Aug 15, 2019

BEDTIME IS SACRED | Warrenton, VA | Family Session

I loved this session for a million reasons. It was a deviation from what I typically photograph, in a way. I'll be the first to admit I love a perfectly lit room or a sun-soaked image or a golden backlit family, but there was something even more beautiful about this. Karli, my friend and bad ass spin instructor at my gym is someone who inspires me on the regular. When we talked about this session, she told me that they'd never had family photos taken before. She didn't want the perfect stuff, but there were some black and white film photos she had framed of her sister and her mom and her as a kid that she really treasured. She chose what she deemed a sacred time for her family - post dinner and bedtime. And I agree. That's always my goal, to find the sacred in the ordinary... what are you going to want in a frame in 10 or 20 or 50 years that will really matter to you? That will bring you back to a moment that is gone but not forgotten. She mentioned the joy in her sister's face, the simplicity of her as a baby sitting at the dinner table. These became the things that mattered. That's what was in the frame and that's what brought the most joy. There were little sprinkles of rain and we went inside and outside and back in again and I got to witness this beautiful family and all of their little bedtime traditions. The song they sing when their Dad carries them upstairs, the bear game, teeth brushing and PJs and, books, laughter, snuggles, also a 9 week old puppy who is the cutest in the world... I always think of the quote "where you invest your love, you invest your life." Isn't that the truth? You're investing it well, friends... the love you pour into your children and one another is one of the very most gentle, intentional and nurturing things I've had the honor of witnessing.