Monthly Archives: February 2016

lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker

Good Morning friends and fellow mamas!!

It’s ALMOST Valentines day so you know what that means… it’s time to start the festivities!!!!

Yesterday I was able to spend the morning with some of my favorite little cuties!  We shared some Valentines donuts and wore our tutus and our glitter headbands and danced and twirled and jumped on the beds!  Ashley and I drank our coffee, slowly, which is amazing when you think about the morning we spent with two wild ones;  but we talked about motherhood and the wonderful wildness it is to have two incredibly independent strong willed three year olds!

We left glitter dust in our wake from our extra girlie powdered donuts and I was able to capture some beautifully tender moments between mother and daughters!

What better Valentine gift could you ask for as a mother?!  A morning spent in the arms of her two tiniest loves, kisses that are filled with magic and unconditional love, and a boundless joy that makes a mother’s heart sing with wild abandon!  These are the gifts that a mother knows and longs for;  these are the gifts that allows a mother’s heart to burst with pride and allows her to feel just as wild and free as her children!

These are the moments that are imprinted on the heart forever more!

lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker

lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker

Doesn’t Ashley look like such a classic beauty here?!  I feel like she’s such a Jackie or an Audrey!!!

lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker

Oh Waverly… you crack me up!!!

lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker

lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker

Avalon went down for a nap and so the rest of us girls had ourselves a little time of rest! Ashley and I chatted about our plans for the big day on Sunday! I adore her plans by the way with her husband!!! I won’t spill them, I will let you read about them on her blog if she decides to post them 😉
Waverly decided to snuggle up with her best friend and catch up on her stories! Because our every day moments are sometimes more meaningful than the ones we intentionally set out to capture, I had to steal these of the two BFF’s!!!

lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker lifestyle mother and daughter family photography by brooke tucker

 

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine weekend with their big loves and little loves!

xoxo

B

  • February 12, 2016 - 8:44 pm

    ashley - Love you and these SOOOOOOO very much!!!!!!!!!! You are the best!ReplyCancel

Happy Afternoon Friends!!!

So this is a spur of the moment post, but it’s one I am hoping you will find helpful and also one that will encourage you to go out and get shooting!!!

If there is one thing that I have learned this year shooting children and families alone… it’s to LET GO of perfection!  I mean Hey ya’ll… that’s my life motto:  REAL is better than perfect!  Gosh, it’s THE mark of my business, it’s my phrase right?!

Seriously though, this is the biggest take away I have and I’ve transformed that from the motto to my sessions….Spur of the moment sessions will ALWAYS be way more touching, brilliant, breath taking, more meaningful and more enjoyable than anything I could ever style or plan hands down time after time!

So what does this mean and what do I want YOU to take away from this:

When you are shooting your children, whether you are a mom or a professional photographer don’t WORRY or become stressed out about a theme or the props or the styling!  JUST GO FOR IT!

I know we all love the pinterest posts and those ideas are so darn cute, but in reality bless all of our hearts, 9 out of 10 ten times they won’t always turn out that way.

Gosh in my experience with my own son, it’s taken me 3 years to realize that even as a professional photographer I should be on the list of pinterest fails!!!!

The best photographic moments I have had with Linc and with my clients are the ones in which we just show up!

We may come together with a very loose game plan in mind but we shoot for fun and we let the magic unfold!  We let the kids be kids and the only thing we really “plan” is the location and lighting!

I wanted to share this today because Valentines Day is coming this weekend and this is a real opportunity for you to take a fun little holiday that is prime for adorable photo sessions!

There are so many things that you CAN do to bring the style… but just keep in mind this is another option!  You can just play and have fun and realize sometimes less is more!

Here is just a small example:  My girlfriend and I got together for a momma date and I brought over some duck donuts for the girls!

We had the right scene and let it fly!  All it took was a fun cheerful attitude, a white bedspread, open windows and a little patience and some farm animal noises!

I’ll be sharing more of their shoot tomorrow but until then here’s a sneak peek!!

Mother and Daughter lifestyle family photography by brooke tucker

 

Just remember:  Children and Family Photography isn’t always about capturing the details!  There is a time and place for that!  It’s mostly about just capturing the essence of YOUR CHILD and the magic they leave behind!  The best way to do that is to free yourself from the stress of planning the perfect session and just ENGAGE with them.. camera in hand!

That’s what we did and all we used was the bed and a snack!

What can you use?!

 

Children and Family Photography, Brooke Tucker Photography

 

As a mom, I realize if I sit back and quietly reflect on the small moments of my toddler,  I notice he teaches me quite a lot!

That’s probably the biggest blessing as a parent;  learning to live all over again and truly appreciate all the small moments and wonders again through the eyes of your child!  Especially if your child is like mine… full of magical wonder and head strong bull in a china shop full force kind of living moment to moment way!

Last Friday all my Linc wanted to do was jump in the small puddles in our drive way!  It didn’t matter that he had already come home and taken his pants off.  Ya’ll… that’s a no brainer in our house… enter home, shut door, shoes off/pants off!

It also didn’t matter that it was chilly outside and his pants were already off!  Linc’s mind worked this way:  I’m home, I need to see my mom!  I walk in the door, pants need to be off!  I give my mom a hug and a kiss!  I tell her about my day!  Oh yes… there are puddles outside that I need to jump in.  I put my rainboots back on.  I beg mom “please may I go back outside and jump!”  I open the door, I run to jump in puddles.

It doesn’t matter that his boots are totally on the wrong feet.  It doesn’t matter that he’s just in his undies and the neighbors are totally outside!

Mom has her camera… that’s totally normal!  Cars driving by and people are waving and smiling shaking their heads… who cares!

Linc is jumping in the smallest of puddles there is… and he’s in heavenly bliss!

We sat outside until he was covered in mud (his favorite) and he started to actually show signs of being cold.  I sat on the front steps and as I watched him I realized what a valuable lesson he was teaching me that evening as the sun began to set!

* JUMP!  Just Jump!

Do what matters in your heart and pay no attention to anyone around you or what others believe, say, feel or care!

So you feel awkward or wrong or unsure of your feet (perhaps because they may be backwards) JUMP ANYWAY!

BECAUSE IT MAKES YOU HAPPY!

*Do it for as long as you can!!!!!  

*Make big waves or make small waves, it doesn’t matter because they are ripples none the less and ripples matter!

*Make a splash and understand that it’s the splash that matters not how high you jump!

*Don’t be afraid to make a mess… that’s more than half the fun!  It’s not about perfection!

JUST JUMP until it’s time to go inside and then do it again until it no longer makes you happy!

Children and Family Photography, Brooke Tucker Photography

 

We came inside right as the sun went down and seriously… just look at that smile!  It was all of 15 minutes but that pure joy and cheese smile on his face (boots on the wrong feet) that’s worth a million to me!

If only he knew just how much wisdom he gave me in those puddle jumps!

What are your children teaching you?!

I would so much like to know… their wisdom is priceless!  It’s pure and it has a magic within it!

I hope you share below!!