Being Intentional with Professional Family Portraits {Cumming GA Children Photos}

I have those days when I realize how much my boys have changed since I last "formally" captured a portrait of them. Sure, I have my phone and can grab countless children photos of my 2 year old with chocolate icing smeared all over his face from the doughnut he just ate or my 4 year old's hair sticking up from static after his 67th trip down the slide. I have those little moments on my phone, backed up to the Google cloud. One day I'll get those compiled into a photo book the kids can thumb through. But, as a mom of four young boys, I have a hard time making the time to create the opportunity to get a sweet image of them all together in the same frame. This, of course, can lead to the proverbial "Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes".

I'm pretty sure the last time I had all 4 of my boys gathered together for an intentional portrait was back when Jace, who is now 9 months old, was a newborn! Since that time, Evan has lost two teeth, Colton has grown about 4 inches, Grant has begun to lose his baby cheeks, and Jace, of course, has changed dramatically! All these changes in just 9 months.

So just last week, I had this realization that we were way past due for an updated portrait of my boys together (and individually!). There is an amazing little sunflower farm just around the corner from our home in Cumming, GA that was in bloom and I decided to quickly pull together coordinating outfits for them and head out to the field with my crew early one morning. I love how much their personalities shine through, especially in these individual portraits.

There are so many families who reach out to me who haven't had a professional family portrait taken in years. I've consulted with families who have had two children since their last portrait. Others haven't worked with a professional photographer since their wedding! Some have never experienced a portrait session outside of a quick, volume studio setting. Unfortunately, scheduling professional portraits to capture your little one's childhood so easily gets pushed off to next month, next fall, or next year. Children change and grow so quickly! I would encourage all families to be intentional and schedule a session around each child's birthday, specifically celebrating them, their interests, and capturing their personality! I guarantee you in 20 years you will not regret having professionally documented portraits of their childhood to cherish.

I love this stage in our family's life. All my boys are still so small. They still need their Mama for numerous tasks and they're so dependent on what I can provide them. That's what I love about owning a professional photography studio in the Atlanta area. I can do a vast majority of portrait consultations over the phone and schedule meetings around my boys' bedtimes and nap times. But at times I, like so many other moms, can get so busy with our routine and planning our calendar, looking to see what is next, that I just neglect to step back and treasure what I have in front of me.