Ocoee Whitewater Center Maternity Session
Marshall and Erin are one of the couples that have been with me through every major moment of their life. Back in 2015, I photographed Marshall proposing to Erin at a little restaurant in Cleveland, TN. You can see more from that session here! Then, I had the opportunity to do their engagement session and wedding! For their first anniversary, they came to the mountains for a little cabin getaway, and I did their first year anniversary. So, what is next you ask?? Of course, it’s maternity!! I am so stinking excited for these two. I already know they are going to make incredible parents.
Normally, I would continue gushing about what wonderful parents they are going to make and how I know that, but I think it’s important for me to share this. So often, you hear people saying everyone shares their highlights on social media and comparison is such a suck in because you compare your real life to everyone else’s highlights. Well, I made a pretty big uh-oh leading up to Marshall and Erin’s maternity session. I’m sharing this to bring into reality that even someone 10 years into business makes mistakes. Even someone who is a 3 on the enneagram and strives for perfection in too many ways makes mistakes, you guys. Marshall and Erin’s Ocoee Whitewater Center maternity session was my first session after I took a massive break for the holidays. By massive, I mean I basically took two weeks off, which was desperately needed after this past fall, and it felt so so so good. I had figured out all the logistics before my time off (so I thought), so I went into this Saturday knowing I needed to leave 1.5 hours before the shoot. I’m headed there with my maps on, listening to an audio book (Fearless by Max Lucado, which is SO good in case you’re looking for a book), and I had to stop for gas. For some reason, it dawned on me at the gas pump that when we first chose the Ocoee Whitewater Center for their maternity photos I had pulled the wrong address for it. Erin had emailed me back sending me the correct address, and I thought I updated it in my calendar (which I usually do). But maybe I should check just in case. In the middle of nowhere, the network was so slow that it wouldn’t pull my old emails so I shot Erin a text. Long story short, I did have the wrong address, and now, I was going to be 30 minutes late because it was not 1.5 hours away, it was 2 hours away. I felt like an idiot. This incredible couple and very pregnant mama had taken time out of their weekend for a 30 minute family session at a location far enough from their house that they for sure had already left, and I’m going to be SO late. I HATE tardiness. With a passion. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves. Not so much someone else being tardy on my time but me being tardy on someone else’s time. And we’re not talking a few minutes. THIRTY minutes. We are going to be starting our Ocoee Whitewater Center maternity session at the same time we were suppose to be ENDING it! UGH. WHY?!?!?! So, I got there as quickly as I could, got out of my car apologizing, and gave them an extra 45 minutes of shooting time to make up for it. And here is one of the reasons I know they are going to be such good parents.
They could have been angry. They could have been impatient. They could have been frustrated and aggravated and annoyed. Erin especially because lemme tell you, once you’re in the third trimester, sitting just hanging in a car is not super comfy. Sitting anywhere without your feet up for an extended period of time is incredibly uncomfortable. But they got out of their car with smiles on their faces. They forgave me before I even asked for forgiveness. Their immediate reaction was grace instead of frustration. This is hard, you guys. This isn’t something that is normally intuitive. They have practiced these actions so often that it has become intuitive. Patience for humans is hard, but they showed me, not a family member or bff, such beautiful grace that how much more will they show their own child??
They will make incredible parents.
If you have someone in your life being annoying right now. Choose grace. You have no idea how much it’ll impact them.
I’m a Knoxville Wedding Photographer that loves to travel…I shoot anywhere! Click here to contact me with any questions you have about pricing or booking! If you liked what you saw above, go ahead and follow me on Facebook or Instagram to see my daily updates of the latest sessions!
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