I didn’t think this series would take me into June or July, but here we are.

As I write this, Virginia is on day two of Phase 3. We can dine inside restaurants, gather with 250 of our closest friends, and listen to music at indoor venues with 1,000 people.

My family and I won’t be doing any of those things, though. Because at the same time, the number of COVID-19 cases continues to climb.

We do enjoy the occasional drive-thru meal, a solo mission inside Target, and a rare visit with family, but it’s all done with a dose of worry. What if.

I’d love to say that I’ll look back on these days and feel some warmth, but I’ll remember — the fear, the anxiety, a sense of being trapped, a loss of time and experiences with family.

So these photos aren’t for me — they’re for Tucker. Because I hope he does remember only good things about this season.

In these photos, we build a giant fort, make friends with goats, get yet another quarantine haircut, and (finally) make a trip to my mom’s.

Laura Richards is a fine art lifestyle & documentary photographer based in Charlottesville, Virginia. She specializes in authentic, feel-good photography that tells "the story of you" for decades. See what makes her different from other photographers in the Charlottesville area here.

Another week — or is it two weeks? A month, maybe? 

In this entry, I document a rainy afternoon in the play room, serious art projects, cereal box robot arms, a puddle-laden walk, and our first big family outing since February — strawberry-picking at Critzer Family Farm in Afton, Virginia. 

As always, my photos are made using only natural light, whether it be through a window, during golden hour, or in direct sunlight. In this series, I experimented with light coming in through our front door — one time around bedtime; another, in late afternoon. I'll note them below, so you can see the difference just a few hours makes.

Front door photo just before bedtime. 

Rainy afternoon in Tucker's play room. I loved playing around with the day's low light.

Front door photo in late afternoon. The light creates such cool rainbow splatters inside!

Breaking in the splash pad. We basically live at the beach now. 

Your kids stick scissors in their mouths too, right? 

Tucker's homemade cereal box robot arms. 

Empty boxes are the best!

Writing a letter to grandma, using stickers for stamps.

A family walk after the rain. Luckily, Tuck lives in his rain boots! 

Ready to pick strawberries! 

But first, this old tractor.

Working on my Mother's Day present! 

Laura Richards is a fine art lifestyle & documentary photographer based in Charlottesville, Virginia. She specializes in authentic, feel-good photography that tells "the story of you" for decades. See what makes her different from other photographers in the Charlottesville area here.

Like many of you, I've lost track of the days.

The weekends carry no real distinction from weekdays. Mornings slide slowly into afternoons. Our backyard is starting to feel just a little smaller.

My first quarantine journal post documented days 1-10. This one documents moments between March 29 and April 14. To me, it feels like one long quarantine day — a day filled with fire pit dinners and deck lunches, hammock naps, a homemade sprinkler, video chats, nature walks, and an Easter egg hunt (or two or three). 

​We also celebrated Tucker's third birthday (so unbelievable!). It wasn't the party I'd imagined a few months ago, but it turned out to be such a special day, complete with a surprise visit from Albemarle County Fire Rescue. 

I didn't take too many photos from Easter or Tucker's birthday, because I was also filming the day, which definitely takes a lot more focus! Watch those films here. 

This was our very first fire in the pit Tyler built. Tucker's reaction (top left) was "Pee-yew! Hot, hot, hot!"

An 80-degree day in March calls for a run through the hose. 

Eating on the deck or over the fire pit might as well be a night out to a restaurant these days...

Tucker often walks up to the thermostat, hand on hip, and says, "Nice day out!"

Pretending to shop in his play room (guess I'm not the only one missing shopping trips).

We finally broke out the hammock, only to find out Tucker is obsessed! 

Post-nap walks.

Video chats with Grandma.

Building a bird nest, and then (unprompted) cleaning up the mess.

A nice outing and picnic to Walnut Creek Park in Charlottesville. 

Decorating paper eggs with shaving cream and food coloring.

Indoor Easter egg hunt. Turns out Tucker's a pro!

A beautiful Easter morning.

Tucker's third birthday! He had no idea a firetruck was about to come to his house!

We video-chatted each person, so they could see Tucker open their gifts.

Tucker's eggless brownie cake (I accidentally used all the eggs for Easter lunch, but this recipe turned out so good!)

I'm a sentimental sucker for the "lasts" — especially when I can turn them into something magical. 

For the past three years, I've made it a priority to spend the evening before Tucker's birthday to take some photos. For the past three years, it's just so happened to be a beautiful day drenched in golden-hour light. 

Apart from the sentimentally of these little sessions, I love that they allow the following day to be more relaxing. I don't have to worry about keeping cake smears off clothes or interrupting the flow of birthday celebrations for photos that I have (unreasonably) high expectations for. 

If you know our sweet Tuck, I hope you enjoy seeing his beautiful smile during this time of quarantine. If you don't, I hope you'll imagine your own kids having photos like these and reach out when togetherness is once again resumed. 

I hope this is a short series...

