This one is for the Moms

This one is for the Moms. I see you.

It is almost my turn. All the feelings are already starting to sneak in and we are not yet quite finished with Junior year at my house, but I put out the 2027 Senior Team Model Call and realized that ‘2027’ is the year I have had to write on everything for my oldest throughout his schooling to signify the end of a chapter. I don’t know how it is knocking at our doorstep, but it is and it stings the worst right before I have to take a deep breath and allow the tears of pride, gratitude and joy to flow freely. I bawled my eyes out the first time I dropped him off at daycare, and I feel as if that need to hold on so tight may follow me through the next year. You will find me perpetually with a Kleenex box, I fear. I’ve watched so many before me do the same as they step to the sidelines of my camera and allow their senior to be truly seen one last time. It has always torn at my heart.

The way so many of you call my studio for your boys and tell me photographing this part of their journey might not be on the top of your son’s list, but he will do it for you because it is important to you. You say the same sentiments you did when they were 5 and you were yelling at them across the field not to get grass stains on those knees before the family photos are done- “If we could just get one really good one…” and then I promise you that it will be so much more than that. There will be so many images that capture all of the love and care you poured into that child of yours who is now bravely stepping into a world of their own, and you will wonder just where the years have gone.

During the shoot, I watch you fold and hang your senior’s clothing carefully and remind them to switch shoes or accessories. I watch you brush your hand through their hair the way you have always done. You laugh together over some small joke and then you step back silently in awe of who they are. No senior mom ever intervenes or directs the way they used to correct behavior during a long-past family session. I watch the quiet acceptance as you allow them to be fully who they have become in front of the camera. It is just another small sign of loosening the strings and letting them fly. 

I love watching you giggle as they do a ridiculous leprechaun, heel clicking jig in the air. The way you hold your heart when you see them close their eyes and drink in the last of the day’s light as the golden sun pours down on their face and the breeze blows through their hair. I love watching you bury your face in their shoulder with a deep hug as they now tower over you in height when they ask you to join them for the end of their session. Even though you didn’t come dressed to be photographed, you step into frame because this too matters.

How beautifully heart-wrenching and so gloriously affirming it is to see so many incredible relationships walk through my doors. It is always an honor. You did well Mom! All of the good that you are and have done is reflected right back from my camera lens in that high school senior standing tall in front of me, showing up for themselves, and honoring a life well-lived at home. Thank you for all you do and for the way you still show up until the very end of this beautiful chapter. I see you.

Print Your Photographs!

I am a print-based photographer, and I don’t think I will ever be able to go back.  It was a choice I felt compelled to make, because I am an artist at heart, and everyone deserves to have Fine Art prints that celebrate the people they love hanging proudly on their walls.  Booking a session with me offers you an array of beautiful experiences, and as your curator, that means giving exceptional service to the very end.

What is a print-based photographer?  It means I believe in the power of printing Fine Art photography for your walls on superior archival papers that you cannot get anywhere else.  Fine Art prints look and feel luxurious.  Listen, I was an art teacher for twenty years and opening packs of richly textured paper was like Christmas morning for the students and I.  The paper screamed to hold their beautiful creations.  The students KNEW the good stuff was precious, so it became revered and highly cared for.  The very same is true when my clients pick up my sample works of art during their Reveal and Ordering Session.  Most people make a soft, little cooing noise and then let out a sigh or great exclamation because the colors are incredibly rich.  The paper is thicker than cardstock and you can feel the difference.  It is nothing like what you have had created for you before.

What about digital images?  I still offer them!  In the education world, when every other classroom switched to chromebooks, I held out with my shelves of art supplies and paper filing cabinets.  I was made fun of often at staff meetings when I brought my art paper and a sharpie to take notes.  Now that doesn’t mean I can’t get with the times.  I do know the value my clients have in being able to share their images digitally through social media.  I do know how critically important it is for many to own the images of those they love, so with every Fine Art print my clients purchase, they still get the corresponding image in a digital format as well.

But why is printing so important?  I believe in the transformative powers of seeing yourself celebrated on your walls in a place of belonging, AND that my friends, is true at any age.  It’s a form of storytelling, and storytelling is what humankind has done since the beginning of time.  It is how we relate to each.  It is how we pass down our legacy and our heritage.  When someone passes away in my family, the first thing we do is pull out albums and tell stories.  Oftentimes, I learn things I never knew about the person I loved so much.  With so many people using a phone as their only camera, and very few people actually printing those images, it worries me what that looks like in the future.  Beyond that, I can’t tell you how many times I have had a client come back frantically to ask if I still happen to have their images archived for printing after an untimely loss.  In those tough moments, NOTHING else in the whole world means more than having those printed images.  

I believe in printing with my whole heart.  It is a soapbox I will stand on until the end of my time.  Picking out companies who created products I fell in love with took time, and I was more than willing to go through the ringer to find them.  Every time an order is placed on my front steps, I get excited to peel back the packaging as fast as possible, and if the excitement over my creation is that palpable for me, imagine how you will feel when it is someone you love looking back at you through that image!  I will always want to give the best I have to the people I serve, and for me, that means celebrating you through exceptional printed products.