One of the things I love about being a birth photographer is seeing the babies when the families come back for other portraits as the littles grown up. I had a recent family session with a little one whose birth I photographed.

I have to be honest with you - I am NOT a morning person. I'm the type who will hit snooze as many times as humanly possible and make any excuse to avoid early morning activities. However, when it comes to sunrise sessions, I am a completely different person. I can't quite decide if it's because I just love my job that much or because nothing beats a Charleston sunrise (except maybe a Charleston sunset). Either way, I was up as soon as my alarm went off and happily headed out the door.

We were blessed with a beautiful, mild spring morning. We started with a few standard family portraits before moving to some mommy-daughter and daddy-daughter photos. We then walked to a different area of our location, and my camera was working the whole time. It's no secret that candid photos are my favorite. It's the best way to capture a little one's personality or the relationship between family members.

Once we made it to the next spot, we took a few more family portraits and some of mom and dad alone. You'd be amazed how often parents haven't had a nice photo as a couple since their wedding day, so I always try to get some photos of just mom and dad.

Enjoy this sneak peek and if you want to know more about my portrait services, click here.

As an artist, I think it's important to take on personal projects. I absolutely LOVE working with my clients and photographing their families, but I sometimes get caught up in everyone else's moments that I neglect the beauty in my own everyday life. 

This year I decided to participate in the Life in 52 project. One photo (or photo series) a week for a year. No themes or rules or requirements. It just has to be LIFE. This project is perfect for me because I love lifestyle photography. I've said it many times before, but while I love the most posed portraits I take for my clients, my absolute favorites always come from natural interactions and play time at the end of my sessions. Of course, it's also why birth photography is my specialty. Life doesn't get any more real than a birth story. 

Now in my first week of this project, Mother Nature has given me the perfect surprise: SNOW! Here in Charleston, SC, we have snow accumulation about once every decade. The last time we had snow that actually stuck was in 2010 and it was only an inch or two. This year, on January 3rd, we got 5 inches of snow! Just to give you an idea of how rare that is around here - the last time we got that much snow was in 1989!

My daughter, Bug, has been very curious about snow recently and was so excited when I told her we might get to see it. I had to warn her not to get her hopes up because it's not uncommon for meteorologists to predict snow that never comes here. This year was the opposite. We were only predicted to get 1, possibly 2, inches. We were all stunned when the snow just kept falling well past the 2 inch mark. 

When you're a photographer and you get an opportunity that only comes once every 10 years, you get out the big camera!

Without further ado, here's my official Week 1 photo for the Life in 52 project: Bug seeing snow for the first time in her life.

Of course, I can't just share one picture and be done. So enjoy a few more photos of my little family's experience with Charleston's big snow day!