FAMILIES

INVESTMENT GUIDE

2025

WELCOME

My books are officially open for 2025 and I will be taking on a max of 2-3 sessions a month so I can really pour into the families I work with.

A couple of new things! After the last two years of slowly incorporating more and more film into my work, I am now officially shooting both film and digital for every session. This is not an add on, or something I’ll leave out, it’s just a part of the way I work and part of what keeps me inspired. I’m really excited to show you how much heart it adds to your gallery.

I’m also adding in an offering for studio sessions on a limited scale. I’m really looking forward to seeing what these sessions grow into.

This year I’ll continue to spend time working with each family ahead of their session to create inspiration for us to drive the mood and feel of the session. I’m leaning into documenting families that are both interested in the rawness of a real moment, but also put thought into the overall vibe and aesthetic of the session. I’m available to consult on locations and styling to achieve the look and feel you want for your session in a way that feels authentic and enhances the story we’re telling.

If you resonate with the direction I’m taking in my work, I’m really looking forward to creating some beautiful images together this year!

THE SESSIONS

Family Day Session

My signature session and favorite way to work with families. A Family Day session is a way to bottle up this phase of life and all of it’s little particular details. It is a gift to your future selves. What makes a Family Day Session different from any other family session? This is a purely documentary experience. No posing, no direction, just your family being together and doing what you do. And because printed images are always my intended result for all the photos I take, after our session you will get a custom designed book with the images from your session so the images can live on.

—> Read More

3 hr long form session
1-2 Locations
Full Printing Rights
At least 150 High-res digital and film images
Custom designed hardcover book
Collaborative Mood Board

$2000

Extended Family Session

Continue to document your family’s memories together even as you grow and add new members and another generation. The time you get together is precious and likely never feels like enough. An extended family session gives us time to take more formal photos of different combinations of family members (grandparents with grandchildren, mom with all of her girls, one of the uncles together, etc). We’ll also prioritize some time for you to spend together in a more relaxed way - maybe in the kitchen making dinner together while a ball is tossed out in the backyard, maybe on a neighborhood walk to get an ice cream cone, or for a sunset cruise on the boat at your cottage.

—> Read More

1hr - 90m
1-2 locations
Full Printing Rights
At least 100 High-res digital and film images
Collaborative Mood Board

$1500

Family Portrait Session

My most popular offering. Family portraits can take many shapes. A session cuddled up at home, reading books on the couch or making cookies together in the kitchen. A trip out to the beach to run in the sand and splash your feet in the water. A walk around the neighborhood with a stop at the playground you always go to before dinner. This is a time to create intentional portraits with a lot of room in between for life to happen. I take an artful approach to creating family portraits, but the unexpected moments are always where my favorite images are made.

—> Read More

1 hr
1 Location
Full Printing Rights
At least 75 High-res digital and film images
Collaborative Mood Board

$800

Studio Session

Studio portraits are a new offering for 2025 and at this time the scope of these sessions is limited. These sessions are open to individuals for creative headshots or maternity images, as well as motherhood sessions for mothers and their children under age 10. Sweet and simple.

—> Read More

45 min
Studio Rental in Grand Rapids
Full Printing Rights
At least 60 High-res digital and film images
Collaborative Mood Board

Maternity - $650
Motherhood- $800

TRAVEL

I love to travel, but I’m in a season of life where traveling for sessions is difficult. I’m a mother of two young children, am often traveling on the weekend for weddings, and have childcare and my husband’s work schedule to balance. Travel outside of West Michigan is very limited for family sessions and highly dependent on the location, time of year, etc.

When I’m able to travel, any sessions outside of West Michigan (approx 35-40 miles from Grand Rapids) incur an additional travel fee. Fees will be quoted based on location and will account for my travel time, mileage, and any necessary accommodations.

