Ashlee and I have known each other since we were small children.. literally since kindergarden!  When she was engaged to (her now husband) Michael, she reached out to me about being her wedding photographer.  As honored as I was to be asked, I declined the offer.  I was still so early in my career and I didn’t trust my own ability to be able to capture such a special day for them.  My work was in its beginning stages of development and the consistency of my images was not yet there.  I still had so much to learn!  I tell that story so that you can understand why I was so excited when she reached out to me about a family session!! 

Michael and Ashley have a sweet little girl and they also just welcomed their little boy into the world a few months ago.  We planned to have their session at the same location that they said their wedding vows.  I loved this idea because I imaged how special it would be to have images in the same location of the same people, yet there has been years of visible growth in this one family and in each individual person.  How fantastic to have such a comparison of these different seasons of life!

The location was absolutely beautiful!  Waterfront property tucked away in the Northern Neck of Virginia with an abundance of open fields all around us.  Sounds perfect, right??  Well, unfortunately when their session date arrived, the wind gusts were coming from every direction at what felt like 100 miles an hour!!  This made finding the perfect location to shoot a tad bit difficult.  Thank goodness there was a rustic little shed on the property!  We cozied up next to the shed and that blocked a majority of the wind!!  Was this little shed the most gorgeous, jaw dropping location you’ve ever seen??  No.  Did that little shed allow for my clients hair to be in place, for their little girl to be happy and not shivering from the cold wind, and allow for me to capture images of the four of them together as a family loving on each other whole heartedly?? YES!  And that my friends, is why sometimes we have to sacrifice a beautiful location to get the best shots!

One of my favorite things about this session was the fact that this family looked like they had just stepped out of a Pintrest board!!  The key to family photos is to coordinate your outfits, without matching perfectly.  Ashlee’s sweet family is the perfect example of this!!  Dont be surprised if you see them as examples on my upcoming “Family Sessions: What To Wear” blog post!! 

I absolutely enjoyed my time working with this sweet family!  I am beyond honored to have had the chance to work with themI loved being able to capture them in this season of life as a growing family.  Take a look below at my favorites from their session!