We know that our family portraiture makes people so happy, but when we learn that we have helped a beautiful young boy feel like an accepted part of a family and that he belongs, it makes you realise the power of our approach.
Both adoption and raising a child who struggles with aspects of the world are private and rarely spoken about, so I am thrilled that Maddie felt so comfortable that she could share her story with us and therefore you reading this.
We work with children who face a variety of challenges, our job remains the same, which is to learn about that child, how they see the world, what they love, what excites them – make them feel safe, help them relax, make it about THEIR fun and never lose that child spirit that lives within us all.
Please take a few minutes to read Maddie’s story in her own words
Michael and I got married September 28th 2017 and a few days after returning home from our beautiful honeymoon we received a phone call that Michaels nephew Keeyarn needed somewhere to stay. One year later Keeyarn was still happily living with us and we started the adoption process.
Keeyarn has a lot of challenges to face daily and concentrating for any longer than 5 minutes is one of those struggles, so we never thought we would be able to ever have a family photo shoot.
January 2020 came and we had our little girl Amiyah. Michael and I did worry how Keeyarn would cope with this new little addition to the family but we had absolutely no reason to worry. Watching him really take his big brother role seriously, loving and playing with her is beautiful.
We saw on Facebook that Adam was running a competition for a free family photo shoot. Adam has photographed just about all of our family events including both my sisters weddings and engagements. I knew they would be beautiful but there was still that feeling of worry that Keeyarn wouldn’t be able to have his photos taken with us. We entered the competition anyway and to our surprise we won it!
Leading up to the set date of the photoshoot Adam was amazing. After our first phone call I felt so much more relaxed, it was more than just a photo shoot for Adam. He wanted to really portray who we are as a family, our huge amount of love for each other and also our individual personalities. He spoke to Michael and I individually to really get to know us. During one of our phone calls I told Adam about Keeyarn’s struggles and he reassured me straight away. Shortly after Adam had a phone call with Keeyarn, he gave Keeyarn a fun secret mission which was to hide somewhere that he couldn’t be heared – Keeyarn chose the cupboard under the stairs! After the phone call Keeyarn was beyond excited, everyday asking when we can see Adam and have our fun photo shoot!
We arrived for the photoshoot and it was such a relaxing atmosphere. Adam had snacks and drinks waiting for us, which Keeyarn was super happy about- it also helped with his concentration, nibbling on grapes and cookies between photos! Adam took the most beautiful photos of us as a family, as a couple, the children together and the children individually. Each one as beautiful as the other and each showed all of our personalities, the love we have as a family and the special bond Keeyarn and Amiyah have.
When we received our portraits we couldn’t believe how amazing they all are! Our house feels even more like a home with our favourite family photo beautifully framed on our living room wall. Everyday we look at it and are reminded of our unconditional love for each other and the special day we had making memories together.
Thank you so much Adam, a truly amazing experience for all of us!
