Marrotta Family | Knoxville Family Photographer

Oh the Marrotta Family. They traveled here from Chicago to play in my Smoky Mountains and I am SO grateful I got to meet them and document this sweet spot in the life of their family.

If you are a family photographer and are interested in the way I interact with and photograph clients, I am happy to announce offering my break out session for sale again. These materials are jam packed with information on light, client interaction, prompts, posing and so much more. There are 2 full behind the scenes family session videos where you can hear me interacting with clients in real time as well as additional voice over explaining things in more detail. These materials were produced when I was shooting digitally but my process for shooting families has remained the same. I hope these materials will help you to grow and find confidence as a family photographer and help you let go of perfection while helping you see the beauty that exists all around you. You can find more information on my breakout and what all is included below.

Blessings,

Bethany

Cardwell Family Newborn | Knoxville Newborn Photographer

There’s nothing I love more than walking away from a session feeling like I just took a peek at normal life for a family and getting to share that back with them, showing them all the beauty in that time. Please know that I am not saying perfection, because we all know that our days hold the whole gamut of emotions and feelings, messes, mundane chores and exhaustion. But seeing the beauty and especially the blessings even there, and reflecting it back through photographs to you, is what it’s all about for me. Sharing a beautiful morning with the Cardwell family and their newest baby girl today, where all those things I mentioned were happening at the same time. Here is the result.

If you are interested in sharing a morning or afternoon with me and creating together with your family, I would love to chat. Contact me here and let’s get your session scheduled.

Ryg Family | Knoxville Family Photographer

I’ve been photographing this family for several years and I can say fully that every time I’m with them is so incredible. Mostly because their mama, Sarah, always shows up with zero pretense and her children follow suit. It always feels so easy to get into a groove photographing them because they show me who they are from the minute I get out of my car. She is the kind of mother you would invite over for coffee and know that you didn’t have to pick up your house but that you could just clear a spot on your couch, relax instantly and feel seen. And when she left you would feel less alone in this motherhood gig. This is how I feel when I’m with her and her family and really, isn’t that just an incredible accomplishment? But this is just who she is and I’m so happy I get to photograph them. I got to spend a beautiful chilly late fall evening with them on their farm this year and I am so excited to share it with you all today. Enjoy!

Corpstein Family | Knoxville Family Photographer

If I had a great big mansion
I'd rather live in a shot gun shack with you

If I drove a red farari
I'd rather ride in an oldsmobile with you

If I won a million dollars
I'd give it away to spend more time with you

With you I can be myself
With you I don't have to be somebody else
It's like puttin on my favorite pair of shoes
I'd like to be with me, when I'm with you

-Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

McCafferty Newborn | Knoxville TN Newborn Photographer

Come and be here in the present moment,

Come and be reminded of all that is beautiful and true.

All the things fear wants you to forget.

-Morgan Harper Nichols

A beautiful morning with this precious family seeing them live fully present in this season with their new baby girl. Blessings to you McCafferty family. <3

Johnson Family Maternity | Knoxville, TN Family Photographer

I got to spend the morning with this family on the brink of a big change for them, the arrival of their 4th baby. Those days feel so filled with anticipation and energy, or lack thereof. ha! As mama of 4 myself, I felt the rush of preparation but also the strong and steady tug to sit and savor things just as they are before the page is turned towards the new chapter of our family. And THAT was where this family was on this cool late summer morning. Slow and simple, taking in the time together as a family of 5. Ready to receive the next new blessing. <3 Congrats sweet Johnson Family, it’s been a blessing to witness your family grow. <3

Bailes Family Extended | Knoxville Family Photographer

Nicole has been a client of mine for the past several years and I felt so honored this year when she reached out for me to photograph their extended family after her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer this year. I may or may not have asked them to adopt me by the end of our session. I have always enjoyed spending time with Nicole and her family but seeing her with her siblings and mama just kicked it up a notch and definitely allowed me to see the source of her deep rooted love for her family. It was a gift to spend a beautiful fall afternoon with them in the Smokies and I hope these images serve them as a testament to their strong bond for years to come. Blessings to you guys!

If you are interested in a family session with me this year whether that be your immediate family at home or in a favorite spot of yours or with your extended loved ones like this family, drop me a line and we’ll get it scheduled. 2021 sessions are open for booking and some of my more popular months in spring and fall are almost booked already. I would love to create some keepsakes with you this year.

