Monthly Archives: June 2015

Are you ready…. because there are times that I feel I might burst from my heart ready to introduce this very special project of mine to you!

Am I ready?! because this is something that has my full heart and I’ve waited so long wanting it to be so perfect, but that’s just it REAL and NOW is better than perfect ever will be!

It all began one night while Tuck and I were doing the dishes!  I had been praying to the Lord to use me for His purpose!  I love photography and after sharing my story with postpartum depression I had begun to realize that there was a deeper meaning and pull with my photography;  there was a way that I could use it and connect it with my love for mother’s and this crazy unconditional love/bond we have with our children.  I had been praying and hoping and needing to serve a greater purpose:  HIS purpose.

It hit me drying dishes one night:  all my prayers and askings hit me with one answer:  document that bond and those stories, ALL OF THEM!  Document them in a way that is raw and real and through the words of mother’s themselves… all mothers in every stage of motherhood!  Let them tell their stories as you have told yours and allow them to see the beauty in their journey so far.  Let them hold those stories with images of their family that are candid and beautiful and in their own definition of who they are as mother’s.  And in the end, put each story together side by side in a beautiful legacy for each mother to hold anytime she needs!  Bring these mother’s together in a way that can be shared again and again and passed on for future generations to share and grow and lean on!

The Motherhood Journals

As mother’s our beauty is unmatched!  I believe it comes from somewhere so deep and shines so bright from within that it can’t help but shine on the outside as well!  Our true beauty comes from our ability to love so unconditionally and so selflessly!  Even in the depths of exhaustion and sleepless nights, temper tantrums and last minute ‘to do’s that crop up out of nowhere… we are breath takingly beautiful with or without our makeup!  We don’t ever need to have the perfect hair, the perfect clothes or outfit and our mascara could always be running but to those around us we will always be radiant and stunning!

We are Mothers:  we hold treasures and secrets that know no value!  Our hearts are heavy with love that we never knew could possibly exist!  They ache and break and love all at the same time!

We have stories to tell about adventures, success, challenges, wins and sometimes such heart break that doesn’t seem fathomable!

Stories that should be brought to life and honored!  Stories that should be celebrated!  Stories that should be heard and documented so that it might live on and be passed on to other mothers!

Stories that could build a community and have purpose!

This is the goal of the Motherhood Journals!

Let’s share our stories!  Let’s celebrate our love and our connect our hearts!

Let’s celebrate our wins together and share in our victories and adventures!  Let’s cheer for one another and get to know each other on a real level, a raw level that is vulnerable and says… this is me and this is my story!

To honor this, even though you know me and most my story I wanted to kick us off!

Each Journal Entry comes with a lifestyle session!  A RAW lifestyle session!  I want these to mean something to you so we would discuss what or when you feel is the most meaningful moments in motherhood to you!  What you feel at this time are the most special everyday motherhood moments!  For me it only made sense that I would feel the most at home playing in the mud with Linc.  It’s something we do every day and it’s something I cherish and will always remember.  God placed this little boy into my life so that I would learn more about myself, the world, how to love and how to serve!  He knew being Lincoln’s mother would teach me how to be a better human being and He gave me the best gift by giving me this little human!  Our time in the mud is the time where I can appreciate this little boy the most for all that he is and at night when I lay in bed, I thank the Lord for those sweet moments of messy play!

So with the exception of telling my story because I have told it so often and this is not about me today… here is a sneak about what a Journal Entry would look like…

 

 

 

If you are interested in being a part of The Motherhood Journals and sharing YOUR story and helping to create a community of mother’s who are real, raw and inspiring…

please don’t hesitate to contact me   BROOKETUCKERPHOTO@GMAIL.COM

 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Filed in:For Moms | mommy and me | Personal | Photography | The Motherhood JournalsTagged in: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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  • June 6, 2015 - 12:05 am

    Emily - ummmmm you’re amazing and I need to meet you!!! I love this!!!!ReplyCancel

When I was talking with Liz about her upcoming session, I knew right away we were, “meant to be”!  Liz is amazing!  She is fun (and funny) and her personality just comes through no matter if you are in person with her or not!  She’s the kind of girl that you know right away you just want to be friends with!  She’s outgoing, she’s fun and she’s totally down to earth!

Liz is totally genuine and radiant and funny!  Our time together at our session was nothing less than perfect!  We had the perfect evening filled with sunshine and just a slight cool breeze that carried the salty ocean air over to us wherever we were!  We traveled all over the area that night and just enjoyed each other’s company!

Liz and Paul are so amazing together!  They truly are bonded together and can laugh with each other without even saying a word!  I love how Paul can get this look in his eyes that makes Liz laugh out loud and ya’ll… she has an amazing laugh that comes from within her soul!

