Playful photography for perfectly imperfect families

3 reasons to order your photo album right now

Listen, I’m no saint in the album department. I have several albums on our bookshelf, but COUNTLESS images that still need to be printed. I love them, and I love designing them… but I also know it takes time, something we all seem to run out of! If you need some convincing that it’s time to invest in an album for your special images, here are 3 reasons why I think you should take the plunge and order your photo album right now:

Photo albums are one of the best ways to get the most out of your photography investment. I highly recommend you decorate the walls of your home with your photos – frame those babies and hang them everywhere! With albums, however, you have the opportunity to create art for your home with ALL of your images, not just a select few. A well curated album flows beautifully and tells a story. This is something you can do on your own through third-party websites. However, if you’re able to work with a professional to design your album I highly recommend it! You will end up with a well-curated, cohesive layout that flows nicely. Plus, it will save you loads of time. Photographers who offer this service have an eye for the design, and I personally LOVE the process (so much that I’m currently offering the album design at no cost to my clients)!

Photo albums preserve your memories. The amount of photos that live on our phones and laptops is unsettling. We take a picture, only to have it get lost and forgotten in the cloud. If we don’t do something with our images, we will likely never see them again. Preserving your photos in an album allows you to easily go back and remember those special moments that were worth capturing in the first place.

Photo albums make AMAZING gifts. Mother’s Day, Grandparents Day, Christmas, birthdays… Albums are a great personalized gift that won’t wear out or go out of style. They won’t wither away or stop fitting after a while. Albums are a gift for the person you’re buying it for, and also for future generations of family members. Albums are heirlooms, they will be passed down and treasured for a lifetime and beyond!

Lubbock full service family photographer

So where should a person go to order these albums? I recommend Artifact Uprising and Mpix.com for the lower investment books to store your everyday favorite photos. For special occasions, such as gifts and to display your professional family photos, the high quality lay-flat albums your photographer offers are the way to go. They are beautiful, will last forever, and the quality is unmatched. Plus, the ordering is done for you, which saves you time AND is guaranteed to give you a beautiful design! And that’s it, my 3 reasons to order your photo album right now!

Want to chat about turning your photos into an album? Send me an email, I’d love to help!

Want to see more like this? Check out this post!

by allisonmaxwell_03hsir

Lubbock, Texas Personality Portraits

This past weekend I photographed a day of personality portraits in Virginia. We had such a great time, and I’ve since had a few people asking about our next Lubbock date! I don’t have it scheduled yet, but scroll to the bottom of this post and fill out the form to get added to the waitlist! That way you can be the first to know when the next date is on the calendar. I’m finally getting around to blogging just a handful of my favorites from the Lubbock personality portraits I photographed back in the spring. We had fun and goodies and mimosas (parents only, don’t stress), we listened to music, showed off our dance moves, sang our favorite songs. Lots of happy people all around. Loving, spoiling, and photographing your kiddos… truly one of my favorite days. I hope I’ll see you at the next one!! xoxo

by allisonmaxwell_03hsir

Camping at Great Plains State Park

When I married Jake, I signed up for a lifetime of adventure. Though I didn’t grow up camping, we have become a camping family – our girls LOVE it. Even on weeknights they beg to have campouts in the basement or the backyard. It’s become something we look forward to doing together, whenever we can find the time to get away from town for a couple days.

A couple weeks ago we met some family at Great Plains State Park. Jake and I probably slept about 10 hours all weekend (accumulatively) and came home exhausted, but the girls (and the dog) had the time of their lives. Making a mental note to do more inconvenient things for the joy of our family.

by allisonmaxwell_03hsir

Photographing Moments At Home

Let’s talk about the irony of photographers who don’t take pictures of their own kids. It’s true, I talk to photographers ALL THE TIME who never pull out their camera when they are at home. Maybe because it feels like work, like its just MORE PHOTOS TO EDIT. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I’m guilty. I’m trying to get better about photographing my babies in our house, to forget about the mess and just take the pictures for memory sake.

A couple weeks ago I snapped a handful of day-in-the-life photos as the girls and I were just crafting and playing at home.

The house wasn’t clean
The light wasn’t perfect
We weren’t dressed up or wonderfully coordinated

And gosh, no surprise that it got me in my feels! They say the days are long but the years are short… such a cliche and I’m so annoyed that it’s so true.

Maybe someday soon I’ll do a post with tips for taking photos inside your home. But today isn’t about that. Today is just remembering to look for the sweet moments in the day-to-day.

by allisonmaxwell_03hsir

How to Coordinate Family Outfits

Do you ever have an occasion where you know you’ll want to take a family photo since everyone will be looking their best, but you don’t have the time or capacity to go out and buy everyone a new outfit? This is how I’m feeling about Easter. A lot of people plan ahead and purchase new clothes for Easter, but I never seem to have my act together to pull this off.

We are just a few days away from Easter, so I gave myself a challenge: 15 minutes to dig through everyone’s closets and coordinate outfits that will look nice for family photos this weekend. No shopping allowed. I decided to make a reel so you could watch me do it!

Does it stress you out to plan wardrobe for your family photos? First of all, I recommend you work with a photographer who can help you with the planning… Second, you might check out this post to see if it helps!

Want to read more like this? Check out this post or this one!!

by allisonmaxwell_03hsir