Imagine it's 20 or 30 years in the future. You're sitting around the kitchen table with your family. You're older. The kids are grown. They are adults now! You've had so many experiences together as a family. Ups and downs, highs and lows. Imagine you are reminiscing about the past - what life was like when they were younger...toddlers, school-aged. 

Maybe you decide to pull out the family photos. You're craving that feeling of nostalgia, of being able to tell stories of what life was like "back then." You grab your album of family photos from this year. What do you find?

Is it full of perfect smiles, beautiful outfits, careful chosen locations, prompted hugs and giggles? Do you remember the hassle of getting ready, bribing everyone to behave, and the relief you felt when it was all over?

Or is it full of real memories, raw emotion, nostalgia and stories of what life was really like? Maybe, there's photos of belly laughs from the inside jokes only your family shares. Maybe, it's the kids getting into mischief while Mom is in the kitchen cooking. Maybe, there are giggles, yawns, tears, and rolled eyes. You know, the things that make up your real life today.

A documentary style session is a way to hold on to a little bit of what makes your family special today. You're not just documenting how much they've grown and changed physically - you're documenting pieces of this phase of life that you just can't capture in any other type of photography session. A documentary session is filled with context. 

Documentary sessions are a way to preserve your story. How much they loved trains, or unicorns, or art, or theater, or baseball, or climbing trees, or being messy, or the way they dressed. They hold onto the way they smile when they are filled with joy, the way they get a little annoyed when you ask them to clean up their toys, the way they pick at their veggies but go crazy over dessert. It holds the details that one day you'll look back on and say, "remember when."

I don't know about you, but when I look back on my photos, I want them to be filled with stories and if that sounds like you, I'd love to show you just how magical your family really is.