Spring Baby Animal Photo Sessions are coming up! Here is the sign-up link. Feel free to message me for questions!
Once we get closer to our event, I will email you directions to our location. Thank you so much, and see you on April 7th!
- Sennu
Spring Baby Animals Photo Sessions!
Sarah’s Party Animals and Stories of Joy Photography partnered last year for a super fun photo day! We had such an amazing time photographing children and baby animals in the spring time. Baby Animals are coming back!!! Save a date for April 7th late afternoon, and stay tuned for details! I do have a priority list of client families who will get the sign-up first, so please let me know if you’d like me to add you to it!
Third Day in the Life Session
My third Day in the Life in 2016 was so special to me. This was mom and dad with toddler twins and a baby. I think this was the closest to me seeing what my life was like with toddler quadruplets. (If there was anything I wish for from past, it is that there had been Day in the Life Sessions when my quadruplets were little, and I had had the foresight to hire a photographer for a Day in the Life Session - this is one of the reasons why I am so passionate about documenting the precious every day life.)
Photographing a full Day in the Life Session is a lot of work. It’s usually longer than twelve hours, so of course I am tired after each session. This session, however, had me crawling home from my car! It really is true how we forget how intense parenting lots of littles is. There are no breaks with multiple little ones. No breaks for moms, no breaks for dads (really, going to work is not a break!), and no breaks for the Day in the Life photographer, who doesn’t want to miss moments.
Parenting is such hard work. It’s rewarding and wonderful, but it also is exhausting, mundane, and often feels unappreciated.
The beauty of a Day in the Life Session is it shows you - the parent - and it shows everyone looking at the images how demanding and selfless our parenting days are. It also shows the sweet moments of tenderness and joy, love and playfulness.
During this Day in the Life Session mom packed up her crew and headed over to dad’s work for a picnic lunch and walk. What a wonderful tradition! Do you have activities in your family life that would be special to have photographed?
Life changes so quickly. Seasons pass, and little ones grow up. (Ask me, I know! My babies just turned 20!)
I would love to serve your family and come over for a Day in the Life Session. It can be a weekday or a weekend day, or even a vacation day! If you’re not in the Vero Beach area, just ask me anyway - I love traveling, and I also know a lot of documentary photographers I can recommend.
I now also offer short Day in the Life Sessions, in case you wanted to get the feel for the session, and/or get an activity documented in pictures. Saturday morning? Bedtime routines? Grandparents or cousins visiting? Something else special to your family?
The best way to contact me is here or via email (sennu@storiesofjoyphotography.com), but you can also reach me via phone (772-217-6065) or Facebook messages. I have quite a bit of travel and travel sessions coming up in the next three months, so availability is limited.
This month I’ll be headed to New Mexico, and in February to New England states. Florida sessions are available as well. Message me!
2018 - A (Personal) Year in Review
For many years I’ve sat down on the last day of the year to do a recap of my family’s year. I used to do it on our family blog when we were roadschooling and traveling in our vintage Airstream motorhome. Last year I did a recap here on my blog, and so, here we go again.
Year 2018 brought many firsts in the journey of grief. In December 2017 my dad moved to his new heavenly address, and so this year has been filled with tears of missing him, and learning to live without him on this side of eternity. Thank You, Jesus, for the hope of heaven!
I welcomed the new year in Finland, as I had traveled back for my dad’s funeral, and was able to stay a little while with my mom before returning to Florida, where the rest of my family was.
In January my sister’s family came for a visit from Virginia, and we took some of the kids to Legoland for a fun homeschool filed trip! We started homeschooling again, and mid-month Thomas returned to his school in Virginia.
February’s highlight was a trip to Click Away Conference on Amelia Island with my husband, and seeing my image displayed in the Joyfulness category of the Voice 2017 Collection. I so enjoyed the workshops and supportive environment Click Away provides.
In March our family took a trip to Maine for spring break, and my littlest (then 4) learned to ice skate on the lake! Abby turned twelve in Maine!
In April we said goodbyes to our beloved Mothership motorhome. It was bittersweet to have this chapter of our life end, but we had peace as it was the right decision.
We also had our first Day in the Life Session! Shelby Truly Photography came and spent the day with us, documenting an ordinary day of ours. Thomas was away at college in Virginia, but that is what life is like for us now, so we went ahead with our session.
In May we had two very special events - at first we had decided not to attend the Florida Parent Education Association’s yearly convention, but friends of ours tipped us to a great reason to go - one of my images was on display at the Sonlight Curriculum’s booth! So we had to go see it :-)
And little Mae had her very first ballet performance in May. She did a fantastic job, and it was one of her highlights of 2018!
In June our youngest turned five! She insisted all last year she was eleven, but to our great relief she actually turned five and we celebrated big.
