't be tiny baby anymore. So for mother's day, that weekend, he gifted me a "newborn session" and the very next week she started crawling. 

Now we jump forward another 6 months and my wonderful, amazing husband was trying to gift me with an all inclusive spa day for Christmas since I had been not so subtly requesting one since child birth, haha. When he told me his gift, I responded with, "I think I would rather have a camera instead." 

I decided that I had enough shotty experiences with photographers that I wanted to try my hand at it. At the very least, I had my own camera to take photos of my baby whenever I wanted to, but I would love to be able to help other moms have the same experience. 

I don't want any other high school seniors walking away thinking their favorite facial features are something to edit out; that they have to pose a certain way because someone thinks they have a big head. I don't want another mom to struggle picking which 15 baby photos she wants since she can't afford to have all of the pictures of her baby. I don't want another little boy to cry because photos are stressful since mom has to been the photographer and the director and the judge. 

So that's my story :) I desperately want to help mom's get the photos they want while also making sure their family or senior is having fun and radiating confidence! 

*The saying is actually one man's trash is another man's treasure; I think I'm hilarious