Kind words

As always, I’m amazed at what you’re able to capture. I walked away from our session truly wondering what kind of images we’d get back - thinking about Charlie and her unwillingness to be in any other position than on me after that fall. But I should know better by now, right? Somehow, you always deliver beautiful, magical images that we will cherish forever. I am so thankful that we will have these images year over year to look back on as Charlie (and our next one!) grows up. We are so lucky!”

- Fenn Family
"I’m very picky about photographers and searched and searched for someone who would show the emotions of our relationship, didn’t turn the saturation all the way up on the edits but also within our growing family’s budget. It’s more difficult than you think! Then I came across you and was so thrilled by the images I saw and knew I had to book a date with you immediately. But these images? I didn’t know how many beautiful images would come out of a session but you DELIVERED. These are incredible. All of them. The ones of me by myself made me see myself in a different light instead of the exhausted, barely hanging on human I feel like I am in day to day. Thank you so much for photographing (my partner) and I during this special time in our life and we will cherish these photos for the rest of our lives."

- Jamie, expecting mother
"We love them. Your work is so stunning (as always!) and we are so profoundly grateful for the gift that these photos are. Just cannot even say how much we love them & how happy we are! Thank you. "

- The Peterson Family

THIS MOMENT

IS EVERYTHING

The dappled sun on the lawn and the way the spray from the sprinkler catches the light. The chocolate ring around their lips even though they’ve only eaten one M&M. The head full of bouncy curls that you’re secretly worry will straighten as they grow. The towel that’s so big when wrapped around them that drags on the floor as they waddle into their room. The way their hand grips your shoulder when you hold them on your hip. The face they make to get their older sister to laugh. The pruny fingers when they finally get out of the pool. The little bits of play doh you find in every room of the house. The mountain of ketchup it takes for them to eat one scrambled egg. The dimples. The freckles. Everything. All of it.

FAMILY DAY

Family Day sessions are my signature documentary session designed to capture exactly what you’re always trying to make time for: a family day. As my own children grow, my husband and I keep looking at each other in disbelief saying “when did we have to stop helping them get their shoes on? When did they toddlers turn into kids?” The rhythms and routines that take up so much of our days and seemingly so much of our lives start to fade into new rhythms and routines and sometimes we don’t notice until we look back. I want these sessions to feel like gifts to your future selves. A time capsule, bottling everything up from macaroni under the high chair to shrieks and giggles as you chase your children through the house. We do a fair bit of planning ahead of the session so we can decide how we’d like to spend our time and so I can really understand your family dynamics. I like to spend part of the time in your home, and part of the time out on adventure. This might look like making dinner together and then walking to a nearby park, Saturday morning pancakes in pajamas followed by books on the couch and a family hike - an sweet rituals that you find yourselves doing on a regular basis.

The beauty of this session? You don’t have to worry about outfits, you don’t have to worry about getting the kids to smile or laugh or do anything. You just have to be yourselves and though you’ll feel my presence, I’ll start to fade into the background as you go about your family day together. After the session, I’ll design a book with your images so that you have a custom heirloom to flip through instead of just a digital gallery to scroll.

The images below are from a summer evening Family Day session in Holland. This family routinely takes a pizza to the beach for sunset. After dinner their kids went for a quick swim, and then we all went back to their house where I documented them as they had their baths and got into pajamas and read books as a family on the couch.

*Weekday and select weekend availability

EXTENDED FAMILY

The perfect session for that one long weekend when the whole family is in town (or on a vacation here in Michigan) and you realize a lot has changed since the last time you were photographed together. Maybe weddings have happened, new babies have been born, or you realize the last nice photo of you and your parents involved a cap and gown. It’s time.

During an extended family session I’ll make sure to get formal portraits of different combinations of family members as well as more organic, candid images. The ones with feeling. We’ll do the classic “all of the grandkids together!” and all of the combinations you can think of. Each smaller family will have a some one on time time to get a few photos. We’ll also want to plan the session around a laid back activity you can enjoy together as a family. Something like roasting marshmallows over a campfire, heading to the beach to catch the sunset, cooking dinner in the kitchen while someone plays with the kids out back. We’ll plan ahead of time and come up with some ideas that are unique to you and feel very natural for your family.

