Florida greeted us with a week of promised rain showers and no beach days. We were stressed by the disruption and cabin fever. The next evening we went to the beach. My daughter reached for my hand and then asked me if I had felt nervous when I had started preschool. I had failed to see through my own stress that I had not given her the encouragement and time to open up. I was met by my own tide of emotion. Just maybe planning to do nothing is more significant than always planning to do something. And sometimes perhaps we need a tide to wash through to help us see that.

My ultimate goal in my Unscripted Life Sessions is to capture the true essence of a family and their personalities. I never force a smile and I encourage natural and even serious expressions. For 2018, I decided to completely revamp my Fine Art School Portraiture as a way to provide parents with a taste of my Unscripted sessions through genuine and timeless school portraits. I aspired to carry the message of embracing and cherishing life - in the here and now - further than just the families I have the honor of photographing.  

In this post, New York Photographer Jessica Leigh details the importance of unscripted life sessions to preserving your memories before they fall prey to the 3-month rule.