One of my biggest goals for my business in 2011 was to capture more of the unique relational aspect of individual families through my photography. After doing a lot of studying and self-reflection at the beginning of last year, I really started to pin point the aspects of my family that I, as a mother and creative, want to be preserved through photography. I set out to be deliberate about translating that self-reflection over into my work. So what follows, is a collection of some of my favorite images that I captured over the past year, with a few thoughts about why these images are so important to me.

Let me start off by saying, I love a good portrait. I believe these are important pieces of preserving our family’s memories, and I love shooting them with a little personality thrown in.

Portraits are important because they preserve what we look like at a specific time. These are the only pictures in this post that are of our son Mason, and I love them. I love all of the images I have of him where he is completely unaware of the camera, but I also appreciate this pair of images from last January. Its fun to look back and see how much he’s changed and how this green jacket would be short sleeves on him now. I certainly don’t regret the monthly portraits I took of him to go along with the countless number of lifestyle or emotional imagery I captured of him throughout the year.

And there are certain occasions, like being a brand spanking new baby(!!) that really cry out for a nice portrait.

So don’t get me wrong, I do love portraits. They mean a lot to me, but over the past year (and really maybe I should extend that all the way back to our son’s birth in April 2010) I have really fallen in love with imagery that captures emotions and relationships. Intimate moments when a parent and child are completely lost in each other, even to the point of temporarily being unaware that I am there.

Not only do I love photographing these moments, but I love BEING in these moments. People watching has taken on an all new meaning for me this year. I have always been a sensitive and sentimental person, but add the birth of our son into the mix, and the amount of sentimental mush that exists in my brain would make most people nauseous. I love, no, LOVE being in these moments with parents as I can read their love for their children in their expressions, body language, and shared gestures. These moments are so poetic to me, and I am often awestruck when these moments unfold.

The excitement a family shares together as they welcome a new baby into the family….

Or the happiness of little boys playing with their daddies outdoors. Can’t you just imagine this scene unfolding in their front yards when daddy returns home from work each evening.

The family relationships that I get to be around are so inspiring to me as I notice how she looks at him with admiration, even at such a young age.

Or knowing how little boys are especially loving to their mothers, and the gentle touch of his sweet little hand sends love oozing over every crevice of this mommy heart. This is how we see them….the moments we share with them….

The tricks we perform on a regular basis when its almost nap time….

The way she stands when she’s up to something….

A brilliant memorization of distinct tickle spots for each child, and remembering how they would squeeze out a “stop it” through their giggles, but stick by just close enough so you would bring them back into your arms and tickle them once more.

The exhilaration you feel as a parent when playing with your child and the world and its responsibilities fade to the background as you soak in the moment.

Remembering the moments that they considered each other their best friend.

Their laughter….

oh….The sweet sweet sound of their laughter …. coupled with mannerisms that are unique to each child, like the way she shyly breaks her gaze when a deep giggle erupts.

These are the types of things I want to remember about Mason and children yet to join our family. Yes, I hope to have a collection of images that remind me what they look like at each age, but even more so I could not possibly have enough images that capture who they really are. Each one a unique blessing. Changing so rapidly, relating to us so differently, shaping us so instinctively.

We share so many wonderful moments with our children. It was my goal to focus on preserving more of those moments throughout 2011, and my plan is to continue to explore and push this even further throughout the coming year. As I take a break from shooting this month, I have been spending a lot of time creating a plan to capture more of these types of images for my clients. I am so excited and energized for sessions to start back up in a few weeks, and I am so thankful for the clients represented in these images (and many others like them from the year) who welcomed me into these beautiful moments.

Since this is a process of exploration for me, I would love to hear from you about your favorite images (and why) from this post. I would love to take in your thoughts and add your voice into my process.

xoxo,

Heather