Haven | Ruston LA Family Photographer

What a beautiful day for a spring session it was! I LOVE spring, but unfortunately it hardly lasts. It would seem we’ve only had hints of spring beginning of the week and it’s turned off summer. I hear a lot of people love summer, but I’m just not a fan. I might would be if I lived somewhere that didn’t have such intense humid summers but alas, I live in hot Louisiana. I know some people like it because they plan beach vacations. I actually dislike the beach. It’s hot with sun beaming now, I burn if I sit in the sun for 5 minutes. I hate crowds. I hate the feeling of sand in every crevice of your bathing suit and you’re wondering how in the world you could get it in there. The only beach I actually thought “I could get use to this” was a place near Charleston, SC called Sullivan’s Island. It was a local beach, no hotels, no umbrella rentals, no houses up near the shore. It was cool from the ocean air. There was a harbor right next to it where we could watch the ships sail off. A little lighthouse sat out still shining it’s light to guide. The beach filled with gullies as the tide came in. It was a magical place and totally made me rethink my distaste for beaches. But that’s currently the only beach I can take.

But this day was still cool from the exiting winter and little lifts of warmth filled the air. Mrs Dell had contacted me earlier in the winter and expressed her longing to purchase a gift to this special momma and her little girl, Haven. There are hardly any clients who bring their own location to the table, unless it’s at their home or family’s home. But she had a location in mind that she said bloomed beautiful yellow daffodils. Now I’m gonna be honest and don’t take this the wrong way, but when clients suggest their own locations it isn’t always a photogenic place. There are so many factors that go into a location. First is lighting, if you’re shooting for a certain time of day, some locations just aren’t going to be pleasing for a photo. Second is background, you may find a great bush of flowers that you think would be great for a session but if it’s got a wrecker station in the background, not too much variety in pictures unless it’s close up and filling the frame. I definitely get a little nervous going to locations without getting my eyes on it first.

Another thing she said was her brother had a blue FORD Bronco that she wanted to get pictures in. Ok so stop a minute, forgive me but my dad owned a FORD Bronco when I was a kid and I remembered that thing being horrid. So all I could picture was this thing

I mean this seriously had to be my dad’s truck or very similar to it. I wondered how in the world that was going to work for photos. So the day comes and I drive myself down to the location, following Suri’s direction to a T. When I pull up on this charming little house and a yard completely full of blue and white flowers. The sunlight was perfectly positioned back and filtering through the trees and a quaint little pond behind as a background. She couldn’t have picked a more perfect place. I immediately told her how I was nervous about the location but how awesome of a job she did picking it. BUT there was still that lingering question of the Bronco. I was trying to imagine how I was going to use it because I know like the above picture, that my dad’s didn’t have a bed but a weird trunk/bed. She had told me her husband was on his way with it and when he came down the winding little road here’s comes the cutest little light blue truck. Big enough for a two to comfortably ride. I may have dropped my jaw because I didn’t know a Bronco could look like that. It was perfect, I mean icing on the cake with whipped cream and a cherry on top. I gotta remember not to question Mrs Dell about ideas ever because she knocked it out of the park with everything.

Off we went. Haven took a minute to get use to the feeling of the grass and the presence of a camera in her face. I had to ask mom to get into a few pictures to start with so she could feel comfortable with someone with her. Mom started to play patti-cake with her and she quickly became happy and ready for a few pictures on her own. We even got a few pictures of momma on her own too! It’s so nice to document your baby but also yourself as you are at that moment. I look back at my mom and dad as young parents in pictures and I really enjoy seeing how they looked. It’s something your kids will enjoy looking at too. So glad mom came prepared for pictures of them together!

We of course got in that little Bronco at the end and we parked it close to the stone wall where the flowers overflowed the sides and a tree overhung above. It was such a picturesque spot, absolutely beautiful. Pair that with some lovely golden sun and you have the first glimpse of spring in a picture. Although Mrs Dell was not prepared to jump into a picture, it didn’t take too much convincing from me for her to jump in for a couple, and I’m glad she did. What a special relationship these two have. So glad to see these moments documented. Thank you so much for choosing me to take these special pictures. I am honored to do it.

If you want details and pricing for our family sessions you can check that out HERE.

You can also contact me for questions or if you’d like to book at [email protected] or message me on Facebook, just click HERE to be redirected to our FB page.

We still plan to offer our spring mini sessions in mid April – early May. Just depending on when flowers in the nurseries are in good bloom with large varieties. But we are excited for a springy set. Be sure to follow us on FB and Instagram to be sure you see our announcement for when those release and are ready for booking.