This images below are from a spring session in Pentwater. This family chose to hang out on the porch at their cottage and play some yard games together. Then we headed down the road to the state park to run around in the sand, hike the dunes, and blow bubbles.

*Weekday and select weekend availability

FAMILY PORTRAITS

Whether we stay cozy inside your home or venture out to a beautiful location, let’s slow things down a bit so we can hold onto some of the magic of your life right now. As a mom, I know how quickly this time moves and how often you look at them and wish they wouldn’t get any bigger. Family portrait sessions are about those moments. They are not high pressure situations where we sweat about making everything perfect. They are about embracing the chaos and letting things be what they are. They are about romanticizing your life even while it all feels like a lot. They are for people that are feeling all of the feelings, but also love a vibe.

Our time together will be a blend of me prompting and redirecting you to createful something really special, while also letting it all come undone and embracing the unexpected. Ultimately, your children are the art directors and will lead the way.

The images below are from a summer evening backyard session in Grand Rapids. We planned a shoot that would lean all the way into the fleeting feeling of a childhood summer and incorporated matching dresses, their swing set, popsicles, a blow up pool, and the costumes the girls had been wearing non stop. The family played together in the yard and let the girls take the lead.

*Weekday availability

STUDIO SESSIONS

Something new I’m feeling out for 2025 is studio sessions. I love the stripped down feel of a studio and how the minimalism of the location really draws your eye to what’s happening in the image. I’m currently envisioning these sessions as beautiful maternity sessions in a safe (warm) place where we can document your beautiful bump on full display. I’m also picturing motherhood sessions - just you and your kids. Barefoot, natural light streaming through, mostly black and white - a new take on the studio family photos many of us will remember from the 90s.

The images below are from a studio headshot session in Grand Rapids.

*Weekday availability

FAQ

Weekend availability is very limited and reserved for Family Day and Extended Family sessions. I am also a wedding photographer, so many of my weekends are spoken for with wedding work and the travel for those jobs.
Both! The biggest change starting in 2025 is I’m incorporating film into every session. I’ve been slowly becoming more of a hybrid shooter since 2023, and now it’s really important to me to extend this offering to my portrait work.
It takes 4-6 weeks to receive your full gallery. I pour a lot into the editing process, and it takes a bit of time to get film back from the lab as well. Expect longer 5-6 week wait times if your shoot is between late August and late October.
Your full gallery of digital and film images will be delivered via a password protected gallery.
This will depend on the age of your child - but in general I find it best to not put too much pressure on them. Things like bribes for good behavior, forcing certain outfits, and coaching them to smile often backfires - what we ultimately want is to photograph them as in their element as possible!
Depending on the age of your children I’d highly recommend some easy and non-messy snacks to avoid any hunger breakdowns. A change of clothes is always a good idea too - just in case.
Absolutely! If you need help pulling outfits together that coordinate with our location and the vibe for the shoot I always love to collaborate on the session styling.
This might happen. Children are people and sometimes they just aren’t having it. On my end, I try to develop a rapport with children and come on slowly so they don’t feel nervous or feel pressured. Part of the reason I offer longer sessions is because it can take some time for children to feel comfortable enough to be themselves. We’ll talk ahead of time about your children’s personality and what does and does not work well to get them to engage. We’ll put in an effort to make them feel comfortable and hope for the best!
We will be in touch with each other the week of your session and if weather looks like it may be a concern we will discuss our options and choose a new date if necessary.
I’m always happy to photograph your whole family - including beloved pets. If you’d like your pet to be involved in a session on location (not at your home) we will need to select a place that allows animals. Keep in mind that managing an animal while trying to remain present with your family can be difficult depending on their temperament, so you may want to make arrangements to only have your pet involved for part of the session.