I’ve had many adventures around the Phoenix valley with this family of 3. We’ve done all kinds of family photos at different places and spaces including the Hassayampa River Preserve in Wickenburg, Arizona to Sahuaro Ranch in Glendale, Arizona.
A lot of times, part of my job as a Phoenix photographer is finding places you are visioning for your photos. So when the mom of this family reached out and said, “I want to do something different.” I knew we needed to do something different than just the green parks, ranches, or even the desert. So they were willing to walk downtown Phownix with me around the Arizona Center for their family photos.
They came prepared with two outfit changes to get different looks, because let’s be real, we can get a lot of different looks downtown from edgy to classy. And as you will be able to see from the photos, we did everything from bright and neon background to soft greens in a city park downtown. The opportunities are endless…even walking across the street with traffic in the background.
This session was a bit different for me in that I saw the girls growing, but especially the little one, Sophie. I’ve been photographing this sweet young lady for the past 4–5 years, and my heart sank a little during this session. I could see it… she’s starting to want to be older. She’s beginning to see herself as older. The things that once lit her up like spinning in circles just because it’s fun, now feel a little too “childish” to her.
She’s still growing so beautifully, but you can feel her perspective shifting. And wow… if it feels fleeting to me, I can only imagine how it must feel for her mom.
This is why I love full family sessions. They give us time to slow down, to capture not just the family as a whole but the little in-between moments…the ones that disappear before we’re ready.
Oh, how I wanted to pause her right there and say, “Don’t grow up just yet, sweet girl. Keep dancing. Keep twirling. Stay in that carefree space as long as you can. Life will rush in soon enough, and one day you’ll wish you could spin back time.”