I could write an entire blog series about this shoot—the planning, the symbolism, all the behind the scenes fails that happen when you are a photographer on a farm in the middle of calving season—but instead I’m going to give you the cliff notes version.

Meredith has put an incredible amount of faith in me from day one. Her and Kyle were my first Kentucky photo session, January 2014 for their save the dates, it was a whopping 12°F outside, it was so cold my camera quit working for a little bit and my first session under the name “Two Arrows.”

Flash forward two years later and they are expecting their first little. When she approached me about the session, she told me she would let me have complete control over the planning. I had been mulling over the idea of a Mother Earth themed maternity session for a while, but hadn’t found the perfect couple for it. I am a crazy artist and love having symbolism in my styled sessions and for maternity I love incorporating “new life” in more than just The Bump.

I approached Daniel about creating the teepee for the session, telling him it only needed to be “about 8 feet tall.” He felt that 8 ft. would be a wimpy teepee and instead built this monster. I’m so glad he did, because I love the final outcome. I mean it wholeheartedly when I say this session is everything my dreams are made of.

Thank you Mere for trusting me and my vision for this session and for walking into my very cold pond, with no fear. I cannot wait to get my hands on Baby Hayden.

Hair/Makeup: Amy Payne

Floral Crown: Welborn Floral

In the weeks following this session the teepee has become a favorite neck scratching place for our cows.

As it turns out, cows don’t appreciate art.