My friends Jen and Neal came to town to visit recently. We took the opportunity to get some mother-daughter photos of Jen and her little daughter, Zora.

Zora is full of energy and loves to explore. Those little legs will take her anywhere she wants to go, and faster than you would think! She also really likes to “help do things.” For example, in my back yard, she “helped” fill my bird bath with dirt and rocks. And she did an exceedingly good job. I’ve never had my birdbath quite so full with dirt and rocks before. As Jen says, Zora is great at “putting things into other things.” As you may have guessed, Jen has a lot of stories similar to this one from their own home.

Our photo session started off in my back yard where Zora played in our garden and in the birdbath. She really enjoyed collecting rocks and picking our bok choy and kale. And also just running around in the (thankfully) fenced in yard.

We finished the session at Ijams Nature Center, one of my very favorite places in all of Knoxville. It’s a perfect place for little ones to explore, get dirty, and get excited about nature. We settled in at Joe’s Grove, a playground area for kids that has a lot of really neat natural playscapes. There are even some beautiful woven huts that were created by a local artist.

I love that we were able to capture the simple act of Jen and Zora playing  having a snack together in the woods. Seeing Zora’s chubby, little fingers stuff snacks into her mouth makes me so. very. happy! Sometimes it’s the little details that are the most beautiful to me. And just try not loving Zora’s cheeks and tiny pigtails. I can’t get enough of them!

I’m currently booking family photo sessions, so be sure to get in touch if you’re interested! You can also read up on the best ways to prepare for a family session. Be sure to also read up on my photo session process so you’ll know what to expect.