The Saturday before day one. My view coming home from a photo session. I'm including it here because, apart from Tyler going to work and a couple of photo sessions for me, we had been self-quarantining for a few days at this point. And to me, this image represents so much of what we are experiencing right now. 

Day 2 of our "official" quarantine. (I didn't even realize it was St. Patrick's Day.) It doesn't look very different from a normal day, except Tyler is working from home. It's a challenge to keep Tucker away from Dada's "work house," but for the most part, he and I have been spending the day in his play room and enjoying the spring weather.

See that little string of pony beads on his easel? Tucker made "Christmas lights" for one of his favorite stuffed animals, a bird puppet. 

Day 4. I pulled out the chalkboard Easter eggs I was saving, so Tucker could use them for his bird. We learned about how baby birds hatch and get fed. I cleaned out a honey bottle; Tucker and I filled it with brown and yellow paper. He's feeding honey to his goat in the third photo. That evening, Tyler and Tucker had their first quarantine haircuts. 

Breakfast popsicles (I think. Probably.) I love the kitchen window image, because it represents what a peaceful moment looks like for me these days: spring-scented candle lit, window open, and Tucker happily playing outside while I get some things done inside.

Tucker skipped his nap that afternoon, so he spent some downtime watercoloring. He made one picture for Grandma, two for his cousin, and six for the trees and bushes in our yard.

We started having "tea time" with Tyler in the afternoons. Tucker likes to make the tea, but doesn't usually drink it. We got out some of Tyler's old photos; Tucker would hold them up and say, "Me!" Later, he made Tyler some cards out of construction paper and stickers (a lot of stickers). 

It was about this time last year — I was sitting on the couch, in front of the tree, wondering where we would be spending our next Christmas. 

Tyler and I had been itching to start house-hunting again, and we knew that come spring, he would graduate and (hopefully) land a job he loved. 

Fast forward 12 months, and I’m realizing that everything and not much at all has changed. 

In July, we said goodbye to our little home in Roanoke, and hello to a new adventure in Charlottesville. It was so hard to leave the place that held our first memories as a family of three.

And while I still remember the creak of those floors, the grooves in the kitchen counters, the smell of the radiator heat, and the slam of the screen door, I'm learning to love things like that here, too.

The weeks following our move, I barely picked up my camera. Partly out of exhaustion, partly because I felt like this house hadn’t earned that honor yet, like I was betraying our first home by documenting life in this one.

But then I started seeing the same kind of beautiful moments happening here that made me fall in love with our life in Roanoke. 

Evening summertime walks. Watching Tucker splash in the backyard and finger-paint on a towel. His first jump into a leaf pile. His last night in his baby bed. Carving pumpkins. Helping Tyler bake brownies. Dancing to Christmas music on the kitchen floor — all an endless string of magic that has carried me from crying in an empty house to sitting here in front of the Christmas tree once again.

So this year, I take comfort in knowing that, really, we’re exactly where we were last year: together. And I’ll let that carry me into the new year, and all the years to come.

It's been a year since we found out our son has a peanut allergy. In that time, my husband and I have learned (sometimes the hard way) what to do and what not to do. Everything from eating out, grocery shopping, trick-or-treating and attending birthday parties has changed because of his allergy.

On one hand, dealing with it now — while Tucker is still so young — is easy, since we're the only ones who give him food. On the other hand, he has no idea he has a peanut allergy and can't speak up for himself. He would eat anything that was given to him. 

I hope sharing what we've learned this year will help educate and spread awareness. Peanuts are responsible for the most food-allergy-related deaths in the United States, so staying knowledgeable is important!

1. Peanuts are different from tree nuts. Peanuts are actually a legume, which puts them in a different category than tree nuts. But while Tucker can safely eat cashews, pecans and others, many tree nuts are processed in the same facility as peanuts — making them unsafe. 

2. You can eat at Chick-fil-A. They use refined peanut oil, which does not contain peanut proteins. 
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3. You can ask to be the first to board an airplane, in order to clean your seat and tray. Most airlines have stopped serving peanuts, but they can't control what food passengers bring aboard, nor is there time to clean between flights. (On our flight to Colorado, the woman beside Tucker and me had JUST eaten a peanut butter sandwich before she boarded, so you never know.)

4. You should always wipe down the high chair and table at restaurants. It's always possible that the person who sat there before you had a cross-contaminated dish or a peanut butter sandwich (which is on tons of kids' menus).

5. It's possible to safely eat at an ice cream parlor by always asking the employee to wash the scoops before serving. Our favorite shop, Blue Cow, is SO nice about doing this!

6. Bakery items are a no-go. We've found that because most coffee shops, grocery stores and restaurants get their bakery items from off-site facilities, it's impossible to guarantee if items are safe. There is one exception locally, and that's Corbin's Confections in Salem. They run a completely peanut-free, tree-nut-free and gluten-free bakery. 

