Photographs Matter – The Start Of A Family

I love new beginnings.

Whether it’s a friendship. An engagement. A marriage.

Or a family.

Everything is brand new. It’s a bit of a roller coaster ride.

Newborns have a way of turning worlds upside down with their wonky sleep schedules and unpredictibility for needing a change in diapers or clothing. They have a way of keeping parents on their toes while simultaneously filling their hearts in previously unknown ways.

This is what Justine had to say about her favorite photograph. I love that it’s one that I made for them when I drove out to Athens to narrow the distance for them in driving a newborn around town.

This picture from Jocelyn’s newborn shoot is my favorite. Being parents to this amazing little girl is a dream come true. Michael and I talked about having a family early on in our relationship and knew that bringing children into the world and raising them was what we wanted most. As husband and wife we are partners in everything and now we get to be partners in this new stage of our lives. This picture of the three of us is what love looks like to me. I love my little family.

I adore this family. When Justine sends me emails and Michael is copied on them, his name shows up as Husband. And there’s an anchor next to his name, since he’s a Navy man. I adored them before they were a family and before they were even married. Justine found me after googling Atlanta couples photographer and we met up near the High Museum before heading over to Atlantic Station for a couple of hours of fun. There were shenanigans going down in stairwells, on escalators, alleys, playgrounds, and even a grocery store aisle with a spinning shopping cart. You can click over to see their original session here. And Jocelyn’s newborn session here.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the photographs that mean the most to my people as much as I did, along with the stories behind the photographs.

Photographs have been an integral part of my life since I was a little girl and my mom made photo albums galore. We would turn the pages and talk about the people and events transpiring in all of the photographs. They showed me how I fit into my family. They showed me how much I was loved by everyone in our family. And that was priceless.

Photographs matter. They remind us of who we are, how much we love others, and that we are loved in return.

There is power in photographs that evoke emotions, memories, and even smells of a certain moment. Photographs and the stories they tell are cherished over a lifetime. They are passed down to newer generations. Stories are retold. And eventually, grandkids learn about the people who came before them.

You may not realize it now when you are planning your engagement photographs or even exchanging your wedding vows, but one day…these photographs will become one of the best gifts to other generations who will come after you.

I wish I had photographs of my grandparents when they were children. When they were graduating from high school. When they got engaged. Exchanged vows. The happiness on their faces when my parents were born. Those photographs would mean so much to me.

It is because I don’t have all the photographs I want from my life and the generations before me that I make photographs.
I make the photographs of the moments I wish I had.