Blessings

Bethany

Life at home during Quarantine | Knoxville Family Photographer

It has been a long time since I did a personal blog post and what better time than now. Like many of you, this time has held so many mixed emotions for our family. So much has changed, yet so much has remained the same. We’ve always been homeschooling but we lost the ability to gather with our friends and family, which bring lots of life to us. That has felt sad but we’ve also gained so much more meaningful time together with fewer distractions and less busyness. We’ve enjoyed the sweetness of having my husband Aaron at home with us. Spending time in the mornings with him reading the Bible and discussing the application with him has been really sweet and comforting. Not to mention how I’ve loved to escape to his office when I felt overwhelmed during the day. lol. It’s been nice to have him here. Although it hasn’t exactly been easy, it’s been nice to enjoy a simpler life these past few weeks. I have thought so much about how it’s felt like a nod to my own childhood. I’ve missed photographing clients but I’ve spent a lot of time documenting the life of my own family during this time. As I put this post together, these photographs were precious reminders of the beauty of this time, my life at home with the children, the simplicity of it all and for that I am so so grateful. I hope you enjoy these little reminders as much as I did. Blessings friends.

I’ve been part of a beautiful group of women over the past few years that came together each month to share some of our favorite lifestyle of our families from the month. We haven’t participated for several months but felt the desire to come together again to share during this historical time. Please make your way around the circle by starting with Kalamazoo Michigan Photographer Sara Rypma and make your way around the circle.

Fay Family | Knoxville Family Photographer

This session made me fall in love with extended family sessions. There is no need for them to be stiff or stuffy. Just come as you are. Since the start of this year, I’ve lost 2 of my grandparents so sessions like these seem to hit me right in the feels as the images I have of them has increased in value to me by infinity. It’s really the most important thing I have left from them. I hope these are as treasured as my images with my family are to me. An evening with this family is time well spent. I’m so glad I’ve seen Matt and Danielle’s journey since the start of their family and I loved that he surprised her with this session for Christmas when they were at home in Tennessee visiting family for the holidays. If you want treasured memories like these of you and your loved ones, send me an email, there’s nothing more I’d love than document this time for you.

Baby Micah | Knoxville Newborn Photographer

I’ve been photographing this family since the beginning and that always feels like a gift to me. To get to see them blossom into parenthood. To see how the battles and trials and joy filled moments all mesh and melt down together, how it begins to shape them, softening them in the best ways possible. What a privilege to bear witness of a small bit of time with these photographs. Congratulations guys. It’s a blessing to see the parents God is shaping you into.

Jackson Family | Knoxville, TN Photographer

A beautiful fall evening with the Jackson family. I just love you guys and look forward to spending time with you each year. <3

Barr Family | New York City Family Photographer

I met Laura on the inter webs over our mutual love for film photography and I can’t even believe I had the awesome privilege of photographing her and her boys when I was in New York City this fall. When she reached out to me she told me she wasn’t concerned at all about where we were or if it looked quintessentially NYC. But rather, she just wanted the focus to be on her love for her boys and man oh man was that something to see. Laura, you are a beauty inside and out and it was an honor to meet you and testify to this love that you so freely give to your family. Blessings.

Johnson Family | Knoxville Family Photographer

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” -G.K. Chesterton

Byrd Family | Knoxville Family Photographer

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you. -Neruda

The beautiful Byrd Family together in Knoxville at the end of summer. <3

Noll Newborn | Knoxville Newborn Photographer

“There are divine things, more beautiful than words can tell.” - Walt Whitman

Time spent with this family is time well spent. I first met them when they brought their twins home and I’ve been fortunate to see them blossom into a beautiful family. It does a heart good to be around families that love each other in a deep deep way, and these are those people. Congrats Noll fam, you guys are such a wonderful family. <3

The Rise Retreat 2019 | A recap and an invitation to join us in 2020!

This blog post is a long time coming! I’ve shared several images from our time in Colorado at the Rise Retreat earlier this year but haven’t sat down to share more of my favorites as well as some about our time together.

When Nicole, Sara and I set out to plan our first retreat, one of the big things we all agreed on was that we wanted it to be real and applicable for our attendees and was it ever! We wanted our families to be just like any family we would photograph on a normal day, with all the normal challenges that come with family photography. While our families were AMAZING we had some crazy challenges with weather but thankfully it all turned out great! We started our retreat on Friday night with two sessions led by Sara and Nicole. They each had a family they directed and our attendees were able to split their time with each of them and be in even smaller groups to listen, ask questions and even direct the clients themselves if they wanted.

