Everyone can appreciate the classic family portrait that you’ve seen hanging on the mantle at your neighbor’s house or posted proudly as your friend’s social media profile picture. It’s beautiful- their outfits are coordinated, everyone’s sitting up straight, and smiling at the camera.

But let’s be honest, that’s not real life. In reality, your four year old just accidentally kicked your two year old which almost led to a meltdown because everyone is tired and a little cranky about trying to create that perfect family photo…

Those are not my type of photo sessions.

Because those photos don’t capture who your family really is… and they don’t reflect how you actually live or how you actually love one another.

As a Lifestyle/ Documentary Virginia Family Photographer, my sessions are centered around capturing a lot of natural candid moments and freezing memories rather than focusing on more posed traditional images.

At your photo session, I want the kids to run around and be themselves. I want you to play around with them, wrestle, tickle, snuggle up, and be silly together. I want you to roll your eyes when they don’t do what you want them to do and then laugh because that’s just how things are these days. I want to recreate your favorite things to do together as a family and the things you want to remember as everyone gets older and life changes… favorite family outings, your daily routines, playing games in your backyard, reading books in bed, going out for ice cream, riding bikes, or taking a walk around your neighborhood.

I want to capture all of the joy and appreciation you have for each other, genuine emotions, and real smiles. Because even though life isn’t “perfect,” it’s still pretty awesome. And I want to capture photos that will help you remember all of those perfectly imperfect happy/sad/loud/quiet/funny/cute/weird/sentimental moments that make up your life together.

So don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. Just be yourselves. And I’ll do my best to capture those moments beautifully.