Portrait Session | The Maus Family

Sometimes writing up blog posts to share with photo shoots can be intimidating because I'm often writing about people I've just met & been getting to know! And while they're crossing their fingers that I won't show the  awesome outtake pictures {*wink*}, I'm crossing my fingers that they'll be cool with whatever I write:)

I first met Steve & Darlene {the parents} when I went to a small group study at their home a few weeks ago. I was fresh back from my trip to Uganda and when someone else asked me about it, they mentioned that they had a son & daughter-in-law who lived there. In fact, Steve & Darlene had just gotten back from a trip there themselves so we swapped stories about our visits & the culture... and discovered that we'd all gone on the same exact Safari trip to Murchison Falls, just a few weeks apart!

They also mentioned that they had a daughter & son-in-law living in Nashville but I totally forgot about that until the next week at church when they happened to be in town & Darlene introduced me to Lauren & Ben! It was super fun meeting those two and connecting on various things:) Afterwards, when they were heading home to Nashville, I jumped out on a limb & shot Lauren a message on Facebook to reconnect {not normal at all for me! I usually never search for people on fb-- much less, right after our first meeting!} because she felt like such a kindred spirit!

Then a week {maybe just a few days} later, Mrs. Maus's father went to the hospital with heart trouble. When he unexpectedly passed away that weekend, the rest of the family came into town. Since the family, so usually spread out, was all in one place, Mrs. Maus asked if we could do a family session to get updated family pictures.
This family has been through a whole bunch recently with the sudden loss of their dad/grandfather but were so warm & welcoming to me when I arrived for the session! I met David & Faith who were in town from Uganda as well as Tim, who I later found out also has roots in Nashville. So many connections with this family!!
I think it was the shortest family session I've ever done since I shoot young families more often, but still super fun. {it's amazing how little time it takes to get great pictures of people vs. little chillens:) haha} They had me laughing so much that I was having trouble keeping my camera steady to get a clear shot! It was so great to get to see how close all of them are-- even when spread out so far geographically.

Here's to you, wonderful Maus {and Kaufman} families! It's been so much fun getting to know each of you and capturing some great memories. Be blessed all over the world, wherever life takes you:)