Afternoon Sessions | Utah Family Photographer

Life keeps speeding by, in the most beautiful and heartrending of ways. The moments I remember, the moments I cherish are small ones. Lucy sleeping on my chest, my first, building tents with Jack, Nora coloring under the table. The walks in the park with Oliver, healing our hearts as we tried so hard for babies. Those walks, those snuggles, tackles, and sticky popsicles, sticky fingers, sticky kisses. Those are the memories that I hold onto. Those are the hands, constantly growing in my hold, that I miss. 

I wanted to create a session that tapped into the beauty of each home, each family, whether the story is of two, or two + puppies, or a family with bike rides, running through the sprinklers. These lazy, magic summer days are what I want to capture. I think those are the moments you want too. 

For the summer I'm offering The Afternoon Sessions. A one hour session centered around an activity that tells the story of your family. I want to work with you, to really get at the heart of who you are, and what is your truth and story. Afternoon sessions are $350, 1 hour, 3 rolls of film, and a consultation to understand where your family finds it's beauty. From making cookies, to brushing hair, reading and sleeping. These moments are heirlooms. A story that is constantly shifting and changing. 

For Ashley's in-home session, we captured her snuggling Maci, reading to her and watching the world spin by. It was everything small, and everything epic at the same time. It felt so pure and so real. I took these photos remembering me and Lucy, just the two of us, our world encompassed in afternoons. Thank you Ashley for letting me into your beautiful home, and capturing your sweet love for your daughter. 

Let's tell your story together! I would love to document your love. For more information please email me at: lindseystewartphotography@gmail.com.

Summer Magic | Utah Family Photographer

Is there anything sweeter then a summer evening with new friends in a beautiful mountain valley? Sometimes the choice to get out and live a beautiful life is as simple as putting down your phone, packing up all the towels, & sunscreen, & diapers, & chairs, & toys, & snacks. Okay! It's maybe never simple with three kids, but it is 100% worth it. 

Also worth it is documenting my own family in our own summer magic. It's something that's easy to forget, since I'm also balancing towel & snack duty, but something I never regret. I'm so grateful for friends like Sharstin, her sweet family and the beauty of simple connections. 

There is nothing sweeter then photographing children in the magic wonder of childhood. If you are interested in a similar lifestyle photo session, please contact me here. Let's create your own kind of wonder.

Motherhood

Motherhood was something I once thought of vaguely. I assumed it would happen, but never dreamt of as a girl. As the oldest of 6, I had dreams of travel, of University, speaking French and studying art. I was slightly dismayed when I fell in love so young, but since I make major life decisions on whims but return the same pair of pants 5 times, I jumped into the Love part, but not the motherhood part. 
When the dreams of motherhood came, they came slowly, hazy around the edges. Questions nestled in deeper and deeper and one day it wasn’t so much a question, but my heart soaring. 
Only not so much. As soon as the soft outlines crystallized, the story of infertility began. What started as a maybe morphed into the fiercest wish & the loneliest of journeys.
When I first held Lucy I was transformed. I never fully trusted in the pregnancy, but my arms knew her, our hearts had already met. I was hers & she was mine. It was the beginning of a million heartbreaking ends, and an infinity of firsts. I imagine armfuls of butterflies. I mourn each one that flies away, but the next one is so beautiful, my breath catches. 
You pack away the newborn clothes; she stops sleeping on your chest, but then she crawls into your lap, and says, “My Mama,” & holds your face. 
Three times a baby was placed in my arms, & Nora was my last. The hardest in all the ways, the one I said goodbye to growing babies with. I never knew that piece of the puzzle would be the hardest. I thought the starting was the one to break my heart, but, it turns out, the stopping is the piece that stays with you. 
I’ve been so lost in motherhood, that I’ve wanted to run, and scream and cry, “Where am I? Who am I?” And yet I yearn for them when they are sleeping and sneak in their rooms to breathe them in. 
I fail every day in my imperfections, but I hold their dreams closest to my heart. 
Motherhood is transcendental. It strips away everything you thought you knew. It humbles you in the deepest of ways. And yet, you become a warrior in your love. You are fiercer, you are gentler. You are deep in it. You now hold a million butterflies in your arms. 
I love you Lucy, Jack & Nora, so, so much.

Photo: Jessica Haderlie Photography