Stanley’s Greenhouse Family Session
I get all of my house plants and some of our landscaping plants from Stanley’s Greenhouse, and I get all of our pumpkins/gourds from Thress Nursery Gardens. From the very first time I went to Stanley’s Greenhouse, I’ve been DYING to shoot there. It is absolutely beautiful, and ALL of their plants are SO healthy and awesome. I just hadn’t gotten someone for it until the Dyer family. I also shot their engagement photos and wedding photos, which you can see by clicking the links! Here’s the thing I really love about Haley and Jesse. They are realistic and embrace the personality of their little man. When working with a toddler, flexibility is the key to a successful session. Typically, we follow them around and do the things they are interested in 80% of the time, and shoot posed, staged, smiling photos the other 20% of the time. The problem lies when parents have a vision of how the session is supposed to go, and the toddler rebels against that expectation. These parents fight it and are frustrated, and when we are parting ways at the end of the session, they huff and say things like there’s no way you got anything good out of that! But that’s not how toddlers operate. They are curious, headstrong, and explorers. Going along with them on their journey and helping them adventure to all the unknown spots that call them and making it fun as we do so is the best way to have a session with a toddler, and Haley and Jesse just might be the absolute best at this that I have ever seen! Seriously! At the very beginning of our session, Case crawled under the table and started playing in the potting soil on the ground. Instead of going crazy and trying to prevent him from getting any dirt on him, they just started laughing and went and squatted beside him and played with him. At another point, Haley got some dirt on her sweater from picking Case up and his shoe brushing against it. She got most off, but there was still a small spot. Instead of making a big deal about it, she just owned it as part of mothering a toddler, and it’s definitely acceptable to have dirt on your sweater during family photos when they involve an 18 month old boy. Later, Case started playing in water and splish splashing all in it. His shoes were getting soaked, but he was so happy. He was smiling and running through it and even striking a pose or two for me. Instead of insisting that he stop because “the water was a mess and was getting everywhere and what if he fell in it and soaked his whole outfit???” they just embraced it. They clapped for him and laughed with him and told him to do it again! I just love this so much. There will be a day where all parents will have the older children who can stand and not get dirty and not play in the water and smile at the camera when they’re told, but it’s not when they’re one. And that’s okay!
Now that I’ve rambled for approximately 1,639,345,792 words about this, scroll through and see this cuteness for yourself! Also, if you’ve never been to Stanley’s Greenhouse, do yourself a favor and go there. Right now it’s full of beautiful white and red poinsettias of all types (hanging, potted, big, small, different shades of red), and it’s just gorgeous.
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!
See more from Amanda May Photos:
The Guide
A lot of moving pieces go into planning a wedding day timeline, and we know it's easy to feel like a hot mess! Grab our free guide to plan the perfect timeline for your day.