7. This leads me into the challenge of birthday parties. Most store-bought cakes have peanut contamination. As Tucker gets older, we will always need to bring our own safe dessert to parties, including those at school. 

8. Halloween will be a challenge, but not completely impossible. Of course, we will always have to monitor what candy he keeps (the list of peanut-free options is short). This year, I learned that when homes are passing out non-food treats, they can place a teal pumpkin outside. Great candy alternatives include balloons, stickers, pencils, silly putty, and glow sticks. 

9. Never offer other children food without asking their parents. This can easily happen at a park, school, a play date, birthday party or family gathering. A child, especially Tucker's age, is completely innocent to what someone is giving them. 

10. You have to check every label. Products you wouldn't expect to have peanut contamination sometimes do. One I found surprising was Whales Cheese Crackers, which are made at a facility that processes peanuts and tree nuts. Another one is Neapolitan ice cream, which we bought for Tucker's first birthday. Not all brands do, but the one we purchased actually listed peanuts as an ingredient. 

I can feel it — 2019 is going to be LRP's best year yet. But you know what would make it even better? If I could cross off everything on my photography wish list!

Do you know anyone who would be interested in one of the five sessions below?

I'm a journalist at heart, so I have such a passion for documentary photography. For me, there's nothing more exhilarating than turning everyday moments with my family into storytelling photographs. Each one is like a small love letter to your children and grandchildren. Whenever I document my own family, I always think these will be some of Tucker's favorite photos one day.

My husband and I did this for our own maternity session in 2017, and I absolutely love the story they tell. We snuggled on the couch and on our porch swing, read books in our son's nursery and laughed a lot. It was so us, and I would love to give that experience to someone else. 

What could be better than having your hours-old baby documented in the place you brought them into the world? Not much! These documentary hospital sessions are just the sweetest, and I need more of them in 2019!

Will you or your parents be celebrating a milestone anniversary this year? Chances are, they haven't been professionally photographed as a couple since their wedding! They'll love the experience of creating new memories together — as well as having beautiful, tangible artwork from their session that they can pass down to you one day.

Know anyone who makes or sells something beautiful? I would love to help a fellow local business owner create imagery and art for their store!

Storytelling has always been a huge part of my life.

I pored over journalism and photojournalism in high school and college. I used photographs, interviews and my own memories to tell a story of my dad after his death in 2010. I shared the stories of more than 50 men and women living at the Roanoke Rescue Mission in 2014.

And now, I use my experience, skill and creativity to document my own family — our little, in-between moments that often slip by unnoticed. I've been doing this since the day we brought Tucker home, of course, but every so often, I become very intentional about it, documenting for several hours throughout a given day. Below are a few of those days.

I get so much joy out of turning small moments into cherished art. Together, these memories tell a meaningful story of how we lived and loved — in many ways, they're little love letters we leave behind to our children and grandchildren.

​Stories come in all shapes and sizes, and I feel so honored for every one I get to tell. If you are interested in a family documentary session — and turning those images into heirloom art — please email me!

It was an unusually warm evening in January, about 65 degrees. With Tucker's new ball and my camera in tow, we headed to the park. He swung, ran, climbed, explored. Capturing his newfound little-boyhood is so fun for me. Every time I turn around, he's doing something I didn't know he could do. It's hard to let go a little, but always worth it in the end.

Our first snow day of the season. Tucker was so amazed when Tyler held him up to look out the window that morning. The first part of the day was slow — breakfast, playing, TV. Then we bundled up and headed outside, where the snow was still coming down hard. It took Tucker a few minutes to get used to the snow, and it was too deep for him to walk around — but he did love picking it up! Afterward, we took our cold, red faces inside to warm up and nap. 

An afternoon at the Virginia Transportation Museum. I love capturing Tucker's joy over experiences adults take for granted. 

A quick golden-hour dinner at the Roanoke Weiner Stand, a little boy who didn't want to get into his car seat, and a bedtime routine with Dad. It's simple evenings like this that I don't ever want to forget. 

Hey, friends! This is the first of a monthly newsletter where I'll be sharing personal and business highlights of the past month, as well as what's coming down the pipeline. If something resonates with you, I would love for you to reply to these emails — I love hearing from you!

I kicked off September by celebrating my 28th birthday. Nothing too extravagant, just a day at home with my two favorite boys and my husband's famous short rib dinner. So, so good!
 
September also marked my first product deliveries, woohoo! Let me tell you — delivering beautiful, tangible artwork to my clients (instead of a digital gallery) is an amazing feeling! Seeing their faces as they unwrap their albums, wall art and folios is by far the best part of the whole experience.

Toward the end of the month, my husband and I went to the first wedding since our own three years ago. We were so grateful to Tyler's parents for babysitting Tuck so we could dance the night away!
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This past weekend, we checked out the Pumpkin Festival at Sinkland Farms in Christiansburg. Tucker loved petting the farm animals (after he warmed up to their gigantic size) and picking out two little baby pumpkins :)