I’d been in conversation with Mom about doing photos of her sweet family at home that weren’t “cringe-worthy” (my kinda client) and weren’t painfully posed or orchestrated for Dad or Baby Girl. She wanted to do the photos at home (yay!) and I am SO GLAD SHE DID because their home is gorgeous!! They have a beautiful color scheme that’s filled with colors and textures and I just love it. Plus they have insanely great carpets. Like, the softest and fluffiest of all the carpets. So on these carpets I photographed the preciously cute Baby Girl army-crawling herself around, wide-eyed and curious, and eating some book pages while her parents tried to read to her. She also liked to eat her Mom’s necklace a lot (teething stages, amirite) and stare fixedly into the camera (she is a great model). PLUS LOOK AT THOSE PANTS. I would 100% wear those sweatpants now even though I am 90% confident I already had some iteration of them in the 80s. Mom and Dad enjoyed cuddling with Cool Sweatpants Baby Girl a lot and turning her upside down to make her giggle. When they’re not doing turning their kiddo upside down for giggles, Mom is an incredibly creative and stylish woman who enjoys decorating their home and writing. Dad likes video games, technology, and cooking. I absolutely loved working with all three of them – we bonded over lots of similarities, but mostly our deep and undying love for October. And October people stick together.
Sarah and Dustin are the best type of people. They like card games and video games and pie picnics, but most importantly, they can weather an extremely rainy engagement session without so much as blinking an eye. The weather is so unpredictable in North Carolina in the summer, and we had already rescheduled once due to rain. The forecast for their particular day was about evenly split, but toward the evening it was down to almost a zero percent chance, and nothing on the radar. Of course, because of this, it rained literally the entire time. For no reason. The radar still said it was clear, and the forecast still said it was not supposed to be raining. It did not let up. It was primarily a constant mist, but it did become heavier on occasion, but despite all this, they did not complain once, and were some of the happiest clients I’ve had, rain or shine! They met in the Archives while attending school, and are getting married later this year on Dustin’s family’s land in Tennessee. They’re excited to later bring Sarah’s dog Moses into the mix (who’s currently living with her family in New Mexico) and vow to continue to remain united over their love of desserts. I’m super happy to have done their engagement session, and can’t wait to see what life has in store for them in future. Congrats, Sarah and Dustin!
Remember Amanda, Joe, Michael, Lucien, and Aria from this summer? Amanda was pregnant then, and the boys were so excited. They didn’t know if they’d have a new sister or brother, but they were cool with either, and just so excited to help their mom and dad. Amanda and Joe planned a home birth, and Michael was to announce the sex of the baby. But, as it often does, life got a little bit in the way: a bad house flood caused by a hot water tank that happened while they were on vacation put a damper on things, causing the family to have to live elsewhere during home repairs while 36-40 weeks pregnant. However, a family friend quickly and successfully fixed their home good as new (including beautiful new hardwood floors!) and Fiona, their new baby girl, was born on September 15th successfully at home on the morning of Hurricane Florence. Michael was indeed able to announce to everyone that they had a new little sister, and now another girl joins the ranks of the household, evening up the numbers to 3 girls and 3 boys (yes, of course I am counting Aria the Husky as a member of the family). So happy for all of them! It was so fun to document them again. They’re such a tight knit group, and the boys are obsessed with their little sister! We had a great time taking some updated shots around the house (Amanda was especially interested in documenting the family dynamics pre and post new baby), and then walking along the beautiful greenway near their home where Amanda, a super talented photographer herself, often likes to shoot. Such a great time working with this fabulous family again!