In every job, or maybe just in all of life, it’s important to find your calling and then get even more specific within that career according to your skills and talents. For example: photography is perfect for me. It took a while to find it, though as I started college in Music Education, but the math part of music theory did me in. Then, I loved my Public Relations degree, but hated the job in advertising right out of college. Taking pictures of my newborn baby girl years later helped me find this perfect job! I love getting to know people, and I love helping them. Photography is a perfect match for me.
Specifically, I am really drawn to documentary photography, but my personality is just too interactive to be totally invisible and purely document without involvement. I love timeless photography that captures true moments, like that silly face your child makes when she concentrates, the gaze a toddler gives his daddy, the tight grip a nervous 5-yr-old has on her mom’s dress… things that are fleeting and that we’ll miss. I get to do a lot of that with family photos. In fact, my family mini sessions and personality portraits are now booking for October 3rd. Here’s the link to sign up.
What Exactly Are Personality Sessions?
If you’re wondering what personality sessions are, let me tell you, because they are my new favorite. They combine my love of timeless and documentary photography and are the perfect option to capture your children and their sweet personalities. They came to be when a client and mom friend asked me this year about capturing her child as she is now, after just graduating from elementary school. She wanted to capture her before braces, mascara, and layered haircuts changed her into a tween/adolescent. We wanted to encapsulate these last childhood moments, and I loved it!
As I prepared for them though, I thought about the timelessness of heirloom portraits. You know, the beautiful lace-encrusted gown with your child on a wicker couch, not smiling. Captured in black and white and hung in a gilded frame canvas in your formal dining room. I’m something of a traditionalist, grand millennial for sure, so something about this tradition is appealing. However, it doesn’t fit my photography style, because remember I’m interactive? I’m goofy. There is a lot of laughter and chatter and silliness during my sessions. So I thought, what about personality sessions? Same black and white photo and simple clothing, but with some actual evidence of what the child is like during this phase of life.
Personality Mini Sessions
I’ve found it: a specific portrait style that suits exactly what I’m good at and that brings out the best in the children in front of my camera! I believe wedding photography also encompasses all of my personality and photography gifts, but this is just a fun additional offering that fills my cup! This summer we’ve had so much fun launching Personality Mini Sessions and I’m excited to offer more as we move toward the holiday season! These Holiday edition personality portraits will make fabulous grandparent gifts, and will be held on November 29 just before we kick off the month of December! Book your spot today!
I have loved these Personality Portraits so much that I will likely continue offering them annually. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed seeing these sweet kiddos in front of my camera, just being themselves and letting their personalities shine. That is exactly what I want these portraits to do. I want you to be able to look at these photographs years from now and not just remember what your child looked like, but remember who they were.
