Love Letter to a Richmond Family Photo Session

Dear New Family of Four, 

I hope you loved this family photo session at home as much as I did. When I came to your Northside Richmond home this spring, we weren’t sure exactly what we would do together. We had a general idea of what we wanted, but we let the hour kind of glide on its own, letting Big Sister lead us while giving a little nudge here and there. Give Little Sister a bottle, go outside when we needed a change of location. 

I hope you see in your family’s photos what I saw through the camera: the gentle care, the laughter, the encouragement and play and joy. I hope you see the photos of toddler tears and remember how you helped her with her big feelings, didn’t shame her for having them in front of me when you weren’t sure how I would react. I hope you remember how you spoke to her gently and played with her fully, even as tired and sleep deprived as you were with a five week old newborn. 

I hope you see how she cared for her baby sister and remember how involved she wanted to be; how she insisted on helping her little sister all on her own. I hope you remember how well they got on right from the start. I hope, now several months later, that they’re still getting on just as well, even with the novelty of newness starting to fade. 

I know you said you were apprehensive about how your house would look in photos. But your home is beautiful, packed full of love and personality. The perfect backdrop for family photos, and even more, the perfect backdrop for raising your girls in Richmond. 

Please give your sweet pup a pat on the head for me. She was so patient and hung out with us even though you thought she might be too nervous to be around me. I felt honored that she stuck around and let me give her ear rubs, and never made me feel unwelcome.  

I hope you love the album you bought with your print credit; I hope it brings you all years of joy as the girls grow up. I hope it helps you as you all slowly forget those first few weeks of a family of four. I hope it surprises you and reminds you of all the best parts of this spring in Richmond. 

I hope we can see each other again soon. I want to marvel over how much the girls have grown, see you all in a different season (both literally and figuratively), chat about the things we’ve learned about life since the last time we met. I want to remark on all the things that have changed and all the things that have stayed the same. Maybe next year? Let me know.

All the best, 

Allison