FAMILY AT HOME // The Beatty Family

Their home has changed since we made these photos. Holiday decorations bring color where autumn leaves once lining the river receded into winter coming. The dark of solstice brought ice to a once flowered walkway. And the subjects, the individual beauty of these people who call each other family? They have changed too. We are all changing. The soul of this family has evolved by visiting new places, finding tradition in habit and routine, by feeling melancholy, exhaustion, and comfort ebbing and flowing- expanding them, shifting their shapes. But after all that they return home. Night after night, after moving through the world this is where we land; hurt and hollow, reeling and regal, wanting and adventuring in the nest of home. 

After discussing what it meant for Amy and Matt to be photographed, after the ordering of prints for walls and an albums to tell their home story, I was struck: There is never a good time to be photographed just as much as there is never a bad one. 

Every little bit of our lives together has value and tells the story of you and the people you love as they expand. Every moment is worthy. 

As the year ends, resolve to find the perfect photographer to see and capture you. Soon. Do it soon. Invite the camera into your home and show it what you look like, show it your unique untamed wild. And in showing up, you will be seen. And now is a great time for that.

FAMILY AT HOME // The Sanford Family

Colby and Alicia live a life of intention and artful trust that I deeply admire. This is our second time collaborating to make portraits of their family. This time Faye greeted me by name. She’s grown. We all have, but most obvious is her growth. She answered a question of, “Faye, what kind of cheese do you like?” with “SWISS!”. Her parents erupted in laughter and so did I.

We didn’t spend nearly as much time at the Sanford home as last year, opting to visit nearby Rock Canyon Park- exploding with the happy subtle fall colors often found in Colby’s home-centric painted celebrations of home and family relationships. The weather was brisk, the colors rich, and the sky was perfectly overcast (my preferred climate for photo session days).

This session Alicia wore a stunning red linen two-piece dress that she sewed and an abstract pattern crop. Colby’s knit cap and Faye’s cardigan are also Alicia’s creations. It is so easy to join Colby in seeing Faye and Alicia as generous muses.

See Colby’s prolific and moving painting HERE