Hayes Family: Colonial Williamsburg

Family

There are few greater honors as a photographer than having friends ask you year after year to photograph their families.

Black and white portrait of three smiling siblings beside a white picket fence

Brother hugging his two sisters by a sunlit white picket fence in Colonial Williamsburg

A Friendship in Front of the Camera Since 2010

One of my best friends from college, Tara, has been a model for my camera since I began shooting on a DSLR in 2010! She was the roommate I dragged outside in the middle of the night to help me with my photography class homework, along with friends from the bro house who lived across the street…

Nighttime throwback snapshot of four friends with light-painting trails spelling Debs

This Year’s Session in Colonial Williamsburg

All these years later, she (and her beautiful crew!!) still let me capture them in front of my lens, wandering around Hampton Roads, Virginia. We did our session for this year in Colonial Williamsburg, and I was reminded that her kids have both grown SO fast, AND their goofiness (100000% from Matt’s side of the marriage ;)) never changes, no matter how they age!

Three siblings piled into a laughing hug on a gravel path
Kids squeezing together in a giggly group hug beside the white fence

My goodness, these kiddos truly are the cutest……. So bittersweet watching them grow up!!! Levi has Matt’s intelligence and goofiness…. Lily literally reminds me of a young Taylor Swift… And Ella the baby is a spitting image of her mother (with the sass and independence to boot)!!

Freckled boy in a plaid shirt on an ivy-lined garden path in Colonial Williamsburg

Girl wearing a plaid scarf and rust corduroy skirt smiling between ivy garden beds

Little girl in a denim jacket and leopard-print dress on a garden walkway

Their pup, Owen, joined us for some part of the photoshoot!! Tara tried for years to bring a dog addition into their clan, but to no avail in convincing Matt! Finally he came around, and their dear Owen has been such a fun addition to their family unit.

Three children crouching to pet their curly red-coated dog on a gravel path

Three siblings leaning in close with arms around each other, laughing together

Parents and three children posing in a Colonial Williamsburg garden filled with fall blooms

Family of five pulling silly faces together among colorful flower beds

Couple touching noses on a garden path at golden hour
Family of five holding hands in a garden with a white cottage behind them

Husband and wife embracing and smiling in a formal boxwood garden

Smiling couple standing close together on a garden path at dusk

Family walking their doodle past a stately brick building amid fall foliage in Colonial Williamsburg

Family strolling hand in hand near a steepled brick church surrounded by autumn color

Father with his arm around his smiling red-haired son on a cobblestone path
Dad playfully wrestling his laughing son at the edge of a cobblestone street

Two daughters kissing their mother's cheeks as she beams at the camera

Mother kneeling with her two daughters on a cobblestone path at sunset

If you’re looking for somewhere in Hampton Roads to do you photo session that isn’t a beach or a park, Williamsburg has great options! So many areas of both the downtown and the college (William & Mary) that offer a variety of backgrounds and places to find good light!!

Black and white photo of the family and their dog on a cobblestone street

Family of five with their fluffy dog posing on cobblestones in Colonial Williamsburg

Matt & Tara just celebrated TEN years of marriage last month!!!! I still remember Matt’s proposal as if it was yesterday (scroll to the bottom to see a throwback to that event!!). Their love for each other through SO MANY ups and downs these last 10 years has encouraged me greatly in the constancy of Jesus to never leave or forsake us as we follow Him and seek to be faithful in pressing deeper and deeper in with the spouse He has given us!!

Couple seated on a green bench gazing at each other before a picket fence

Husband and wife sitting together on a bench in front of a white clapboard building
Family of five gathered on a bench in front of a white clapboard house

Kids giggling with their parents on a bench along a white picket fence

Family seated on a bench before a white clapboard house in Colonial Williamsburg

Red-haired boy in a plaid shirt leaning against a white picket fence

Girl with a plaid scarf leaning on a picket fence beside fall flowers

Little girl in a leopard-print dress and black headband smiling beside the fence

Couple smiling side by side against a white picket fence in Colonial Williamsburg

Family of five tossing autumn leaves into the air along a Colonial Williamsburg path

Parents and three kids cheering as fall leaves flutter down beside a white picket fence

Kids and parents laughing while leaves rain down on a gravel walkway in Colonial Williamsburg

Family huddled close together petting their curly red goldendoodle on a gravel path
The family's goldendoodle licks a daughter's face while everyone crowds around him laughing

Parents and three children posing with their dog on a tree-lined Colonial Williamsburg lane

Throwback to the 2013 Proposal and Engagement

And now, as promised, a few extra treasures, pre-kids!!!… Enjoy these 2013 throwbacks of Tara & Matt’s proposal and engagement! (Trying not to cringe at the color temperatures of these photos, just be thankful for how far I’ve come!!)

Black and white nighttime scene of a man kneeling to propose on a lit waterfront walkway

Newly engaged couple kissing at night, city lights glimmering across the water behind them

Engaged couple embracing on a sidewalk in front of a teal-painted building, a 2013 throwback
Couple cuddled on stone steps against a weathered wooden door during their engagement session

Engaged couple laughing together in a field of tall golden grass

Man wrapping his arms around his fiancee from behind in a sunlit golden meadow

Thankful for these earliest memories AND continuing memories with Tara and her crew!! She’s a gem to me and I’m honored whenever she asks me to take her family photos!! They’re so precious to me!!

Collage of three earlier family photos: toddlers on an autumn blanket, siblings holding hands, beach portrait
Facebook Copy-color Created with Sketch.

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