I found out one of my images was accepted as one of Sonlight’s homeschool catalog’s cover winners! I’m not sure how they’ll use it since there were three winners, but it was a huge honor, nevertheless! It was a lifestyle self-portrait image of my two youngest girls and me. (They cropped it funny - the image is so much better in original crop. #itstrue)
We traveled from Florida to Maine. Every June we work on our Maine home getting it ready for summer rentals. It’s a lot of work, and a lot of fun.
In July my girls and I traveled to Finland to be with family. We had a wonderful and chaotic and hot (!!!) time in Virrat, Seinajoki and Lohja. Our older daughter Sarah got to go to France during our time in Finland - what a neat opportunity for her!
We returned to USA in August, and spent the rest of the time in Maine, enjoying vacation days with our family and many friends who came to visit us. Sweet times!
Our boys had to head to college in August, so Thomas went to Virginia, Daniel and Andrew to Florida to start studies again. Sarah flew to Finland to spend a semester with my mom, and started Chinese studies while in Finland.
In September we traveled from Maine back to Florida, and started school. It was great to get back into fall routines. Before we got too into our schedules, we took a short trip to Sanibel Island for a homeschool science convention.
While I had worked some over the summer, a full scheduled kicked right in of many photo sessions. Despite the crazy schedule I felt we had a great mix of homeschooling, work and fun times. Abby started assisting me on photo sessions and slowly started being also my second shooter. We had so much fun together!
October brought horseback riding lessons, pumpkin patches, beach trips and Disney days. At the end of the month our little Mae was sick and we did trick or treating from door to door - at home. She thought it was the best thing ever!
November was a full month! My husband, our little girls and I took a trip to Rhode Island and Massachusetts to attend and photograph a friend’s wedding, and to enjoy a few days away in blustery New England. And then Thanksgiving was wonderful - our son Thomas came home for a few days. We missed our daughter Sarah, but we comforted ourselves we’d see her soon.
Oh December. Always a full month. So many celebrations. As hard as it was to lose my dad right before Christmas it is now kind of sweet to remember him in the middle of all our celebrations.
Little Mae got to visit Santa at Magic Kingdom (first time for her) before we traveled to Maine to spend Christmas up north. Even my mom and our Sarah came from Finland. We celebrated twelve years of having Abby as our daughter. We celebrated our quadruplets turning twenty. We celebrated my birthday. We celebrated our Savior’s birth. We had such precious family time all of us together, and my husband’s uncle and aunt came for a weekend too, then my husband’s parents.
One of the best gifts I gave myself and our family is a Day in the Life Session. I invited Aura Moore Photography to come spend a day with us to document one of our Christmas vacation days. I know these pictures will be treasures for years to come - for me as well as for my children’s families - one day.
And now we get to celebrate the New Year. Whatever year 2019 brings, my trust is in my Savior - in all our joys and sorrows.
Happy New Year, Friend.
Love,
Sennu from Stories of Joy Photography
Second Day in the Life Session
My second Day in the Life Session was in Florida, in the spring of 2016. I made it to family C’s home early in the morning. Dad had already woken up and left for work, but I got to photograph mom waking up both girls. And I stayed there until the girls went to bed at night.
These few pictures are just a small sampling of what each family sees. After a Day in the Life Session the family will see a smaller Story Gallery where I pick my favorite 100 images, and hand edit them, and make a movie out of these images. I will also make a larger gallery that has all edited images from the day, anywhere from 300 to 500 or more, depending on the family and activities.
As I join your family for the day, I’m not trying to be a fly on the wall - I’m there to participate in all your activities (so I can document all you do). I have a questionnaire I send out so I can come prepared with a bathing suit and waterproofing gear if water play is involved.
But at the same time, I’m not pressing my shutter button at all times - there are quieter times in the day, and I might visit with one of the family members - or even take a break. As a documentary storyteller I take pictures that I believe will represent your day, and pictures I believe you would want to have.
And every Day in the Life Session I come from, I truly feel like I have made new friends - for life.
Sometimes I feel like I’m a little in your face to get the picture - but it’s not like that all day. And if you need some time to regroup, or if you usually like to lay down for a little while during the day, you can still do all that. I usually leave rooms with closed doors alone (unless I have a feeling there is a moment to document - little children particularly do their most creative work in quiet).
And we talk about nudity - what you are comfortable with. I do not ever post any nudity on my social media - unless we mutually decide to post an image (and it would only be partially in nude).
My goal is to serve your family, and since each family is different, we talk about in what way I can serve your family best.
It might feel a little strange to have me take pictures of you when you’re out running errands. But since I join you as a friend, we rarely get asked why I’m taking pictures. I think it’s really special to have these images as a part of your day. Besides, grocery stores in particular make great backdrops for pictures! I even did one Documentary Session at Costco with a mom and five kids!
I am personally drawn to moments of joy, love and happiness, but also naughtiness and bad attitudes. I love making images that show parents working hard at parenting, and show how tiring and endless some moments (phases) seem. I want to make images that show authentic emotion and real every day life.
If this is something you’d like to do, please don’t hesitate to contact me! I would love to document a Day in the Life for your family. December special is good for a few more hours!!!