Allison Family // Voice of America

I met Emily back in late? January? maybe? through a photography group here in Cincinnati- Ascend. I was drawn to her kindness and willingness to help anyone who needed it. I was really working on expanding my portfolio at the time and reached out to her to see if she would be willing to work with me on a maternity session. Emily was one of the first people who really hammered it into my head that I need to value myself and my work, and for that I will be forever grateful. We planned to do a small maternity session at Sharon Woods around her due date. My sister was due with her 4th baby within weeks of Emily, so it took some careful planning to nail down a date. However, life had other plans and Emily had to stay on bedrest for the remainder of our pregnancy, postponing our session. I had planned to offer her an in-home lifestyle newborn session (huge heart eyes- those are my fave tbh). But, we all know how that story goes: thanks COVID.

Thankfully, Emily and I were able to reconnect over the summer as things calmed down again. We decided to do a quick little family session right around sweet Evelyn’s 6th month anniversary of being on the planet (if you haven’t been able to tell I’m tired before now- that is the ONLY way I could think to say “Half Birthday”. Please send coffee and hugs to all photographers everywhere rn). We met up for the session at one of my favorite parks in Cincy- Voice of America. I love their open fields, tall grasses, and secluded trails- they are absolutely perfect to let the little ones run wild.

It was such a joy getting to spend some time with Emily, Gabe, Owen, and Evelyn. You can see how much they all love and care for one another. Owen is preetttttyyyyy much the best big brother in the world (keep scrolling to see the lil snack he tries to give his sister out of the goodness of his sweet heart). There were so many typical “kids will be kids” moments in this session and I loved every second of it. My philosophy for family sessions is to let the kiddos run the show. They want to be crazy? Cool. They want to snuggle their mommy the whole time? I am here for it. I think family sessions are a great way to document families as they truly are. Yes, I will do everything I can to get that “above the fireplace photo”, but I can’t promise I won’t also include the photo of the little boy with his finger up his nose.