There is a place that only exists in my memory. Much like the words of the poem above (written by my precious grandmother), I catch myself being bitter sweetly reminded of it now and then. I remember the smell. I can't describe it, but I can remember it strongly. I remember the colors and decor. I remember the old piano- and somehow she never told us to stop playing with it...she encouraged us to figure out our talents. 
I remember being sent out to the garden ( I need to stress that this wasn't a small raised bed garden- this was a large scale operation!!) with buckets to harvest all the veggies. My favorite was picking the strawberries! I remember once my cousin Abby and I had been sent out to pick tomatoes and we stole the salt shaker to nibble on tomatoes while we picked them! We were probably around 7-8 years old. I loved visiting because there were always cousins to play with. Always cousins. 

I was having a late night talk with my mom and aunt a few weeks ago. I was telling them that if I could go back in time, I would go back to the Old House with my camera in hand. I know exactly what I would shoot and exactly how I would shoot it. I would take pictures of that old. worn piano. I can hear my Mawmaw now, playing and learning hymns by ear, her sweet voice humming the melody. I would take pictures of my Mawmaw at the stove...there seemed to always be something simmering.  I would stand on the far right hand side of the kitchen and take a picture of the farmhouse kitchen table, hopefully with my family around it. I would photograph my PawPaw in the garden with his bucket harvesting the vegetables he grew from seed. I can picture his collared shirt (always tucked in), finished off with a belt and a hat. I would photograph the old table on the back porch, us kids used to sit at for meals. If this was a perfect dream-come-reality and I could choose the day to go back, I'd go back on a Sunday. Maybe even Easter Sunday. After church, after my PawPaw preached. Cars would be parked up and down the street as we all gathered for supper and an egg hunt. All 7 sets of aunts and uncles (8 if you include my mom and dad), all of their kids. Like I said, always cousins. I'd be sure to photograph the front porch and the view of the garden down the hill from the house. 
The only 2 bedrooms in the house were joined at the closet by a "secret door" in the back of the closet. That door held the ultimate mystery to me and I could only imagine what was in there! (Spoiler alert, I found out as a pre-teen, and it was just clothes- but as a child, it was surely the entrance to Narnia) I'd photograph it, with the door closed to represent all the mystery it held for me as a child. 

But as fate and time would have it, I'm 33 now and all I have left are my memories and a few snapshots shared on social media. If I would've known then what I know now, right? If I could only go back and photograph it the way I remember it, so my kids would know. So I could share part of their legacy in that way...
But I know now and I can do it now. 
In my own home right here in Chesapeake. In your home. 
Sometimes clients tell me that they don't have a great home. It's a rental. It's not "theirs". It's small. It's cramped. It's not their forever home. 
Friends, if we waited for perfection in our lives, it would never happen. I need you to hear this: home is where you spend your time. It's a state of mind. It doesn't need to be perfect- nothing in life is. Your life is happening RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW.
The house that I'm gushing about? Two bedrooms. One, very small bathroom. Did you read how many aunts and uncles and cousins I have? On the outside, it's nothing special. It's the memories I made in it that make it wonderful. It's the people that lived there. It's the spirit of the home I want to photograph. 
​In 15-20 years, I don't want you wishing you had pictures of this season of your life. I want you to have them. I want you to be able to pull them out and look at them and feel comforted, to feel connection, to feel something in your heart. 
If you're local to Hampton Roads and you're ready to schedule your session with me, click here or on the contact tab above. I'm happy to sit and talk with you and plan your storytelling session. 

Rachel's story is one a lot of us can relate to, yet unique to their own family. She and her husband both work from home. They've settled into a comfortable routine, the kind that comes with doing life together for years...the kind that can be comfortable in silence and in chaos. Their life together has been built on triumph and tragedy, love and loss.
Though the home they are in is a temporary one, it's home for now. They have each other and that's home enough. The feeling of "home" is all encompassing the second you walk through their door.

Their beautiful, yet ordinary, mornings consist of Daddy getting up first and fixing breakfast for the children. Promptly at 7:30am, the girls are sent to wake up Mommy. I arrived just in time to see them jumping on the bed and snuggling in for morning cuddles. Then, the familiar routine of divide and conquer begins. Daddy brushing teeth assembly line style, while Mommy dresses and brushes hair. A quick goodbye as Daddy takes the girls to school.
And then, there were two.
Mommy and Little get quiet time together to snuggle, read, and fill up Little's heart with love and quality time before Mommy settles in for work.
I asked Rachel about her work and what it means to her to be able to work from home and share in these moments with her girls. She says, "I have shared my passion and educated my community on Young Living Essential Oils for the past 5 years and I've made a full time career out of it. We're [my husband and I] both extremely entrepreneurial minded and have been happiest working at home for ourselves! As far as motherhood, I've been super intentional with my time. I have set time blocks for work and set time blocks for family. Of course it can vary day to day which is the beauty of working from home." 
Intentional. I like that a lot. Being intentional with our time, our relationships, and our commitments. 

My Reflections:
To say that I enjoyed photographing and working with their family would be an understatement. They welcomed me into their home as if I were an old family friend, greeted at the door on a cold, crisp fall morning with a warm hug and offers of hot coffee- by strangers no less. I was thrown directly into their morning routine and I was rewarded with real life goodness and given the freedom to document their truth...even down to brushing teeth and struggling to put tights on wiggly little girls. Being given that freedom and that trust is an honor.
I think being in front of the camera can do one of two things: it can make you self-conscious and "camera aware" (as we call it in the documentary community) or you can embrace it in an authentic and organic way. They embraced it and in turn, they truly have images that document this season of their life. They will be able to look back at this unscripted morning and see the real, honest love an ordinary morning brings.

Over in Norfolk, there's a cute, picturesque, little craftsman style house that's 100 years old that has charm in every corner and is filled with love- and a sweet little family lives inside it's walls. The home is filled with books and toys, homemade suncatchers adorn their windows. The neighbors drive by calling out to each other and waving. 

I was lucky enough to be invited by this family into their home for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. I knew the second I read her initial email that we would probably be a good fit. They wanted an in home session to celebrate home ownership and to document these sweet family afternoons together. They look forward to Sunday afternoon all week and the slow pace of life it brings. They relish in the opportunity to just hang out together and to simply be with each other. 

The second I walked in, I felt a mutual trust and immediately began shooting. I was able to capture honest moments that were organic and authentic to their day. I was able to document little details of their 18 month old daughter. Her love for books, her keen observation skills, the way she always sticks her tongue out, the family's love of music- plus we had a fun and challenging game of hide and seek. We never thought we would find her...she's good at this!

In my client questionnaire I send out (or sometimes we do it over the phone/Facetime)- I ask whoever initiated the session- what is it that they love about their significant other. Her answer absolutely warmed my heart. She said her favorite thing about her husband was that he always puts others first, he is kind, and compassionate and loves them so completely. I hope that I captured his kindness and love for them so that when they look at their portraits, that is exactly what they see and that they FEEL the love. Their dynamic together as a family was incredible to be around. 
​I've listed some reasons why I think in-home sessions are the absolute best (you can read about them here), but honestly, this session perfectly fits all the reasons I love in home sessions. The comfort of being in your own home cannot be replicated just anywhere. This is your home. This is your family. This is unconditional love. This is trust. This is the place where all the important memories are made. There's no place like home. 

If you would like to talk about scheduling your next family portraits with me (and possibly in the comfort of your own home), click here or on the contact tab to send me a quick message. You can also find me over on Facebook or Instagram. Don't put off documenting and preserving the things you love- life happens and we can get bogged down- but this is one thing you won't regret.