07/21/2026
There are some photographs that become more than photographs.
Seven years ago, when I opened my first official studio, one of the very first newborns I photographed was this sweet little boy. (top image)
At the time, he was in foster care.
His foster mom told me she wanted newborn portraits because, if he was reunited with his birth mom, she wanted to make sure she would have beautiful photographs of her baby.
I never forgot that.
But God had another story to write.
She became his forever mom.
The photographs she had taken for someone else became the newborn portraits of her own son.
I loved that image so much that I printed it on canvas, and for the last seven years he's hung on the wall in every studio I've worked from. He's watched thousands of families walk through my doors.
Today, we photographed the very first session in our new Springfield studio.
Another little boy.
Another newborn.
As I edited his gallery tonight (bottom image)—completely exhausted from moving boxes, unpacking props, and trying to make this new place feel like home—I realized what I needed to do.
He's going on the wall too.
Not to replace the first little guy.
To stand beside him.
One welcomed families into the first chapter of this studio journey.
The other will welcome them into the next.
And somehow, that feels exactly right.
Maybe that's what I love most about photography.
Sometimes you think you're preserving a moment.
Years later, you realize you've been preserving a story all along.
More importantly ... these two ... well, they are a part of MY story.
