I've known this beautiful girl since she was a toddler. Every year we document another piece of her childhood; it is such an honor to watch her grow up in front of my lens. She is the sweetest soul, cheerful and engaging, with the most infectious laugh. I traveled to Apex for her heirloom portrait session, and she danced around me and we talked while I set up my equipment and tested my lights. We talked about how her life has changed through the pandemic, what her new normal looks like, things that have been hard, things that have been good. It was so clear that she's filtering the world around her through a new lens, but right at this moment she's perfectly balanced on this line between little kid and big kid... 

I absolutely love when a family decides to capture an heirloom portrait at this age. The tween years deserve to be celebrated and documented for exactly what they are - That small window of time when you can still see their little baby face while also catching glimpses of the person they're growing up to be. For me, I can't think of any time more important to capture than that. 

This heirloom portrait was finished in charcoal and preserved on hand torn, museum grade, cotton.