Downtown Durham Family Portraits

The evening with this dear family was a hot North Carolina summer day. Temperatures nearly 100° and the air thick was with humidity. If it were any other day the family might’ve asked to reschedule, but this day was special.

This mama was about to begin her chemo journey the next morning and she wanted to remember the simple backyard moments with her loved ones- dancing in the sun, collecting flowers from their garden, rolling around on the grass, reading on their special blanket. In this moment the simple things carried so much weight, so much significance, so much love. On this day even the heat became a welcomed sensation because it meant that we had bodies, bodies that can feel, lungs that breathe, and a beating heart to soak up all the goodness here.