My Girls | Fargo-Moorhead Photographer

My daughters were born 6 months months apart on the calendar year.
From a photography stand point, that’s really handy.
Every April and October I take the girls out for a session and photograph their year or half-year milestone.
It’s amazing to watch them grow. Children’s portraits are far from my forte. They are more like….. my piano.
(musical reference. Just nod and smile)
But every time I come away from one of these sessions I feel soooo rewarded.
Photography gives me the gift to stare into my children in ways I can’t on a daily basis.
Look at these little hearts:

My little one insisted on bringing her two favorite stuffed kitties, affectionately termed Frederick and Archibald.

Her toes…

Since it was my oldest’s birthday, my main mission was to truly capture her at this stage.

Since our last children’s  portrait session, she’s lost numerous teeth and gained a couple new ones.
They’re at that stage where every day those new front teeth are shifting, finding their place.
It’s fitting these things happen at 7 years old.
She’s finding her place in the big world, too.

As a photographer, during a session I always look for “that one shot”.
If you were to ask me about any wedding or portrait session I’ve ever done, I could name “that one shot” from almost every one.
It’s the shot that captures everything beautiful about that person — and tells a whole story in one glance.
I’m always looking for it.
Sometimes it surprises me and jumps out,
other times I have to claw for it. Search, track, hunt it down and dig it out with every bit of effort.

As soon as I captured this shot below, I knew I had found it.
My daughter’s Seven Year Old Portrait.

There’s a faint smile on her lips and a stubborn weight in her eyes.
She has a rash confidence.
The mother in me can tend to wish that away, and want nothing but innocence, compliance. But it’s there for a reason.
She’s here for a reason.
I love that as a mother, I’ve been entrusted with this.
Lord knows I am hardly fit. Clueless most days, but willing to learn …

This is where photography and motherhood intersect.
Like an arm moving a hand, I use one of my gifts to support one of my biggest roles.
To understand my children and propel them into what they were made to be.

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Abby Anderson is a wedding and portrait photographer in Fargo, ND + Moorhead, MN.
Visit the Studio A Photo website here.