I recently discovered a website called the wayback machine. It's a website you can go to and plug in any domain and it catalogs the pages by year. You can see any website you want at any given time it's been live.
Since I have been diligently working on a brand new website (if you are reading this, you've found it!), I was naturally curious about how mine has evolved through the years. You would think I would remember it all, but I don't recall nearly as much as I'd have liked to. My first website went up in 2009 and I am sure that had something to do with it.
One thing I do remember candidly was the work I was making. I remember every single session and every single family. I have enjoyed every moment as a family photographer. Getting to see my old blog posts really reminded me of how much I missed blogging. I used to be pretty diligent about it. Despite those websites being long gone, I was able to go back and see all the sweet faces of the people I have gotten to work with down through the years. Some I haven't seen in some time, some I am still photographing year after year. It's not something I take for granted.
I am sharing Tiffany's family here today because she was one of the family's that popped up for me right away. I got to photograph her family exactly ten years ago now. Our first meeting was in 2016. It was her and her two boys (whom I also love dearly.) They are now full grown adults but at the time they were still in the preteen/teen ages and they were so close in age with my own older boys at the time I instantly resonated. I also had the chance to mentor her and our bond was solidified. To this day she has become one of my closest friends and it's strange to think without photography, that would have never happened.
All these years later she has married the love of her life and they have had a sweet little girl together who I also love just as much as I do her big brothers. I look forward to a time when I do get to photograph them all together again. Being a Mom of older and younger children I get the struggle btw. It's nearly impossible to get everyone together for photos. Next I will be heading to her home in Nebraska and I know that will be in part the highlight of my year!