I had the wonderful opportunity to co-shoot this session with the talented Tracy Layne of Tracy Layne Portraits. We wanted this to be different than the usual "at-home lifestyle" family session. You know- where everyone is gorgeous and the light is magical and the house is immaculate. I love those sessions (who doesn't!?) but we were after something else. We wanted spilled milk, dirty dishes, messy hair, kids dressing themselves, and toys on the floor. Just a normal day in a fairly normal home.

There's immense grace and love in the everyday- in the average- that, far too often, goes unsung. So you're sweeping up Cheerios off the floor for the gazillionth time, putting food in baby's mouths seemingly non-stop, and side-stepping toys that were supposedly put away yesterday- I'm not sure there's a greater love than that of a hard working, patient, selfless mother caring for her family (or, if you're like me, it's more like working hard to be patient and selfless). That quiet, diligent, often unnoticed beauty is what Tracy and I set out to capture.

This is Kylee and her three cuties. I love Kylee. I live four doors down from Kylee. I hope these images will help show her how beautiful her mess and love truly is everyday.

Mamiya 645 ProTL, Canon eos3 with Portra 800 and Tri-x film.

(See Tracy's images from our session here!)