Portraits of my Mom // Adventure Portrait Photographer

My mom hates the cold—for that matter, so do I—but there’s something that happens when it’s time for photos: the cold doesn’t seem to matter as much anymore. Partially, that’s because during photo sessions with me you’re usually moving around a fair amount, fluffing your dress if you have a long, flowing one, dancing or running around with your significant other, or climbing all over everything. It keeps you fairly warm. I also like to think that maybe there’s something about creating something that gets us excited and makes the elements not feel so bad for a bit. You wouldn’t even know that this day that my mom and I went out was a 20 degree heat wave of 40 degrees in November. I NEVER would have imagined that I would see my mom without a winter coat under 50 degrees, haha. We did take frequent breaks to bundle and warm up briefly.

There’s a special reason that we chose this dress. We tried out a few different ones that my mom had in storage, like my grandmother’s long, yellow dress from the 1940s and a dress my grandma helped my mom make for her junior prom. We finally decided on this one with it’s full, flowing skirt that we could play around with so much. Actually, back in college, she made this dress for a ballroom dance event! She told me she didn’t think she had any photos of it or in it. I’m glad we had the opportunity to change that. :)

I’m so glad that she was willing to go out and make these portraits with me. I teared up as I was editing the last of them because photos of my family mean so much to me, especially now. A few years ago, my mother-in-law suddenly lost her battle with cancer. It makes me so sad that she didn’t like having photos of herself taken; she always thought there was something about her appearance that she didn’t like in photos. She was beautiful, though. And her heart even more so. I wish I had talked her into going out and doing a photo session with me so I could have those memories instead of just the ones I try to hold onto in my mind. There is something so important about portraits, and now we have such easy access to them. Please bless your family by getting in front of the camera so they may have memories of you to hold onto so they won’t fear they’ll forget what you look like.

Thank you, Mommy, for being willing to go dance and fluff your dress in front of my camera. I will truly cherish these photos for the rest of my life. I am honored that you gave me these memories, not only of going out and having fun, but also of you dressed up in a dress with such history. I love you!