Family Photographer in New Richmond, WI | Storytelling Photography for Mothers & Families
There’s a moment from my childhood that still makes my stomach drop a little when I think about it.
I was in fourth grade, standing in a spelling bee.
I loved school. I loved reading. I loved spelling tests. I loved getting things right.
And then my first word came:
Rutabaga.
I got it wrong immediately.
And I cried.
Not quietly either. Fully embarrassed. Humiliated. Heartbroken in the way only kids can be when something feels huge.
At the time, it felt like the biggest failure in the world.
Now?
It’s one of the clearest memories I have from childhood.
Not because it was perfect.
Because it wasn’t.
The Moments We Remember Usually Aren’t the Ones We Expect
When we think about documenting our families, we often think about:
- smiling photos
- milestones
- birthdays
- holidays
- perfectly coordinated outfits
But memory doesn’t really work that way.
The moments that stay with us are often:
- deeply ordinary
- unexpectedly emotional
- imperfect
- small
I remember:
- getting chicken pox and missing a school field trip
- the sound of cardboard classroom name cards being shuffled
- fighting over a four square ball in third grade
- being terrified after our home was robbed
- the smell of snow gear drying after sledding at Big Bear
- Girl Scout cookies during family game nights
- helicopters circling overhead in California at night
Tiny things.
But somehow… not tiny at all.
Why Childhood Feels So Fragmented Later
As adults, we often expect childhood memories to feel linear.
But they rarely do.
They come back in flashes:
- a smell
- a sound
- a feeling
- a random object
- the way sunlight looked in a room
Sometimes a memory comes back because your own child experiences something similar.
My first grader has a spacer in the roof of her mouth right now.
And every time I see it, I’m suddenly back in kindergarten remembering mine.
Not the procedure.
Not the details.
Just the feeling of having it.
That’s what memory does.
Your Kids Are Living Their “Remember When…” Moments Right Now
Right now, your child is creating memories they won’t fully understand until years from now.
One day they may remember:
- climbing into your bed early in the morning
- the way you cut their sandwiches
- dance parties in the kitchen
- your dog barking during bedtime
- how you looked while laughing
- the house they grew up in
- the way it felt when you hugged them
And they may forget a thousand other things entirely.
That’s why photographs matter so much.
Not because they freeze perfection.
Because they preserve presence.
Photography Isn’t About Looking Perfect
One of the biggest misconceptions about family photography is that it’s supposed to look polished and flawless.
But the images families treasure most later are usually the ones that feel:
- honest
- connected
- emotional
- alive
The way your toddler clings to your leg.
The chaos between siblings.
The wind in your daughter’s hair.
The missing tooth smile.
The expression your child makes that only you recognize.
Those are the details that become priceless later.
The Older I Get, the More I Understand My Parents
There are so many things I didn’t understand as a child.
My parents’ divorce.
My dad remarrying.
The tension that existed quietly behind closed doors.
Kids don’t always know what’s happening around them.
But they feel everything.
Years later, after both my dad and stepmom had passed away, I inherited a journal my stepmom had written while dating my dad.
Reading it changed something in me.
I saw how deeply she loved us.
How badly she wanted to belong in our family.
And suddenly, pieces of my childhood made more sense.
That’s another reason I value photographs so deeply.
Sometimes understanding comes later.
And photos become part of how we reconnect with our own story.
Storytelling Photography in New Richmond, Wisconsin
At Alabaster Photos, I photograph families, newborns, mothers, and growing children with storytelling in mind.
Not stiff poses.
Not perfection.
But connection.
I want your images to feel:
- warm
- emotional
- honest
- timeless
Because years from now, these photographs may help your children remember not just what life looked like…
But what it felt like.
One Day, They’ll Look Back
One day your child will sit somewhere unexpected and suddenly remember:
- your laugh
- their childhood home
- the way you held them
- a tiny detail you didn’t realize mattered
And your photographs will help bring those memories back into focus.
That’s the real reason to document your life now.
Looking for a Family Photographer in the St. Croix Valley?
📍 Studio located in downtown New Richmond, Wisconsin
📸 Serving families throughout Hudson, Baldwin, River Falls, and the St. Croix Valley
🤍 Relaxed family, motherhood, maternity, and newborn photography designed around storytelling and connection
