The greatest compliment I can get is a family coming back to me over and over again. It is such an honor to photograph this group. Their oldest son, Ezra, was my FIRST newborn! He’s now 6 years old. In fact, this family is who helped launch me into starting my business and I love them so dearly on so many levels.
Their second son, Milo, just turned three and we met at Cascades Park on a steamy hot morning to take some pictures of him, his big brother, and their beautiful Mama. Age three is so full of spunk. Milo alternated between being a frog, a cowboy, and “a boy named Milo” throughout the session. I love him. His newborn and maternity sessions were some of my favorites.
Happy THIRD birthday, Milo man! You’ll get those three fingers figured out soon enough!
Five Spots. One Date. A setting that only looks like this for about three weeks out of the year.
I am not trying to manufacture urgency here. The blooms genuinely do not wait, and the calendar genuinely does not have room for everyone who wants a session this spring.
If your family has been on your to-do list for a while, now is a really good time to actually do something about it.
April 11 at Maclay Gardens. $275. A wardrobe guide, a focused session, and your images delivered in two weeks.
Link to book in bio.
After you see your gallery, you might want more than three images.
That is a completely normal thing to feel, and I want you to know the option exists before you are standing there wishing you had decided sooner.
If you add the full gallery upgrade (5-10 images) before your session date, you save $100. If you wait until after you have seen everything and fall in love with half the gallery, the option is still there - just at a higher price.
No pressure in either direction. I just think it is worth knowing before April 11 arrives, not after.
All the details are at the link in bio. Only a few spots remain.
More time does not always mean better results.
I know that feels counterintuitive. We are wired to think that more equals more - more time, more options, more opportunity for something great to happen.
But here is what I have actually observed after years of photographing families with young children: kids have a window. A cooperative, engaged, genuinely present little window. And when you work within that window instead of pushing past it, the photos reflect it. Smiles are real. Energy is light. Nobody ends up in tears in the parking lot.
A focused five to seven minutes with a photographer who knows how to move quickly and intentionally will outperform a long, drawn-out session almost every time when young children are involved.
That is the whole premise behind the Maclay Gardens Spring Petites. Short on purpose. Effective by design.
*Photos in this post are from a full length maternity session, but each of these were taken in a 5 minute window of time during that session.
Maclay Gardens in full bloom is one of those things that genuinely cannot be recreated.
Not next month. Not next year. Not by finding a similar spot somewhere else in town.
The soft pastel color, the light filtering through the canopy, the feeling of being completely surrounded by spring - it exists for a brief window, and then it is gone.
April 11 is the date. Five spots is the limit. When those are filled, that is it for this spring.
If you have been wanting to get your family photos updated and you keep waiting for the right moment, this one is worth paying attention to.
Link in bio to grab your spot before the blooms move on without us.
My dad was a hobbyist photographer when I was growing up.
Not a professional. Just someone who paid attention, picked up his camera, and kept a record of our family over the years.
Those photos have given me something I did not fully understand the value of until I was older - glimpses of moments that would have otherwise just faded. Seasons of our family`s life that I can actually see, not just try to remember.
That is a big part of why I believe what I believe about this work.
Your family is your legacy. The people in your life right now, at this exact age, in this exact season - they deserve to be beautifully preserved. Not just for you, but for the people who come after you, who will one day look at those images and feel the warmth of a family that showed up for each other.
That is what I am here to help you do.
Memberships and Affiliations
Sarah Gray creates timeless and joyful images that are designed for living room walls and photo albums. A tallahassee photographer, Sarah Gray also serves Thomasville, Crawfordville, St. Marks, Gainesville and throughout the panhandle of north Florida and south Georgia.
email us | sarah@sarahgray.com
telephone (850) 321-0208
located in tallahassee, florida
