I hadn’t met this family before the evening we spent together at Mint Springs Park.
That’s not unusual — plenty of my favorite sessions start as an introduction. But there’s something about meeting a family for the first time and watching them fall completely, obviously, head-over-heels in love with their little boy in real time that makes a session like this one stick with me.
Two parents. Their dog. Their first baby boy… and Mint Springs — with its open fields, dappled tree lines, and that golden, low light that starts to spill sideways across the grass right around the hour before sunset.
Getting to Know Each Other Through Play
When I haven’t worked with a family before, I don’t start with poses. I start with play. We walked the trails and fields. We let the dog do exactly what dogs do — sniff everything, run in eager circles, and answer every silly sound we made to get his attention, which only added to the laughter. Snuggles with their sweet boy in easy, seated places let us catch that soft glow, and I followed along as he reached for his mom, laughed at the dog, and explored this new park full of wonder.
Within ten minutes, nobody was posing anymore. Dad was tossing his son in the air, and I was catching the sound of his laugh mid-frame. Mom was holding and cooing to him with all the kisses, and their dog was watching like a big brother.
That’s the whole point of the way I shoot: movement over stillness, prompts over poses. “Chase him.” “Spin her around.” “Walk toward me and don’t look at the camera. Good! Now lots of kisses!” Real connection doesn’t hold still, and neither do we.
Why Golden Hour at Mint Springs Works So Well
Mint Springs Park is one of my favorite Crozet-area locations for exactly this kind of session — open meadow space for movement, tree-lined paths for softer, dappled light, and enough natural texture (grass, water, wildflowers, or fall leaves depending on the season) that every frame feels alive instead of staged. Add golden hour into the mix, and you get that warm, glowing, slightly hazy light that makes even a simple family and their dog huddled under a gorgeous fall tree look like something out of a dream.
The Moments That Matter Most
What I loved most about this particular evening wasn’t a single posed shot — it was the accumulation of small, unscripted ones. A dad’s hand wrapped all the way around his son’s whole little body. A mom’s laugh, echoed back in her baby’s own sweet giggles. A dog, front paws planted, sitting with his people like they hung the moon.
This is a family early in their story together, and it shows in every frame — that particular, unguarded, still-can’t-believe-we-made-this kind of love.
For Families Ready for Something More Than a Standard Portrait
If you’re in Charlottesville, Crozet, Ivy, or the surrounding Blue Ridge area and you want family photography that captures real connection — not a lineup of stiff smiles — I’d love to meet your family too, dog included.
Whether it’s a favorite park, your own backyard, or somewhere brand new, I build every session around your family’s actual energy, your light, and the way you move through both.
Let’s talk about your session →
