Darren + Laura | Expecting

Friends and family have been patiently awaiting the delivery of Darren + Laura’s little peanut and SHE (surprise!) arrived last night! I’m so excited to share some photographs her parents asked me to make, as their chosen family photographer, in the time leading up to her birth!

In my line of work, I get to share some really special times with some really special people. Maybe at the beginning, they are planning one of the most memorable days of their lives; we meet for tea, create some engagement photographs together, keep in touch between, and then it arrives: the wedding day! There are hugs, laughs, tears, speeches, and honeymoons … and then there’s back to “real life”. The jobs. The adjusting to married life. The dreams of what comes next!

As couples I’ve had the opportunity to photograph over the years start growing their families to include new homes and children, I’ve had  my own little dream growing – a dream that Darren + Laura were on board with and were gracious to be my guinea pigs with!

My dream is to photograph families in a way that shows who and where they are in this moment; I want to be help people document their “right nows” so that years down the road, when Darren + Laura’s little daughter has long since left her parents and started her own life, they can all look back together and share these little things, these memories that are a part of who they have become. It’s not about having everything be polished to perfection and ready for a magazine, but about celebrating real life and being honest instead. It’s the crazy (amazing!) retro wallpaper in the entranceway they may laugh about later, the parents’ wedding pictures displayed in the living room that gave the now-grown child an extra sense of family security and love when she was small, the big fireplace that warmed the family up after long winter plays at the park up the road, and the rooms that were painted with love and care and help from grandparents, excited to be sharing in the stories and victories of their children and future grandchildren.

It’s these little things that make up a family’s history; these little things that no one photograph can tell the full story of, or any family session in the park alone can give sight into, but something that I might be able to document even just a little bit of, for families to hold on to through the years.

Darren + Laura, thank you for sharing these special life moments, for believing in this dream, for trusting my vision, and for opening your home to me. May you and your daughter look back on these images one day and be reminded of the excitement of waiting for your firstborn, and of the love, warmth, and joy that filled your home in anticipation of her joining you there. I can’t wait to meet your new little lady, witness your journey into parenthood, and continue this story for you and your family. XO