Ahhh this session is everything quintessential about summertime: bare feet in the backyard, freshly cut watermelon, and of course, gardens, bunnies, and chickens (my personal faves).

Before I arrived at the Leming’s home for their session I was feeling pretty excited. Katie is a fellow photographer and it always leaves me in awe when other creatives hire me to photograph their own families – it just feels really special.

When I arrived, we let the boys open up for a bit and relax into the pace of the session over a vintage game of Uno and some rough-housing in the living room. As a mom of girls I always love photographing families with boys who have *all the energy*.

We slowly transitioned through the backyard (barefoot, of course) where we gathered eggs, played with the cutest bunny named “Honey Bunny” and explored the large garden that the family undoubtedly harvests an abundance from each year.

Some of my favorite photos came next where (after baking in the warm sun for a bit) we trekked our dirty feet back into the kitchen to cut into a fresh watermelon. The image of the boys sitting on the countertop, feet dangling, and juice running from their chins is probably one of my favorite images from any in-home session I’ve photographed.

It just feels like the kind of image that I could have found in my own family photo albums from growing up – it’s one of those images that just feels really authentic and, well, real.

I want every session to feel that way though – authentic and real. Like it’s a freeze frame in time that will fade with growing children and the evolution of motherhood/parenthood, but won’t be forgotten.