Along the way: Courtney of Momentologie Photography

 We are very excited to share this session by Lifestyle and Portrait Photographer, Courtney Maltman. She is based in Rochester, New York, and this session just jumped out at me. I love the colour, the movement, and the light. The words she shared are just as moving.
You can follow her here:

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You know that moment after you dive into water and just before you come up for air? That split second where you feel scared you may be stuck under? This is how I have been feeling all week. My third child, my baby girl, went off to kindergarten this week. I have not been able to breathe…she was ready to soar. As the youngest of three, with two awesomely nurturing big brothers, this little girl is full of sweetness and sass like no other I know. She was born by VBAC after 2 c-section births with my boys. The first thing I said to her after she was born was “We did it.”. Our connection and love for each other is strong, and she has been with me almost every minute of every day, in her almost 5 years on this earth. The thought of her leaving me to be with complete strangers for 7 hours a day was heart-breaking for me. But, never once, not even one little word was uttered, that made me think she was anything other than completely ready for this time.

Now, my children have always been my artistic muses. I knew that I had to do something with all of the emotional chaos going on inside my heart before she left me that first day. I knew about a nearby sunflower field and on a steamy but gorgeous late summer eve, I asked her if she wanted to go see the sunflowers and have me take her pictures in them. Her response was a joyful “Okay!”. The images that I captured in these 30 minutes at the field, were some of my favorite images I have ever taken of her. They will forever be a reminder for me of how I felt during those last days before my baby went off into the world without me, and how I need to TRUST that she will be “okay” as she grows into the woman she is meant to be. She is the one that gives ME confidence and the “courage to grow”.