“When I first met Charity, I was looking to book a florist for my wedding two years ago. We had a consultation in a coffee shop and I remember two things: Charity had a wild, beautiful passion for flowers, and she was the most joyful and kind person I had ever met. I left our meeting feeling inspired to be a better person and to love life more like she did. Fast forward two years, Charity and I now work in the wedding industry together, but I still feel the same way about her. She is a gift to be around because of her sweet demeanor. I remember when she told me that she was pregnant; we were driving to a styled shoot together, and I could tell she had a secret on her tongue. She was being kind of shy but so giddy about it at the same time, and when she finally told me, she had the biggest smile on her face. She told me that she and Ben had been married for about five years when they decided it was time to try for a child. She went on to tell me a story of how when they were vacationing together in Australia for their 5th anniversary that she was reading a book on story and legacy and happened to see a little boy playing with his daddy. Suddenly, something in her shifted, and she said, “I want that!” When Charity asked me to take her maternity photos, I truly felt honored. She is gracious and beautiful, but I know that she is also a legacy of love and motherhood that will endure and be talked about in her family for generations. To be the one to document something like that brings tears to my eyes.” Shelby, Photographer

“I am not yet a mother, and so I have been a visual artist who stands outside of the picture of the momma-to-be with her belly and smiling husband observing and watching and learning as I document growing families and new life entering the world. This has been one of the greatest gifts my job and the good Lord have ever given me. I entered into this realm of photographing motherhood thinking that it would be about fun and joy and family, and it is, but it’s more. Almost indescribable, I find myself in the opportunity of the mystery of life; creating stories of motherhood doesn’t just mean maternity photos. It means creating stories of love, pain, survival, marriage, endurance, excitement, tears, and indescribable joy. While I don’t walk through the pregnancy journey step by step with my clients, I can see it on their faces. I see the tears that they wiped away when they got the pregnancy test, when they saw the ultrasound, all the doctor visits, when they bought the crib and decorated the spare room into a nursery, to when they opened all those packages of onesies at their shower, to the moment the brought the little one home and realized that yes, finally, their gift was home. They come to me at the end of their race, usually a little tired, but so, so happy and saying over and over “it was worth it.” So while many probably suppose my passion for motherhood stems out of my deep-rooted feelings for documenting love stories– they’re right, it does… However, not all love stories are about romance. Some love stories, like motherhood, are about hardship and glory and creating life, while also being a vessel of beauty, miracles, nurturing, affection, warmth, and sacrifice. If I had to sum it all up, that is what makes photographing motherhood so fulfilling. Being the one to document this special journey that is altogether beautiful, miraculous, wonderful, painful, terrifying, and brave– I’m honored to get to be a part of that sort of season of life that is so mysterious and yet so human. Nothing else I could do on this earth would ever feel quite like it.” Shelby, Photographer

SHEA BRIANNE PHOTOGRAPHY
Hair – Bri Wright of Diamonds and Dos
Dress – PinkBlush