I love teaching and telling a story.

I got to combine both last month when Nora Mullen, a talented filmmaker I met through The Filming Life Academy, came to Boston for a weekend to mentor with me. She is a love and I’m so lucky to journey with her. Her primary goal was to watch me film a family. As a talented family filmmaker herself, I invited her to co-shoot, but she really wanted to just observe.

We just needed a family.

My camera craves story, so I told Nora in finding us a family to gift a Day in the Life film, the right story would find us…and it did! Two photog friends suggested I reach out to Allison Wolf (a family photographer herself!). Her motherhood journey with her second has been a hard one. Her son Amos was born prematurely as COVID gripped the world. Just a few months later he fought for his life awaiting a liver transplant. Allison has lived a range of emotions in two years that many of us live in a lifetime. Because Amos was and is immunocompromised, their isolation was also extended. Amos is thriving and their world is slowly opening up again, but the soul bruises remain.

But you know what, Allison says is best.

In this film, she weaves words that will take you along on the emotional journey she’s been on from fear to freedom. I feel that her vulnerability will be a beacon of light for others who walk a similar path. It was a special privilege to collaborate with her in sharing their story. I hope in some little way it helped the healing.

I am surrounded by talented family filmmakers like Nora at The Filming Life Academy and have joined a blog circle with a few! I’m excited to introduce you to my friend, Kylie Purtell, a Hawkesbury, Australia Family Photographer. She just posted a blog on capturing the first day of school in film & photos. Head over to drool over her images, be touched by her family film and read up on her tips! She’s writing from down under where school breaks look a little different!