Family Photography At Village Park In Thiensville

One of my favorite things about being invited back year after year is how well I get to know the people in front of my camera. When I first photographed Bridget and Erik, Kane and Calla weren’t here yet. We were taking engagement photos fall of 2017, their wedding was still ahead of them, and the family I photographed recently at Village Park in Thiensville was still years away from existing.

Since then, I’ve photographed their wedding, both Kane’s and Calla’s newborn sessions, and their yearly family photographs. There’s an entire history behind the pictures we make together now, and I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to hand that engaged couple a photograph from this session so they could see who was coming.

Photographing Bridget & Erik’s Family At Village Park In Thiensville

Our latest session brought us to Village Park in Thiensville, a local spot for my Mequon families, and we had such a fun time together! I loved getting to see Bridget, Eric, Kane, and Calla again and adding another year to the collection we’ve been making since before the kids were born.

When I photograph a family regularly, I notice how much can change between visits. A year doesn’t sound particularly long when you’re scheduling the next session, but then everyone arrives, and the baby I once photographed is another year further into becoming their own person. Meanwhile, their parents have been there for the daily changes, which makes some of them harder to see. You’re buying the next size up, adjusting routines, and learning whatever this version of your child needs from you. But then after our session together seeing the pictures side by side suddenly you can see how much has happened!

I think about that every time a family comes back to me because making time for photographs takes effort, especially when you’re coordinating schedules and getting kids out the door and I’m grateful that Bridget and Erik continue to trust me with it.

How Motherhood Deepened My Love For Family Photography

I loved this work before I had Lake, but becoming a mom has made my passion for family photography stronger and much more personal. I’m in the thick of it, too, loving the life happening in front of me while also trying to keep track of everything that needs to happen before bedtime.

I understand how you can spend all day with your child and still look at photographs of them after they fall asleep. I also understand the strange feeling of being excited about who they’re becoming while already missing something they were doing a few weeks ago. You want to remember it all, but you’re also busy being their mom and that’s why photos are so important to me and why I’m thinking about the photographs you want today and the ones you don’t know you’ll need yet during our sessions together. I know that an ordinary detail can become something you wish you could experience again and again and again.

When I photograph Bridget and Erik with Kane and Calla, I bring our years of history together, my experience behind the camera, and my own understanding of how much these years hold. My job means more to me now because I’m living through my own version of what I’m helping other families remember.

Enjoying Your Family Photos In Albums And On Your Walls

The longer I photograph families, the more I care about what happens after you see your gallery. I want you to enjoy your photographs without having to remember to look for them.

There’s something wonderful about walking past a framed photograph of your family while you’re going about your day. You might be carrying laundry or heading into the kitchen, and there you all are and you can’t help but smile and be taken back to that very moment or chapter in your life.

An album gives you another way to spend time with those memories because you can leave it on the coffee table, open it with your child in your lap, and let one photograph turn into a conversation about when they were little.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the convenience of having photographs on my phone, but I want our family pictures to have a place where we see them on purpose. I don’t want my clients only enjoying their family photos when they accidentally scrolling past the right image while searching for something else; especially after we’ve made the time to create them.

A Family Photography Experience With Album And Artwork Design

I know how easily making an album becomes something you plan to do when you have more time. First, you need to choose the photographs, then figure out a layout, decide where to order, and somehow finish before something else needs your attention.

As a mom, I understand exactly how that project stays unfinished. It matters to you, but so do a hundred other things, and several of those things are currently asking you for a snack. 😂

That’s why design help is such an important part of my family photography experience. My in-house design specialist helps you choose your favorites, design your album, and select frames, matting, and wall art for your home. Your finished pieces arrive at your door, and you get to enjoy the photographs we made together.

I care about that part because I want the experience to feel complete. You’ve trusted me to photograph your family, and I want you to have something you can hold, open, and come back to with the people in those pictures.

Preserving A Family’s Story Through Yearly Photographs

For Bridget and Erik, our photographs now stretch from their engagement and wedding through their babies’ first days and into these yearly family sessions. Someday, Kane and Calla will be able to look through that history and see their parents before they became parents, then find themselves arriving in the story.

Bridget and Eric will have their own reasons to return to those photographs; they’ll remember things the kids were too little to remember, and they’ll be able to show them what those years looked like while everyone was busy living them.

Every session gives us something new to add, and the photographs we made years ago keep becoming more meaningful – –  just another one of the reasons I love being a family photographer so much.

Bridget and Eric, thank you for continuing to invite me into your lives. From your engagement to this afternoon at Village Park, I’ve loved being your photographer and getting to know the family you’ve become.

Book Your Mequon Or Thiensville Family Photography Session

My Spring/Summer 2027 calendar is open for families in Mequon, Thiensville, and the Milwaukee area. If you’ve been wanting photographs of this season of your family’s life, I’d love to help you create them and turn them into an album or artwork you’ll enjoy at home.

Visit Foto-29.com to start planning your session.