There’s nothing more flattering or empowering as a photographer than when other photographers whose work you admire want to work with you, and in the last month I had the opportunity to work with two extremely gifted photographers.
A lot of photographers seem to like having photos as much as they like taking them. I’m no exception, so whenever the opportunity arises to have a talented photographer take photos of me and my family, I jump at it. I’ve had this happen twice in the last month, but this blog is about the most recent. We’ll get to the first soon, but I’m all about the Mommy and Me mother-daughter sessions lately, so we’ll start there.
I met Aysia and her daughter early last year when she and her best friend were pregnant at the same time. I had purchased two new maternity gowns so put out a model call and the two of them applied. It was so much fun being able to capture such a special time for each of them and for their friendship as they awaited their babies together.

Fast forward a year. I was inspired by my daughter around her third birthday to start doing more mommy and me photos. She has a gorgeous closet of handmade clothes and I was thinking it might be fun to eventually build up a closet little girls and moms can choose from for mommy and me session (still in the works!) But for now I just wanted to get more of these photos in my portfolio. I did a model call and once again Aysia applied, along with about 40 other local mamas. Last year I loved working with Aysia, who has since started her own business, Aysia Braaksma Photography, so I reached out and asked if she’d like to trade mommy and me sessions. I was thrilled when she agreed!
Her daughter is close in age to my own, and though Paisley played shy for a minute or two, the girls got along well, picking flowers for each other and doing what they could to make it difficult for their mom to take the photos of the other duo – walking into shots to play and exchange plants.
I just loved the final product of this mommy and me session, and just had to share! The mother-daughter bond is a special but complicated one. I plan on turning mine into wall art so in 12 years I can remember when she liked me. The photos from the time when I was her best friend and role model will hopefully get me through the toughest years as she figures out who she is and wants to be until our relationship turns into the friendship and love of a grown daughter and her mother.
Thanks for working with me, Aysia! It was a pleasure.