Early evening
The sun is still up but past its harshest hour. Bright, warm, and everyone has energy to spend.
Limited summer family sessions, July and August
Before the Fireflies
Summer family sessions for wild kids, wild hearts, and parents who would rather have photographs of their family actually being a family.
Why this exists
Your kids are not going to be this age again. Sorry to bring it up.
Shoes off. Grass between your toes. Kids running around like somebody just told them the field belongs to them now. This is one evening, in the good light, where nobody has to behave.
We will make the nice one first, everybody looking, everybody smiling, the photo your mother can finally stop asking about. Takes about four minutes. Then we let it fall apart on purpose.
Kids climb, spin, tackle each other gently, hold your hands, refuse to hold your hands, and otherwise conduct themselves like the small loud miracles you already know and love. I photograph all of it.
And then the light starts to go, and everything gets softer.
How it works
Here is the whole thing. No surprises.
Eight evenings across July and August. Three parks. Four sessions an evening, each one a little later than the last, walking the sun all the way down to the ground.
Golden hour
The light drops lower and softer. This is the warm, glowy light everyone pictures.
Last light
The richest gold of the night, right before the sun slips behind the trees.
The Firefly Session
Starts in warm light and runs into dusk. The long one, and the only one that might end with fireflies.
Times shift through the summer. August sunsets come earlier than July's. Your exact start time shows when you pick your evening.
The last session of the night
The Firefly Session
It begins while there is still warm light for beautiful photographs, then keeps going as the sky gives up and the fireflies clock in for their shift.
It runs longer, 45 minutes to an hour, because dusk does not hold still, and neither do your kids. There are only eight of these all summer. That is not a marketing decision. I physically cannot make the sun set twice in one evening.
The fireflies have been invited. They have not signed a legally binding performance agreement. If they no-show, the evening is still gorgeous and your gallery is still gorgeous.
Two ways to do it
Pick the evening that fits your people.
Standard Summer Session
$250One of the first three slots, good light
- 20-25 minutes
- 10 edited digital images
- One complimentary fine print
- Add the full gallery for $125
- Extra images $20 each
The Firefly Session
$325The last slot, warm light into dusk
- 45-60 minutes
- Starts in warm light, runs into dusk
- 10 edited digital images
- One complimentary fine print
- A few small end-of-evening surprises
- Only 8 exist all summer
Deposit
You pay $100 today to hold your evening, and it is not an extra fee. It comes straight out of your session price. The balance is due before your session. Want more photos? Add the full edited gallery for $125, or grab extra single images at $20 each.
This is very much for some people, and genuinely not for others.
It is for you if
- You prefer real over stiff, and a little chaos over a lot of posing.
- You are fine with your kids being their actual selves for an hour.
- You want something that is not a 15-minute conveyor-belt mini-session.
- You will drive 30-40 minutes for the right field and the right light.
It is not for you if
- You need everyone in matching khakis staring dead into the lens for 25 straight minutes.
- You want a strip-mall studio and a paper backdrop.
- You believe a good family photo requires a well-behaved family. It does not. Truly.
Hi, I am Aaron
I have spent years photographing people being themselves. It is the best job I have ever had.
I am a wedding, elopement, and family photographer based in West Virginia. My whole thing is candid, the laughing, the wandering, the clinging, the not-cooperating and the recovering-from-not-cooperating.
I will make the nice posed one too. But the photos you will love in ten years are the ones where everyone forgot I was there.
***** 5.0 - 40+ Google reviews
"Aaron's work is dreamy, sharp, and still very human."
Google review
"He captured us in such a way that I wish I could just go into modeling."
Google review
"Candid moments that are flattering. If you want talent and a chill vibe, go with Aaron."
Google review
"He took his time. We never felt rushed."
Google review
Three parks, all worth the drive.
The location varies by date. Whichever evening you pick tells you where to be.
Bolivar Heights
Harpers Ferry, WVHigh open fields with a long view down into the valley. Big sky, bigger light, room to feel like you own the place.
Ramsey Park
Shepherdstown, WVEasy, grassy, and close to town. Tall summer grass that small children can fully disappear into, briefly.
Morgan Grove Park
Shepherdstown, WVShade trees, open lawn, and room to run flat-out until somebody trips over nothing and everyone regroups.
The honest questions.
What if it rains?
We move to a backup evening. The sky out here is dramatic and occasionally a liar, so this is built in. You will not lose your deposit to weather.
What if my kid completely loses it?
Good. Bring it. A four-year-old in a heated negotiation with the ground is one of my favorite things to photograph. We will also get the sweet ones, I promise.
What do we wear?
Whatever you would actually wear on a nice evening. Skip giant logos and bright neon, dress for grass and for kneeling down. Comfortable beats fancy every single time.
How many photos, and can we get more?
Ten edited images in your gallery. Extra single images are $20 each, or add the full edited gallery, every keeper from your session, for $125 when you book.
When do we get them?
A private online gallery in about two to three weeks. You download everything in full resolution and can order prints straight from it.
How does the deposit work?
You pay $100 to hold your evening, and it is not an extra fee. It comes straight out of your session price. The rest is due before the session.
Hold your evening
Pick a night.
Choose an open time. Firefly slots are marked in gold. When they are gone, they are gone. 3 Firefly and 18 standard left.
Wed - July 9
Bolivar Heights - Harpers Ferry, WV
Thu - July 17
Morgan Grove Park - Shepherdstown, WV
Wed - July 23
Ramsey Park - Shepherdstown, WV
Thu - July 31
Bolivar Heights - Harpers Ferry, WV
Wed - August 6
Morgan Grove Park - Shepherdstown, WV
Thu - August 14
Ramsey Park - Shepherdstown, WV
Wed - August 20
Bolivar Heights - Harpers Ferry, WV
Thu - August 28
Morgan Grove Park - Shepherdstown, WV
Before the fireflies