A Milestone Album: My Newest Favorite

Posted on February 25, 2020February 24, 2020 by Allison

Angie's eyes were wide with questions and a little anxiety when she grabbed me after church on Sunday. "HOW did you get a year's worth of photos into one album?" She was referring to my social media post on Saturday,...Read More

A Cozy Winter Mini Maternity Session

Posted on February 18, 2020February 18, 2020 by Allison

A couple of weeks after Claudia's family came to visit from overseas for the holidays, we got together again for a cozy winter maternity mini session at their home. The day was gloomy and rainy (like seemingly all days in...Read More

Years that Answer

Posted on October 1, 2019September 28, 2019 by Allison

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer." - Zora Neale Hurston I first heard this quote when I had plenty of questions of my own: What am I doing with my life? Will we ever get out of...Read More

An Important Announcement

Posted on July 16, 2019July 15, 2019 by Allison

I don't like to be in the center of attention. In case you didn't know, I much prefer to be behind the camera than in front of it. I was able to hide the fact that I was pregnant with...Read More

Let’s Make a Baby Registry

Posted on May 14, 2019May 13, 2019 by Allison

Let's talk registries for a second. I didn't do a wedding registry when we were engaged. I was 24, we already had the towels we needed, our bed was on the floor but we didn't care. In retrospect, I believe...Read More

Will You Miss This When It’s Gone?

Posted on May 7, 2019May 6, 2019 by Allison

Will you miss this when it's gone? It's not a matter of "if" something will go away someday. Every step along the way is a phase; it's all temporary, for good or for bad. The question is, will you miss...Read More

Into the Great Unknown

Posted on April 2, 2019April 1, 2019 by Allison

I've written a lot about life as a mother in the last year, and how much I've learned. I've mentioned the plethora of things I didn't know that I didn't know. Postpartum anxiety and depression, lactation issues, hormones, crying, cluster...Read More

Feliz Cumpleanos A Ti: Summer Maternity Photos

Posted on July 3, 2018July 1, 2018 by Allison

Today's a big day! It's Margoth's due date! I met Margoth and her family just a few weeks ago at our local library, where we talked through their needs and came up with a plan of attack for their summer...Read More

The Struggle Seems Real

Posted on June 5, 2018June 3, 2018 by Allison

I go through the photos from my infant son's monthly photoshoot, and cringe at the ones I'm in. "The struggle is real," I sigh, hardly recognizing me as me and instead seeing this person who took over for me in...Read More

Size Matters

Posted on May 22, 2018May 21, 2018 by Allison

Once upon a time, there lived a girl who covered her bedroom with photos of people she loved. The size didn’t matter; she had professional 8×10 photos hanging beside 5×7’s, casual 4×6’s, and 3.5×5″ prints, and even larger prints that...Read More

Allison Patel Photography

Family, Maternity, and Newborn Photography in Richmond, VA