Each year you do the same thing, or you watch it unfold on social media and it goes something like this:

You book your photos in a field, maybe a forest. You spend $200 purchasing outfits no one will ever wear again. You get multiple versions, and plan to return them to the store later only to never actually get to it. You mentally prepare your kids and husband. You bribe and threaten every member of the family, including the dog.

By the time you show up for your sunset family shoot everyone is sweaty, annoyed, and the last thing anyone wants to do is pose in unnatural ways and force smiles while holding back tears. You only have 45 minutes and in between a couple games and smiles you worry: “Do I look ok? Will we get any photos since the kids aren’t cooperating? Ugh, as long as I get a few of them and ONE family photo.”

You anxiously await your photos. You get 15 meticulously hand edited canvas size images. The sun is amazing, the colors full of life, your family looks polished, Christmas card photos achieved!

Yet you can’t help but notice something is missing.

YOU. The person who put all this together and brought your whole world to be documented. You and the love that you have for them, and they for you. You, who is the center of your family’s universe. The one who the kids cry for, run to, and smother with a million slobbery, sticky kisses.

So this year, consider doing something different, and you don’t even have to purchase new outfits!

Let me make things easy for you. Let me make the photoshoot fun, a simple part of your everyday moments.

90 minutes of time that your family actually wants to take part it. Why? Because I’m not here to polish up your family. I want to capture actual memories for you.

If your family life was a European film, what would it feel like?

What is the thing you like to do together? For these guys? The littles love trains and buses. They live in the city so public transport is part of their every day lives. During our shoot in Jefferson Park we hopped on the train and rode a couple stops one way and back. And I have to say these are some of my favorite photos ever.

These aren’t just photos that you post on Instagram - competing on whose sunset looks best - these are slices of your life. Actual memories you will save in your heart, and not just you, but your kids as well. Why not make them more tangible?

We live in an age where everything is at our fingertips. I say it’s time to save our memories in the best ways, so one day your kids can smile with each other and talk about the fun stuff you did as a family, not just what you looked like in a field during sunset.

If you’re ready to capture your family in a way that feels like you, then I’d LOVE to work together.