Raleigh Sunflower fields at Dix Park

If you live in Raleigh, you’ve probably seen all the photos on social media of the sunflower field at Dix Park. I was so desperate to head out there and see the flowers and photograph my kiddos. My main goal was to take Baxter’s 10th Birthday photos there. I usually take his photos solo and was really hoping to have an assistant with me this time. Schedules, a sick kiddo and crazy heat never really allowed that to happen. So I took a lunch break in the middle of the day (terrible lighting) for Baxter and I to walk through the fields. We managed at least one really great photo and I adore it.

Later that evening, I went back with my girls and our neighbor. We had talked several times about going and since the field hit its peak over the weekend, we knew we had limited time! So we ran out straight from daycare with snack crumbs still on my girls’ faces. I’ve been photographing our neighbor Cael since his second birthday! He just turned seven! He and Claire played hide-and-seek in the flowers and tried not to let their giggles give their hiding spot away. Emerson…now 16 months old…was not impressed.

My favorite thing about the sunflowers is that so many families and people visited them and took photos together. It’s so easy to take photos with our cell phones these days, but they are often “in the moment” photos with little planning or thought. And that’s great! We need to capture those moments. But I loved seeing dads carrying their new babies or toddlers in cute outfits with matching headbands and moms actually in front of the camera! In the age of the selfie, people were stopping to offer to take another family’s photos and that family then returned the favor. Did I mention it was about 90 degrees? And people were outside, with their families and dogs and cameras and smiling and having fun making great memories! What a wonderful thing!

Here’s hoping the City of Raleigh plants these again next year. If so, I hope to hold sessions! Make sure to sign-up for my newsletter to be the first to know about mini-sessions.