Flat Top Maternity Session: Ashley

This was my first photo session back after sheltering in place for almost two months during the Covid-19 pandemic. The whole drive up to Flat Top, I was worried about feeling rusty. Once I got there, it felt weird to put my mask on before climbing out of the car. Once Ashley and Dan arrived, it felt even stranger to not shake their hands— or give hugs. (I’ve learned through isolation that I’m a hugger!)

The light at Flat Top was absolutely beautiful in the way that only spring nights in Anchorage can be. It was almost 9pm, and golden light flooded across the town and lit up the green and red lichen on the Glen Alps. Before we started, I gave my usual spiel about posing and prompts, but this time added in information about how I would be staying 6-feet apart from them and how we would work around things like errant hairs and dresses that needed fluffing. I wasn’t sure I could get used to shooting in a mask and not getting up super close for all the detail shots I love… but then something happened.

It was like every instinct I had came rushing back. It was amazing to be able to talk and joke with people that weren’t my family. (No offense family, it’s just that we’ve been seeing an awful lot of each other lately. Ha.) It was like for that hour and a half, our world was almost normal again.

Ashley and her fiance, Dan, rocked the session. Rocked it. They were so much fun to work with— and I will never forget the moment I posed Ashley against the gorgeous mountain backdrop and asking her to yell a cussword at the Corona Virus. It was a truly cathartic moment, and I’ll see if you can guess which one of these photos has some f-bomb thrown in. ;)