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Backyard Summer Nights

I find there is something magical about being at home. It’s our harbor, our net, our little corner of the world that makes us feel safe, happy. Content.

Backyard summer nights hold their own special alchemy—the gooey light, downy grass, and cheery palette set the scene for a visual feast. And then how we, as collective Midwesterns, authentically respond to summer makes it wholly beautiful. We are more relaxed, more joyful, more nostalgic for our own childhood years that tend to see these months through our children’s eyes and want to make it magical for them as well.

Whether you’re grilling out, slicing watermelon, playing in a sprinkler, or taking a spin in your tractor, the little experiences you’re making as a family sets up shop in your kids’ memories. Vacations and carnivals and big reunions are big impact memories, but I challenge you to think of your ordinary summer mornings, days, and nights as the most special of all.

boy rides a toy tractor in his backyard. yard is filled with yellow flowers and evening sun. Backyard Summer Nightswoman sits on a blanket in the backyard with infant son, playing a game. Backyard Summer Nights
black and white. woman hugs smiling infant in the backyard on a summer night
woman tosses infant son in the air in the backyard; family of five play in a backyard on a summer nights black and white. infant son sits on father's lap while a bubble machine fills the photo with bubblesWalt Whitman said, “We were together, I forget the rest.”   I deeply understand this with my own family.  All the little ticky-tacky tasks that make up an ordinary day in parenting surely don’t seem very monumental in the present. Meals, laundry, toys, baths, tuck-ins, snacks–oh so many snacks, errands, diaper changes. Nothing seems that memorable.  Yet they aren’t done in a vacuum. They’re all part of this richly layered life where the ordinary details become extraordinary because they’re yours.
Family of five play baseball and climb toy slides in the backyard on a summer nightsSign me up for a beautifully ordinary backyard summer night.  There is nothing more I’d rather do than hand you the magic that you’re living every day.  How I photograph your family in a session is quiet and authentic.  Play, hang, be silly, laugh, explore–I got you.
young boy points a toy leaf blower at his dad, while his mom and infant brother look on. Younger brother rides toy tractor in the background. Top down view of young boy looking for four leaf clovers in a field of clover
Dad walks with son his shoulders; mom and infant son look at each other, smiling, while she is holding him.
Triptych. Boy looks for clover, infant boy holds parents' hand walking in the light, older boys climbs a tree on Backyard Summer Nights
Preschool boy reaches for a pinecone in an evergreen tree
two boy climb on their dad as he tries to help one of them put his shorts on

two young boys play in the gravel of a road at the end of a summer night Backyard Summer Nights

xo,
Jen

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