Wild, curious, affectionate, determined, chaotic, creative…. These are just a few adjectives that encapsulate the traits of a child. Some are good, some are not so fun, but they are what they are… bewildering little creatures that never fail to surprise us and keep us at the tip of our toes.

Let’s take a step in the DeLorean time machine (any Back to the Future fans here?!) to a simpler time. Bike riding all over town, no cell phones, playing in the woods/trees for hours, and a strict curfew. (“Be home by supper!” “No later than sunset!”) I can still hear my parents scolding me when I walked in the door later than told and begrudgingly warmed up my dinner plate. 

And while it was a simpler time, family photos were anything but. It was the one time to “behave for the camera,” “smile nice for the camera, “look at the dang camera!” All the while my mom frantically brushing my hair like I was about to meet the Queen or my dad fixing my flyaway hairs with a little spit. 

Ahhh…those were the days. 

But I’m here to tell you, that’s not what a photo session with me looks like. 

Whew 😅 Mama, take a breather. Forget all the preconceived notions of what family photos are supposed to look like. Forget trying to be perfect and proper. Forget “look and smile at the camera!” Because in fact, you’ll be spending most of your time with me NOT looking at the camera, oddly enough.

“Ummm ok, so if we’re not looking and smiling at the camera, then what are we even doing here?” 

Lemme tell ya, sis. 

I’m here to capture who you are as a family. I’m here to capture the love you have with your littles, with your husband or S/O. I’m here to capture the crazy and the small, intimate moments. But more than anything, I’m here to capture the connection you share with the people you love the most and the personalities of your babies. 

As mothers, we typically are the ones who take photos of our littles, but rarely are we in there with them. I know, it’s sad. When our babies are grown, will they wonder why mom isn’t in many photos? This is EXACTLY why I really take care in capturing motherhood during our session. Whether it be with all of your kiddos or just one-on-one with each baby, I want to make sure we walk away from our session with a good amount of photos with mom and her kids. (Dad’s won’t complain about it either ha!)

“So if we aren’t posing, then what are we doing?”

Be prepared for lots of dancing, cuddling, laughing, and loving up on your family! I achieve this style of photography by very lightly positioning/posing and giving you “prompts” and “tasks,” so to say. This brings out natural emotion and we bypass the “stiff, awkward, what do I do with my hands?” type of photography we grew up with. 

As parents, we all know when we try to force our young kids to do something, it doesn’t always turn out so well. We’re usually met with some sort of “smart” retort or just a full on meltdown. Amiright? I want your child(ren) to walk away from family photos remembering it as a positive experience. And from the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve found that just letting them explore their surroundings, playing games, snuggling…letting them be KIDS— they are much more likely to enjoy their time (and cooperate when we do want to get a couple “smiling at the camera!”) 

Of course, we are going to get pictures of everyone looking at the camera, but that will be a very small portion of our session. We are going to spend our time having FUN and letting those little personalities SHINE! 

Looking back at these photos, remembering their wide-eyed smiles, scrunchy noses, toothy grins, wind-blown hair—even the tears. These are the little details all of us parents want burned into our memory forever. We always want to remember them (and even ourselves) for who they are right now. 

Have more questions? Want to freeze these moments in time?

Shoot me an email at: morgan@fivewillowsphotography.com or fill out my contact form at https://fivewillowsphotography.com/contact#/ and I’ll get back to you within a day! (Because chances are, I’m chasing my toddler around right now 😆)