Spring 2020 • Waiting for M

There are some families who book one session.

Then there are families who become part of your story.

The L Family are one of those families.

I first met Maggie and Eric in the spring of 2020 when they reached out about maternity pictures. They were preparing to welcome their very first baby, and like so many first time parents, there was so much excitement mixed with all the unknowns that come with a brand new chapter.

From the very beginning, they were simply fun.

Easy to laugh with.

Comfortable to be around.

The kind of people who make you forget you’re technically “working.”

Looking back now, it’s hard to believe that one maternity session has turned into six years of documenting their family’s story.

As photographers, we get invited into some incredibly meaningful moments. When a family continues inviting you back year after year, there really isn’t a greater compliment.

Richmond Newborn In Home Photographer

Summer 2020 • Welcome Home

Not long after their maternity session, I found myself walking through their front door again, this time to meet baby M.

In home newborn sessions have always been one of my favorite things to photograph.

Of course I love the tiny fingers and sleepy babies, but what I love even more is the home itself.

That nursery is so much more than a beautiful room.

It’s where bedtime stories will be read hundreds of times.

Where stuffed animals will slowly take over every shelf.

Where little footsteps will eventually run down the hallway.

Where memories are just beginning.

Years from now, those rooms will look completely different, but these photographs will bring them right back to where it all started.

And if there’s a family pet wandering through the house…

You better believe I’m finding a way to include them.

One day, those little appearances become priceless because they tell the complete story of a family during that season of life.

2022 • Becoming a Big Brother

Two years later, I was back again.

This time to welcome O into the family.

One of my favorite parts of this session wasn’t actually photographing the new baby.

It was watching M proudly become a big brother.

There’s something so sweet about seeing a little one try to help, peek into the bassinet, snuggle beside their new sibling, or simply soak in all the excitement.

Those are the moments that disappear so quickly.

I’m so thankful they have photographs to remember exactly what that season felt like.

Every Fall • A New Chapter

Since 2020, we’ve met every single fall for family pictures.

Every year.

Without fail.

Looking back through their galleries is honestly one of my favorite things to do.

We’ve wandered through The Estate at Independence, Libby Hill, Historic Tuckahoe, the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, and Amber Grove.

The scenery changes.

The boys get taller.

Their personalities become bigger.

But one thing never changes.

The joy.

If you’ve ever met Eric, you know exactly what I mean.

He has this incredible ability to get M and O completely riled up in the best possible way. There’s chasing, laughing, wrestling, tickling, and usually plenty of goofy moments in between.

Meanwhile, Maggie just smiles.

She’s the kind of mom who embraces every bit of the chaos.

She’s patient, joyful, and completely at home in the wonderful adventure of raising two boys.

Watching their family interact is one of my favorite parts of every session because none of it ever feels forced.

It’s simply who they are.

Now when I arrive, M and O know exactly who I am.

Watching them grow from newborns into little boys who greet me by name has been one of the sweetest gifts this career has given me.

Summer 2026 • Back Where It All Began

This summer, we changed things up.

Instead of family pictures, it was just Maggie and Eric.

They were celebrating ten years of marriage, and we headed to The Fan, the neighborhood where so much of their story first began.

We wandered through familiar streets before stopping at Strawberry Street Market to share a cookie together, just like they used to years ago.

I loved that this session wasn’t about recreating old photographs.

It was about revisiting old memories.

One of my favorite details from the evening was something most people would probably never notice.

Maggie wore the same shoes she had worn to their rehearsal dinner ten years earlier.

I smiled the moment she told me.

I love little details like that because they’re reminders that every love story is built from hundreds of meaningful moments, both big and small.

As parents, it’s so easy for every photograph to become about the kids.

And believe me…I absolutely adore photographing M and O.

But I also loved getting to spend an evening celebrating the relationship that started it all.

Because one day, those little boys will be grown.

And these photographs will remind them that before Mom and Dad became parents, they were simply Maggie and Eric.

Two people who fell in love.

Who shared cookies at Strawberry Street Market.

Who dreamed about the life they would build together.

Here’s to the Next Chapter

When I think about the L family, I don’t think about one great session.

I think about six years of trust.

Six years of invitations into their biggest milestones.

Six years of watching a family become exactly who they were meant to be.

As photographers, we often say we’re preserving memories.

But I think it’s even more than that.

We’re preserving relationships.

We’re documenting the little things that become the big things years later.

The familiar laugh.

The favorite shoes.

The family pet wandering through the nursery.

The way Dad always gets the boys laughing.

The smile Mom gives because she knows this beautiful chaos won’t last forever.

The L have trusted me to tell their story every single year since 2020, and I will never take that for granted.

Here’s to six beautiful years.

And here’s to whatever chapter comes next.