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My final beach session of the year with one of my favorite families here in New Jersey! 🌊😭 Summer lasted much longer than expected and we lucked out with the most perfect weather AND the most breathtaking sunset! Lauren’s four-year-old son Noah is my son KJ’s best friend (and we love hanging out together!) so I was beyond excited when she asked me to photograph them! Still in denial we won’t be here next summer (thank you, #militarylife)😢— and judging from my husband’s potential job/assignment list, we most likely won’t be anywhere near a beach. HOWEVER, praying for Europe, lakes or mountains instead!!🙏🏼🏔😍 We won’t know where for sure until February, but I’ll keep y’all posted!😌 #thinkinghappythoughts (10.10.19)

Ten years ago, if you would’ve told me I’d one day own a photography business, I would have NEVER believed you. In October of 2009, I had just started my second job in TV news, working as a general assignment reporter for CBS42 in Birmingham, Alabama. I was covering everything from murders to missing persons cases, city council meetings to plane crashes— chasing down my childhood dream of telling stories on the evening news. 
But little did I know, a decade later, I’d STILL be telling stories—but instead, very personal ones—documenting families & all their emotion, connection & love.

I was always taught as a journalist to “write for the ear, shoot for the eye, aim for the heart,” but I never imagined how much I’d embrace that concept in my photography. In every session, my main focus is capturing the essence of my subjects. I want you to not just see a pretty picture, but also FEEL the image in a very palpable way. 
This session gave me the chance to do just that. With both parents active duty Air Force and the father recently away for work, his children hadn’t seen him in weeks. There was a tangible sense of longing for their daddy and the snuggles and kisses did not stop for one second during their session. 
In the same way, the husband and wife had just celebrated ten years of marriage and you could feel their mutual attraction and friendship within each interaction. 
The way she would look at him.
They way he would touch her cheek.
How they held each other close.

I pulled them aside for some romantic photos and she confided that they had never taken photos together like this before— they never even had a wedding. In fact, this was there first family session in years. And over the course of an hour, they made so many sweet memories with their kids playing peekaboo, rubbing noses, jousting with sticks and digging in the dirt. Every minute was genuinely full of love, laughter and happiness. 
10 years ago, I would’ve never dreamed of having the opportunity of documenting such tender, nostalgic, intimate moments. But now, I could never imagine doing anything else♥️ (10.06.19)