Shannon is an amazing mama of two kiddos who attend one of the schools I photograph, so that’s how we met! Her husband is a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox (who just won the World Series last year!!) and they only had a little time left until he went back up north to start the next season. So, I’d say our session was rushed a little more than usual, but you can’t tell at all!

Plus, with a lifestyle session, it’s really all about just showing up as you are that day. I don’t ask the kids to be in any kind of special mood or to smile. I don’t even mind if they cling to one parent the whole time. We play and snuggle and have a lot of fun, so it didn’t matter if there were only a few days to prepare!

I met them first at their home and they could not have been kinder or more welcoming. Since we’d be shooting in February, we were scoping out the home as our potential shooting spot because who knows what the crazy TN weather will throw our way, and we couldn’t wait until it got warmer. Ultimately, they wanted outside and it looked like the weather would hold up that weekend, so they had about 3 days to prep and get their wardrobe ready! She actually didn’t even text me, just showed up and everyone looked great! Perfect colors for the light and the season!

The kiddos got cold pretty quickly, so the little boy would get wrapped in his sister’s jacket and I gave the sister the blanket I usually bring on family lifestyle shoots, and she’d wrap up in that as we walked from spot to spot. It made shooting just a little more difficult in that they didn’t want everyone all bundled up in each photo, so we’d bundle up and then throw everything off and then bundle again and walk!

They also had their amazing dog, Nala, YES SHE IS NAMED AFTER THE LION KING, how amazing, and she was just perfect!

What really made this winter session work so well was that they’re such a close family. They’re full of love, and so quick to move toward affection, it made things so easy. They’re playful and silly and it came out in their photos.

Thank you, Shannon and family, for being one of my amazing families!

It snowed last night. And by “snowed,” I mean “barely dusted a damn thing,” but my 5 year old looked out the window and saw a winter wonderland ripe for the sledding. And good God she would not stop begging me to get out our highlighter-ugly plastic sled and pull her around in it! haha! So I finally said I would.

We went outside, I dragged her across our grass for a few minutes and then promptly declared I was freezing and that I would gladly play, but it would have to be INdoors. Now, she’s an outdoor girl, so she took her snow-booted self, all wrapped up in coat and mittens and trapsed from house to house, finding nary a single friend either home at all or who wanted to play in the freezing cold.

Her older sister and I sat at the front door and spied. We watched her hopefulness wane down to sadness as her head drooped a little lower after walking away from each house. So, really, we had no choice but to go play with her. She was THRILLED, obviously, especially at the fact that her SISTER was coming to play, too. The sister whose auto-responder to any incoming message is NO.

My little one ran inside, grabbed her teddy bear and took him “sledding” while the big one and I got all bundled up. When we walked around to the front of the house, there was Holland and Teddy (who is a girl, btw) - Teddy in the sled and Holland happily jumping in snow-speckled grass and doing her best to make snow angels, but only succeeding in flattening said grass.

So, what does a mom do? TAKE PHOTOS! YES! LOTS OF PICTURES OF THEM PLAYING IN THE SNOW! While I don’t take EVERY opportunity to turn our normal activities into a photoshoot, I obviously have a love with lifestyle shots, and it was a fun way to get some photos of our new house, too. it was delightful to see them playing together, to see my oldest (8) laughing and smiling and enjoying herself with her little sister. It turned out to be a fantastic morning for all three of us.