Philadelphia Summer Mini Sessions

I stepped out of my car to be greeted by a swarm of humidity and heat. A sunny, summery day filled with anticipation and promise. As I walked down the gravel path to my destination, I couldn’t help but giggle a little because I still can’t believe this is my job. Getting to peek through the window into so many families' lives, hear their special inside jokes, and see the way they uniquely love each other is a precious gift.

Nothing screams summer more than running around barefoot, chasing your siblings around. “I want to take my shoes off!” Elsa immediately quipped upon arrival. And of course, like any younger sibling does, Malcolm followed her lead. Fun and energy radiated off this family. It reminded me of the simpler times when I was a kid when the only thing I had to worry about was running after my siblings.

“Can you get a picture of me picking up my sister?” was the first thing Max jovially said to me. Unafraid and far from timid, he also made some other hilarious, yet not quite appropriate to write here requests 😂 This is the type of family you want to be a part of; the family that you look at with a little bit of jealousy and wonder if they'd adopt you. They had me constantly laughing and also admiring their utter refusal to be anyone but themselves.

One of the things I love about living in South Philly is that it’s kind of a small world. After coming home from the park one day last week, I received an email from Hana saying that she thinks she saw me at the park. It turns out that I am neighbors with a lot of my clients! Little Clark is one of the happiest, smiley babies there ever was. With lots of “Happy Birthday” being sung, it didn’t take much effort at all to get him to smile. He also seemed to really enjoy chasing after my camera 😃 I’m sure we will bump into this lovely family at the park again!

Starting my own business taught me the joy of having someone personally refer you. I am so thankful to all of my past clients for referring me to their friends and family--as a small business owner this is one of the most helpful and incredible things you can do to support me! Emily was referred by a previous mini session goer, which is awesome! I think Emily must have read through the styling tips in my client experience guide (or she is a natural at outfit coordination) because she and her fam had the color coordination on point!

It’s time for more sibling-chasing and running around! If I had the energy of kids… no, to be honest I really can’t even imagine that at this point haha! I think kids must suck the energy from their parents and that fuels their limitless energy… but I digress. Sometimes I suggest a prompt to kids, and it backfires. And then sometimes it leads to even more laughs and fun, and you just roll with it. That definitely happened here, and it made for some pretty silly pictures that really capture the authenticity of this fun family.

As I stepped back into my car, sweaty and happy, I again felt the joy that comes from serving amazing families and having the privilege of giving them memories to cherish forever.