Hickok Family at Home

The childhood home.

There is something so special about returning to the place you grew up with your own kids. Letting them get a glimpse into what your childhood was like. Picking raspberries from the same bushes you plucked berries from 15 years ago.

I am a deeply sentimental, nostalgic individual and feel so fortunate to have so many wonderful memories of summers spent with my maternal grandparents in Montana and my paternal grandmother in Oregon. So it comes as no surprise that some of my favorite family photos are the ones taken during younger families’ trips to their childhood home.

A few of my favorite snaps from one such trip home for the Hickok family.

Clifford Family at Home on the Ranch

For years, I would spend my afternoons looking for beautiful new locations for sessions. Wide open fields full of wildflowers with mountains in the background, a picturesque creekside - you know what I mean. But lately I’ve been drawn to the simplicity of home, no matter what “home” looks like.

Why home? It’s where everyone is most comfortable. It’s full of snacks and things that kids can turn to when they’re feeling shy or just generally not wanting to participate. And it feels less like “a thing we have to do” for kids when they have the freedom to wander off to their room when they need a break. All of this works together to give us more natural and honest photos of your family that better reflect the nuances of everyone’s personalities at this stage.

Sami and her family are lucky enough to have this big, beautiful ranch to call home and it was so fun to let the kids show me around. Lots of wandering, picking flowers, finding eggs, chasing chickens, climbing roofs, and some of my favorite family photos of all time in between.

If you’re looking to bottle up a moment in time without over-engineering it, I’d love to document this season for you.

Film scans by The FIND Lab

The Branch Family at Home

Historically, I’ve taken winters off from photography: it’s cold, the weather is wildly unpredictable, and the roads can be treacherous. As I’ve thought hard about what photography means to me though, and what I want to provide, I’ve found so much meaning in photographing families in their homes. The heart of it all: where families spend most their time together and where so many milestones, big and small, take place. So that’s what I’ve been doing this winter (and occasionally sneaking outside for some snow angels or sledding, weather permitting).

In-home sessions are particularly great for newborn sessions. I love how comfortable this whole session felt. Everyone was in their comfort zone and this sweet family’s decor reflected their fun personalities so well. I really loved the Dr. Seuss print boldly featured in their dining room: it reminded me of a print that hung in my family’s dining room when I was a kid. I never really loved that print, but I think about it so often - maybe because the dining room table was always the center of activities at home when I was a kid. It was where we ate, did arts and crafts, where I wrote *incredible* short stories on a massive old PC. I never thought much of that print, but it frequently appears in my memories of my childhood.

And as I think about it, I realize that those kinds of things are important to me to document. Whether it’s your forever home or just a stepping stone, your kids will search their memories for pieces of their childhood, and sometimes the most seemingly insignificant details are the ones that complete the puzzle. So please remember: your home doesn’t need to be perfect. Your wardrobes don’t need to be brand new. Eventually, your kids will simply want to see what life looked like and I’d love to help you provide tangible reminders of it all.

Film scans by