The 3rd Annual Motherhood Content Event: Round One

Three years ago, we started our annual Motherhood Content Event as a way to celebrate mothers in every season — the first-time mom anxiously awaiting her baby's arrival, the mom with a new baby in her arms, the mom chasing a toddler through the sand, and the seasoned mom who has done this a few times before. Every year, we bring them together on the beach for an evening dedicated to capturing motherhood exactly where they are right now.

The beach has become such a fitting place for this event. During the short time we're shooting, everything around us changes. Bright golden sunlight softens into warm peach and pink before fading into beautiful blues and purples. The tide moves, the breeze shifts, and suddenly the light we started with is gone.

Motherhood moves just as quickly. The growing belly becomes a baby in your arms. The baby becomes the toddler running barefoot toward the water. Before you know it, another season has begun. That's why these photographs matter so much — they give us a way to hold onto a version of our children, and ourselves as mothers, that doesn't stay for very long.

This year marked our 3rd annual Motherhood Content Event, and round one brought together 9 amazing moms and 6 little ones, all in different stages of their journeys. We had first-time moms, moms expecting their first babies, moms with little ones, and even moms preparing to welcome baby number four. Some were familiar faces we've photographed before, while others were joining us for the very first time.

Different stories, different stages, and one beautiful summer evening celebrating motherhood.

Watching stories continue

One of my favorite parts of doing this event year after year is seeing familiar faces return. This year, Trina joined us again, and last year she was pregnant with her sweet little girl at our Motherhood Content Event. This time, she was back with her baby in her arms. It's pretty amazing to see how much can change in just one year.

We also had three previous clients join us, two of whom I originally photographed for their engagements and weddings. Getting to photograph someone's engagement, then their wedding, and eventually their growing family is such a special privilege. It's one of the things I love most about being a photographer. I don't just get to document one moment in someone's life; sometimes I get to keep coming back to see the next chapter, and the next one after that.

There is something really beautiful about watching people's lives grow through photographs.

A Little Weather Drama

I'll admit, I was nervous about this year's event. Earlier in the day, the sky was incredibly orange and hazy from the smoke drifting down from the Canadian wildfires. I wasn't sure what our evening was going to look like, and when you're planning an outdoor event around golden hour, there isn't exactly much you can control.

But somehow, the skies cleared just for us.

By the time everyone arrived, the harsh haze had softened into this beautiful, dreamy evening. The beach was glowing, the water picked up the warm reflection of the setting sun, and the sky turned a soft peach and pink before eventually transitioning into cooler evening tones. It was the kind of evening that makes you want to stay just a little longer.

The moms even stepped into the water together for some of my favorite images from the night. Barefoot in the waves, all dressed in white, with the sun glowing behind them, it was such a beautiful way to bring everyone together.

And the beach itself was the perfect backdrop. Between the water, the soft white sand, tall dune grass, and lush green coastal vegetation, the whole evening had that quintessential New England summer feeling.

Motherhood in All Its Forms

One of the things I love most about this event is that there isn't one definition of what motherhood is supposed to look like. There are mothers expecting their first baby, mothers learning how to navigate life with a newborn, mothers chasing toddlers, mothers carrying multiple children, and mothers somewhere in between the chaos and the calm. Every single one of them deserves to be celebrated.

I don't want these photographs to show some polished, perfect version of motherhood. I want them to show the real thing: the little hands, the growing bellies, the babies who don't quite know what to do with their hands yet, the toddlers who would much rather explore than pose, the laughter, the cuddles, and the wind blowing through someone's hair. I want to capture the way a mother instinctively reaches for her child and all of those tiny moments that happen between the photographs we actually planned to take.

Because those are the moments that matter.

The Beauty of a Fleeting Season

There is something about watching the sun disappear over the water while photographing mothers and their children that always gets me. The light changes, the tide moves, the evening disappears, and so does this season of motherhood.

The newborn stage doesn't last. Neither does the toddler stage. Eventually, those little arms won't reach for you quite as often. The tiny hands will grow, and the children who once needed to be carried will become independent little people with lives of their own.

We can't stop time, but we can photograph it.

We can freeze a tiny piece of it and come back to it years later. We can remember exactly how small they were, exactly how it felt to hold them, and exactly what this season looked like.

That's why I love these sessions so much. They're not just about creating beautiful photographs. They're about giving mothers something tangible to hold onto when this season becomes a memory.

Round Two Is Coming

And thankfully, we're not finished yet.

Round two of our 3rd annual Motherhood Content Event is happening next week, and we already have another incredible group of moms ready to create some magic together. We're completely full on the motherhood side, so we don't need any more moms for this round, but we still have a few photographer spots available for photographers who would love to join us.

Three years into this event, I still find myself leaving the beach feeling incredibly grateful. Grateful for the mothers who trust us to document these seasons, grateful for the photographers who come together to create, grateful for the familiar faces who keep returning, and grateful that, for just a few hours, we get to slow down and appreciate something that is otherwise moving impossibly fast.

The light fades. The babies grow. The seasons change. But for a moment, we get to freeze it all.

And that's pretty magical.