Morgan Trinker

I first met Amy a couple of years ago at the dog park, of all places. Jamie and I had just recently moved to Birmingham, and we were excited to discover this park close to where we were living, and we used to take our dog Gretchen there all the time. The reason we connected with Amy was because her dog, Choxie, is also a Plott hound, and we NEVER see other Plott hounds out and about. (Most people have never even heard of the breed, and/or assume Gretchen is a vicious pit bull, which definitely couldn’t be further from the truth.) So needless to say, it was really cool to finally meet a fellow Plott parent and talk about all of our dogs’ identical quirks. And while Gretchen and Choxie didn’t seem to realize that they were long lost twin sisters, as we had hoped, we still had a great time getting to know Amy.

Since then, I’ve enjoyed watching Amy’s family grow. She and her husband Brian welcomed baby Cora into the world just over a year ago, and I was really excited when Amy reached out to see if I’d be interested in doing some family portraits in honor of Cora’s first birthday. As I’ve said before, I don’t normally do lots of family sessions, but when I do, I very much encourage at-home, slice-of-life style photos, where I just come hang out with you and capture your family in your everyday environment. It truly is one of the best ways for me to get the most natural expressions, because everyone feels so comfortable, and you get the added bonus of having your home documented as it is for preservation. If you’re like me and you freak out about everything looking perfect when people come over, I know the idea of this can be really stressful, but I promise you that you’ll be thankful you did it one day. Amy emailed me last week to say that she too had been skeptical, and spent lots of time stressing and cleaning and decorating before I came, but now she can’t imagine it being any other way. And I agree! Recording your family’s history, no matter how “imperfect” you feel it is at this moment in time, is so important, because when you look back at photos like these years down the road, you’ll never be thinking about how you wish you had arranged the furniture differently. Instead, you’ll be so grateful to have these fleeting moments captured forever.

Now that my little speech is over, let’s get on to the photos, shall we? ;) (And for those of you who need proof of our dogs being identical both in appearance and temperament, click on over to my Instagram feed to the right of this and you’ll find plenty of photographic evidence!)

I can’t even deal. Love this.

Can you tell that Amy and I have similar taste not only in dogs, but in pretty much everything? haha.

There is pretty much nothing cuter than babies and dogs being BFFs. Am I right?

Cora loves pulling this frame off the table and pointing to her mama and daddy in the photo. MELT MY HEART.

Obsessed with this next series. I’m pretty sure this sums up how Gretchen will feel whenever we decide to bring a tiny human into our house. ;)

Pure sweetness.

Thank you Mezzell family for inviting me into your home to photograph these memories for you! I had so much fun with you guys! :)