My undergrad from Texas A&M is in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences, which sounds like a fun major to explain at parties, and it is, but it also genuinely shaped how I photograph families. I spent time studying how environments affect the way people interact, how play reduces stress and builds real connection, and how facilitated experiences create memories that actually stick. Every session prompt I give you, every location I pick, every reason I'm telling you to just walk and stop looking at me comes from that foundation.

Shooting families taught me pretty fast that the wrong gear for the moment costs you the shot. My Canon R5 is paired with three lenses that each do something specific for the people in front of me. The 85mm f/1.2 is my portrait workhorse, creamy background blur, sharp subject (for the kind of image that makes a mom cry when she opens her gallery). The 50mm f/1.2 is where I live during most sessions. It's wide enough to include the commotion around your family but intimate enough to feel close. Then there's the 24-70mm, which is my secret weapon for those close-up shots where everyone piles in together and the slight wide angle makes the whole scene feel full and alive, like you're actually in the memory rather than looking at a photograph of one. But none of it matters without light though, and natural light is always the real collaborator. The gear just helps me keep up with it.

My editing philosophy is pretty simple. Colors stay true to what was actually in front of the camera, warm without being oversaturated, grounded in the real tones of the world rather than whatever filter trend is running the internet right now. If the grass was green and the light was golden, that's what you'll see. Also, skin texture stays. Smoothing faces into plastic is not something I do, because real skin is beautiful and editing it away just makes people look like a version of themselves they don't recognize. What I am pulling out through color and light is the feeling of the moment, the warmth, the energy, the joy that was already there. My job in editing is to make sure the emotion reads as loudly in the final image as it did in real life!

That's never really happened. At least... I always just roll with what we're all experiencing together. If it starts raining, let's catch raindrops. If your toddler has a meltdown about something, I'll step back and wait, but also quietly document your tenderness towards him. Those sweet, unprompted moments will always be some of my favorite frames.

Can we move around freely and can you be yourself in this area? If you're uncomfortable, it will show in the photos. I'm all about play and getting into a flow with your people that makes you forget you're at a "photoshoot," so if you can't be yourself, that can't happen!

Question level: impossible. Probably marketing for empowered female-owned coaching businesses and brands. I've helped many friends launch courses and find their voice, and there's a real joy in being Aaron and Hur to someone who just needs someone to hold their arms up (Exodus 17:12-14). That said, I'd still be sneaking my camera into your family's life somehow. Some things are hard to quit!