I’ve lost a lot of people. That loss changed how I think about family photos and memories.

My grandmother, the one I’m named after. I was 8.

My cousin, three days after his tenth birthday. I was 12.

My grandfather who raised me the majority of my childhood. I was 20.

My oldest brother. I was 30, pregnant with my youngest, stationed in Guam.

My little sister. I was 32, right as we were about to move back stateside again.

My godmother, the one I looked up to most. I was 33.

Six people. Six different ages of my own life. Six times I learned the same lesson.

You never know which moment is the last one.

None of them walked out the door that last time knowing it was the last time. Neither did I.

My grandpa loved polaroids. He took them of everything and everyone, so I actually have a box of real photos of some of the people I’ve lost. I’m so thankful for that.

I want every family to have their own box like that one day.

Research on grief and photography backs this up. Photos don’t just capture a moment. They help people process loss and stay connected to who they lost.

That’s what family photos and memories are really for.

I know exactly what it feels like to wish you had one more photo of someone. That feeling is why I do this work and why I pour my whole heart into it.

I want you to have proof. The real laugh. The way you look at your kid. The way this exact chapter of your life actually felt.

So my sessions don’t feel like a photoshoot. They feel like time together. Kind of like a date night for your family.

I guide you the whole time. You relax and be fully present with one another.

Just real time together, and me to provide you photographic evidence of the memory.

If you’ve been putting off family photos because life is busy or it doesn’t feel like the right time, here’s what I want you to know.

There’s no perfect time. There’s just now.

Photos are a way of holding onto the people, places, and moments we never want to forget. That’s what family photos and memories are really for.

If that’s something you want for your family, I’d love to help. Reach out and let’s talk.