Maternity Family Session | Lorimer Park in Philadelphia Suburbs
Though I don’t post them often, family sessions have always been at the heart of my work as a photographer. Consent is incredibly important to me, which is why you don’t often see my maternity family photography unless I’ve been given full permission.
As someone who had a later-in-life realization of my own Autism thanks to researching my children’s behaviors, I’ve grown to better understand how to creatively collaborate with kids, no matter how their brains are wired.
Letting kids lead the way
Just like working with grown-ups, letting kids lead the way can be crucial to how a session flows. Allowing children to be involved with selecting a location where they thrive the most typically means having more organic, comfortable photos. And giving them the autonomy to express what they’d like to wear and how they’d like to present themselves can be equally as important.
Things like gender expression and sensory sensitivities can pop up a lot during photo sessions for people of all ages, so finding ways to support kids and their vision, beyond our own mood boards can be powerful.
Photo sessions at Lorimer Park
In this family’s case, E loves throwing rocks in water and adventuring outside, so we went to Lorimer Park for their maternity family session, where there’s no shortage of pebbles.
Lorimer Park is one of my favorite places to hike around with my family while we explore the trails and roll up our pants in the stream. I’ve been photographing family and portrait sessions at Lorimer Park, outside of Philadelphia, for years.
It remains one of my go-to’s when families ask for ideas on where to go for their photo session, due to its expansiveness and feeling of privacy, even if it’s packed with visitors. For context, Lorimer Park is a public park in Huntingdon Valley, which is part of Abington Township.
It’s located on the perimeter of Fox Chase Farm—230 acres of woods and meadows, with water and bridges to explore. The trail is a combination of well-maintained gravel and paved paths, making it accessible for family and pets. Plus there’s a large parking lot, which always a relief for this Autistic parent and photographer.
Penguin pebbling as a love language
As a somewhat random aside, my friend Rylan introduced me to the term “penguin pebbling,”–a behavior, or essentially, love language–that a lot of Autistic folks engage in.
We might collect and give small objects, like pebbles, as a way of saying we’re thinking of someone. The items can be related to our hobbies or encourage the interests of the person who is receiving the gift (like sending someone a TikTok video you know they will find interesting).
I love that excited kids are natural “penguin pebblers,” collecting items in nature to share with me during photo sessions. Which is why most of my pockets are filled with misshapen rocks, dandelion fluffs, leaf crumbs, and mini pine cones, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