Here are a few film images I snagged while Nicole and Sara led their sessions.

That night we had a cozy dinner waiting on us when we got home. Definitely come to the Rise Retreat ready to be taken care of because we are not playing around about our food. lol. I’m hungry just thinking about next years food. Think gourmet cheese boards and hot coffee on tap. yummmm!

The next morning we woke up to a blanket of snow, and headed to Breckenridge for an in home family session that I led after I did some teaching on how I approach my in home sessions. Everything from my why, to how I walk through a home and get a plan for my session flow. I wanted this session to be just like a session I would have with a client at home so that our attendees could see what it would be like for me to walk into a client’s home for the very first time and photograph them there. That is just what we did and this precious family was as lovely as could be. All images shot on Kodak Portra 400 and Kodak TriX 400. Developed and scanned at The Find Lab.

For the rest of Saturday we sipped coffee by the fire and watched the snow fall outside as we chatted about all things related to business. We held discussions about marketing, SEO, film, creative projects, setting boundaries for your business and so much more.

Sunday morning we got up for a sunrise session that it ended up snowing for most of the session and I cannot say I was mad about it. Although the weather was a surprise, it felt like the most magical way to end our sessions together.

After our last session, we went back to the house to talk editing and gallery delivery as well as just answering any questions anyone still had after our time together. Then our goodbyes!

This retreat was so wonderful and there is no one else I’d rather do it with than Sara and Nicole. They’re incredibly talented artists but also strong and successful business women with a passion to help others achieve their goals and improve. I believe that we have created a beautiful retreat to connect and refresh the artist in you. So if your heart’s desire is to dig deeper into connection at family sessions and creating the kind of work that lights you up + you crave community with other creatives, this is for you. Our retreat is hybrid. Including both film and digital mediums. Because we believe there are strengths in both mediums. And while we each share our love for our medium of choice, this retreat is about so much more than that. It’s learning to pull those honest connections from families even when everything is going crazy at a session, it’s seeing and understanding light and how it can enhance your images, it’s knowing how to run your business well so that you can not only stretch those creative muscles but also help support your family with your art. We just announced our 2020 retreat in Asheville, NC April 19-21 and we would love to have you join us. You can find out all the details about our retreat and register at this link. We hope to see you there!

Also, a HUGE thank you to all of our sponsors from this years retreat! We were able to provide the best swag bags to our clients with some of our favorite things and business tools so THANK YOU!

The FIND Lab

Milkstained Tees

Greetabl

Shootproof

17hats

Vibe and Venture

Style and Select

Zaca

Bay Photo

Wayfaren

We have SO MANY good things in store for this year and I cannot wait to share it with you! Join us!

Dyk Family at Home

Have you ever met someone and instantly known they were your people? I always tell this but the first time I met Nicole, we were at dinner and she ordered 2 dinners and I knew right then and there I loved her. Lol.(I will never let that die because I love it so much) But seriously, not only is she one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, her love for her people runs DEEP and it is inspiring ya’ll. I am grateful to say that I’ve been able to get to know Nic really well over the past couple of years and recently co-hosted a workshop with her and Sara and through all that, I’ve grown to love her even more. She is genuine, not afraid to say the hard things you need to hear and I appreciate that SO much. So, to get to photograph her in her home with her family was truly an honor to me.

I love you friend. Seeing you with your family is a thing of beauty.

Montgomery Family | Knoxville Family Photographer

The simplest of days, the sweetest moments. Nothing fancy or fussy which is exactly how it should be. A morning at home with the Montgomery Family. <3

Duncan Family Newborn | Knoxville Newborn Photographer

To know them is to love them. I’ve gotten to know this sweet family over the past few years and it was a JOY to photograph them as they welcomed their 5th baby girl earlier this year. Congratulations Duncans, we love you guys so much!

McCarthy Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

Trying to get myself back in the swing of blogging because I have had so many amazing family sessions this year. So I’m gonna start by sharing this one. I met this family at home and hung out with them there followed by a walk at their farm. It was a sweet and slow evening and just really the most beautiful thing you can imagine. Enjoy.