James and Christen were married on the beach at sunset in beautiful Port St. Joe, Florida. The wedding was beautiful and Christen’s attention to detail showed in all areas. Congratulations, James and Christen.
It`s the night before your session.
You`ve had weeks to plan this. Weeks. And yet here you are, every piece of clothing you own spread across the bed, asking your partner if navy and olive `go together` and Googling `what to wear for family photos` at 10:47pm.
Completely normal. You are not alone. I have heard this story more times than I can count, and it almost always has a happy ending.
But if you`re in the planning phase right now and not yet in the panic phase - this is your sign to take thirty minutes this week and actually sort it out. Future you will be so relieved.
And if you`re my client, you have a lot of info at your fingertips in the Prep Guide sent to you when you booked with me.
Here`s the framework I share with every family I work with:
The location is the canvas. Your family is the subject. Your clothing is the paint.
Get the paint right, and everything comes together. Rush it, and even a beautiful Tallahassee evening can fall a little flat in the final images.
That doesn`t mean you need a stylist or a big budget. It means you need a plan and a few principles that actually hold up in real life - with real kids and real closets.
Start with a neutral base. Creams, tans, soft whites, warm grays. These anchor your palette and keep the focus on faces and connection, which is the whole point.
From there, bring in color intentionally. Neutrals with soft blues. Neutrals with blush or sage. Warmer tones in fall - mauve, khaki, olive - especially at a location like Alford Park, where the foliage does a lot of work for you.
Add texture wherever you can. A knit next to a satin blouse. A linen shirt next to a tweed jacket. Texture creates visual depth in a way that flat, solid fabrics just don`t. It`s one of those things that reads beautifully in prints and most families don`t hear about until someone tells them.
Keep patterns small if you use them at all. A delicate floral, a fine stripe, a subtle check - all great. Large, bold patterns pull focus away from faces, and that`s never what we`re going for.
Outfit planning is one of the highest-leverage things you can do before your session. I promise it`s worth the attention.
Earlier this week, I had the honor to speak to a room full of moms about friendship. Later this week, I was in a living room with a brand new baby. 🤍
Here’s what I told that group of moms: I’m not a friendship expert. But I’ve spent years walking into homes with families I’ve never met, and I’ve learned that the best moments happen when they don’t feel like they have to perform.
For great photos, a mama doesn’t need a perfect house, perfect hair, or a perfectly behaved toddler. She needs to feel safe. So we talk, we laugh, we find common ground, and somewhere along the way she lets her guard down, relaxes a bit and just gets to be herself with her baby.
Friendship works the same way. Find something in common. Say “me too.” Listen. Let someone see your real life.
So mama, whether you’re in the newborn fog or the toddler chaos: you don’t have to have it all together to belong. Text the mom you just met. Say, “Want to get together?” Small deposits over time build the kind of friendship that can hold you when life gets hard.
@eproctorsutton it was an honor to photograph you precious family with your newest little miracle. 🩵
#momco #newbornphotographer #tallahasseephotographer #momsupportingmoms #christianmotherhood
I used ChatGPT to help me plan out our landscaping this week and I feel like an absolute genius.
The AI rendered a version of what our yard could look like and honestly, even if we only get halfway there, I will be thrilled. Genuinely hopeful. This is not a drill.
Anyway. Back to photography. But also - technology is wild right now and I am here for it.
I`m speaking at MomCo this morning for the first time, and I`ll be honest - I`m a little nervous.
The topic is fostering adult friendships, which feels both very important and very personal to me. Because I was part of this group during a season of my life when I really needed it. The fellowship I found there meant more than I can put into words.
Adult friendship is one of those things that doesn`t get talked about enough. It takes more intention than it did when we were younger. It doesn`t just happen. And when you find it, it holds you in ways you didn`t expect.
I`m excited to dive into that conversation with a room full of women who already get it.
Photo by Mary Katherine Fulkerson Photography
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 Forgotten Coast and panhandle of north Florida and south Georgia.
email us | sarah@sarahgray.com
telephone (850) 328-3258
located in tallahassee, florida
