In the spirit of staying positive amidst the coronavirus pandemic, my family and I participated in #TheFrontStepsProject over the weekend. The movement was started by Boston based photographer Cara Soulia to document this unique time in history, and to support local businesses with a monetary donation.
I can’t even tell you how many months I have been longing for a family photoshoot. We have no recent family portraits to display in our new home. Landon is growing at rapid speed, and Harper is all smiles these days. With that, It only makes sense to capture this greatness! I’m sure my husband can attest to the loving reminders I drop on the daily. Low and behold this project answered my prayer!
I turned to a few local Facebook groups I belong to and blasted my search for a participating photographer. As expected, I was given great recommendations and also met with the usual negative comments from internet trolls.
To Note: my county was NOT under a stay at home order during this shoot. The order goes into effect March 30th at 5:00pm EST.
After sifting through the recommendations, it led me to find Kiersten Clay of K. Clay Photography. Kiersten was professional and quick with message responses. Both were much appreciated for this busy mama. While the shoot was free, Kiersten’s only request was to support a local business in Mint Hill, NC. Small businesses have been struggling since COVID-19 hit and supporting your local establishments aids in their survival. We opted to support Mint Hill Rockstore Bar-B-Q which was delicious. Their pulled chicken and banana pudding were my faves. So grab some, and tell them Caitlyn sent ya!
Kiersten showed up 5 minutes early for the session, and was fantastic all around. The 9:00am shoot was lightning fast (5 minutes to be exact) which we prepared for. I made sure to coach the fam beforehand, so they were ready to rock at GO time. Granted we were up and moving at 6:30am to be on time – but who’s judging? The finished photos were awesome! YESSSSS, we finally have family photos to display proudly in our living room.
What I adore most about these photos is we will look back at these one day and say, “Hey, remember when we were stuck in the house for weeks, but had so much fun together?” Mamas, your kids will NOT look back and think about how messy the house was or the schedules you didn’t quite follow. Instead, they will think about the backyard fun, family movie nights, new recipes made, endless crafts, and the time spent together snuggled as a family. Love conquers all.
Photos by Kiersten Clay
