Hello friends,

It’s been a while coming, this here blog. I’m still not even sure I have the right words to write. I always do that though. Sometimes I think I put the pressure of my English degree on top of my head. I assume everything needs to be perfect. This isn’t a graded assignment though. This isn’t being published into a world of critics (hopefully not!) and you are friends, not professors. If you will, bear with me, as I try to find those words which seem so elusive and let you in on a few 2018 visions we’ve been having.

It’s easy enough to write about beautiful brides, stunning days, and newborn babies. It’s not as easy to put into words an entire year, a vibrant brand, and a loyal tribe. We’re only here, in 2018, entering another year of business (it will be our “official” first full year full-time since I didn’t start full time until March of 2017!) because of our tribe. Every single one of you who read our blogs, like our photos, pass our names onto your friends and family members. It’s all of you that have made up Walker Studios. We’d be just another set of sisters without all of you and we will never be able to thank you enough for all the trust you’ve put in us…but you can bet we’ll keep trying 😉

In 2017 we made the decision to share even more of our personal lives and start sharing more behind the scenes work, so “just another set of sisters” would actually become THE Walker Sisters. We wanted you to know exactly who you were trusting. We wanted you to see the real life behind the beautiful brides and serene newborns. We want you to see US. It’s a big decision to let your Instagram become a bit more personal. Everyone is fighting for the perfect “grid” and looking put together. We’re throwing that out the window even further than we have before. 2017 was dipping our toes into that water and now 2018 will be Instagram stories, Facebook lives, more behind the scenes and personal posts and blogs. We have a new blog series that we’ll be starting SO soon and we’re super excited for you to see it/join in with our lives a bit more. We even redid head shots that pretty much captured us being well, us. Thanks to Rachel!

In that same vein, our photography will be shifting in the slightest. Our brand can’t get more personal without our photos getting more personal.

Now don’t be scared. We’re still shooting. We’re still posting like normal. We’re still down with making tons of new clients into friends. This year though, in 2018, it’s about going deeper with YOU. If 2017 was dipping our toes into sharing more of us, 2018 is diving into getting personal with our clients, with you. We don’t want to be the photographer who sends you your wedding gallery, then never sees you again. Sure, that works for some people, but hey…we’re not some people! We’re sisters and we believe in family. We believe in the moments in between, the little things that show a relationship as it grows and blossoms into something strong and special. If you haven’t noticed…we love connecting with our clients. It’s part of why we offer wine and chocolate at consultations 😉 That way we get to chat longer. We LOVE when we get thank you cards. We love when we get to come back and watch your family grow at mini sessions. Keeping up after the wedding, is one of our favorite parts of meeting you. We befriended so many beautiful couples (and families!) in 2017 that we cannot wait to see what the future holds for them.

That being said, in 2018, we’re excited to announce a NEW type of session. The cozy home sessions. These lifestyle sessions will be perfect for both couples and families alike. We would love the honor of coming back into your life, capturing those sweet home life moments for you. We want to photograph you snuggling up on the couch in your cozy sweaters, sipping coffee, legs entangled. We want to capture your first home together, moving in, eating pizza on the floor with candles, surrounded by moving boxes. We want to follow you into your home on your anniversary as you cook dinner together, laughing, sipping wine. We want to see your kiddos favorite toys, and watch dad start a pillow fight with them, as mom holds a giggling toddler in the background. THESE moments are the moments that define life in a scrapbook. These moments are moments that pass so quickly, that can seem almost lost if you don’t take a second to slow down and savor them.

The engagement, the wedding, the baby announcement, they’re all very important, and very special. Of course they are! They’re the reason you have these tiny, cozy, home moments now. We LOVE those days. Those events have a certain perfection to them though. A perfection which, although beautiful, doesn’t describe the mess of an every day life. Spilled cheerios, flour flung around while baking cookies, messy buns on a worn in couch…those are real life. So while we share our lives behind the scenes, while we admit that dinner dishes may not have been cleaned up right after dinner because the kids needed bedtime stories or the husband needed a snuggle sesh…we ask that you let us into your behind the scenes too. Now we’re not saying we’ll come photograph all your messiest rooms, that’d be silly, but we are saying we’ll photograph the love, the giggles, the hugs, the quiet moments, and all the moments in between.

I did it recently for Amy. You probably saw some posts on Instagram. Her kids A)love sugar and that includes cookies B)love to make a mess C)are the cutest things ever. I wrote a post about how you might feel the shoot was staged. Sure they know me, but in that moment…they were baking cookies with mommy. It wasn’t about me at all. They were decorating with frosting and allowed to make a mess. They were creating memories that I know (because she told me and I know her well) that Amy will cherish forever. I sent Amy that gallery and she about cried. These are her girls, frozen in time as cute, rambunctious, toddlers and when they’re grown and *perhaps* obnoxious teens…she will have these photos to look back at. When they become mothers themselves, she’ll have these photos to share. I took a normal “cozy” home moment of baking cookies and photographed it as if it were just as important as any other milestone, because I truly believe it is. It’s real life and we believe that every moment is worth preserving. I’d love to share a few more here with you before I wrap up this blog, they’re just too darn cute not to 🙂

Our vision for 2018 is to get even closer to you. To follow you from engagement to wedding to baby to family life. We will celebrate your anniversary with you, that first house, and even answer any new mom questions you might have, because we want to be there with you. So come with us, follow us into 2018 as we share our lives, and let’s be friends. It’s 2018 after all and I’m down for less  of the corporate sounding “client” if you are! We are Amy and Kay, we are sisters, and we want to be your friends for life. We’ll just happen to also have cameras in our hands 😉

<3 Kay (& Amy)

 

ps. seriously, this blog is going to come to life. Subscribe for updates or check in regularly!