I truly enjoyed every second of our evening together!  I loved walking with them and capturing their love for one another and their anticipation over Baby Ben!

These two are going to be fantastic parents and I know their house will be filled so much love, laughter and playful memories!

There isn’t much more I could say that these pictures won’t convey better!  You can honestly feel the love between these two so I will let the images speak the words I can not express!

Thank you both for letting me spend such a fun and beautiful evening with you!  I can’t WAIT to meet Ben and continue to document these gorgeous family moments for you!

Liz: you are absolutely stunning!  You are silly and care free and radiantly beautiful!  Paul, you are one lucky man my friend!

 

OHHH Liz… girl you are sooo beautiful!  These are some of my favorite images!  I asked Liz to give me some top model poses (you know, the ones that are super hard to even explain because it’s like… exhale but part your lips kind of deal) and she totally rocked them out!!!!  STUNNING GIRLFRIEND!!!  ROCK STAR!!!

We had some time before sunset and I really wanted Liz in that white dress in the ocean but we took a mini break and Liz and Paul had a moment to just relax and rest!  This was one of those moments where they just were relaxing to themselves and well… I adore it!

And then.. we put the white dress back on and we went down to the water for my favorite time of the day/evening ever… when the water and the sky almost mix colors!

Thank you Liz and thank you Paul for allowing me to capture this time for you!

Filed in:Expecting Ones | PhotographyTagged in: | | | | | | | | | | |
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When I set off to go to Creative at Heart, I knew I would be changed!  I knew I would learn things and I knew I would make friends!  I knew I would come home with an increasingly long list of tasks to do and business “musts”;  but what I didn’t know was that I would come home with a totally different change of heart in my business!

What I didn’t anticipate was that I would leave with the heart of my business literally on my sleeve!

Creative helped me define the “stirrings” and ideas that had already been surfacing!  They helped me realize that all these thoughts and feelings I had been having and the stories that I had been sharing were all a part of my WHY!

Great businesses don’t just do something… great business start with something a story that brought them to what it is and why it is they do what they do and that is why we are drawn to great businesses!  That is why they survive!

This is our WHY… why we get up and love what we do every day!  Why no matter what happens in the world of business, for me, I will always continue to pick up my camera and document children and families!

My WHY and my story didn’t just begin with photography!

If you have been following me for a while, you know my story actually began when I became a mom!  It began when I had my son Linc and it truly began 5 weeks later when my perfect world of motherhood came crashing down and someone flicked off that light switch of motherhood bliss and post partum depression set in!  I shared that story in a long blog post series which you can read all about over here in where my real story begins…

I actually didn’t truly find my place with photography until I learned what it meant to truly need those photographs, what it meant to hold on to those photographs as physical reminders that life (no matter what is happening in life) is truly and absolutely beautiful for what it is!

I realized that those places and in those times and those moments where my story might not have been perfect or as put together as I thought it should have been was actually truly and amazingly breath taking in it’s own way!

During those times when my story was rough, I kept my camera working on over drive!  I would print off those pictures of our family playing in the mud, combing the beach for treasures or sitting and rocking in the quiet hours!  I would place them all around our house (some in frames or even just taped to the walls)!  I placed them where I could just walk by and see our lives reflected back to us and remember that everything we have is to be appreciated!

THIS is where I learned that even in the mess and even in the chaos… life is beautiful!  Life is breath taking when we laugh and smile!  It’s captivating when we embrace and savor the tender moments!

It is heart achingly lovely in those moments when it is still and that every day our real moments will always be better than those that are trying for perfection!

THIS is what my heart was trying to tell me a few evenings before I left for Creative at Heart, I just couldn’t find the words to express it!

So among a few hundred friends, during a speech about Branding with Bonnie from B is for Bonnie Designs as she was speaking about how our why unveils our authenticity and how our why connects us to our clients… I began to cry! Yep… in the front row, tears about branding!

I realized right there that I don’t love photography because of the beautiful images… I love photography because of the MOM’S !!!!  ( I do of course, also get excited about beautiful images)

I connect with it on such a deeper level because I want to show my mom’s who come to me what an amazing gift they have… what an amazing gift they are giving to their children… themselves!

I am a mom who needed to see for myself that I didn’t have to be perfect… I didn’t have to have the perfect schedule, the perfect snacks and the perfect activities to provide the perfect environment for my children!  I am a mom who didn’t have to BE perfect with the perfect hair and the perfect outfit and the perfect make up to provide the perfect LOVE for my child!  I just needed to be me… real and raw and ME!  And everyday when I walk in my house and see just me with no make up on in these beautifully candid images all around my house, I am validated that I can show Linc what an amazing love we have together full of adventure and fun and whimsy!

That is the gift I want to give to all the mom’s I can… Real moments, Raw moments that show them who they are is absolutely beautiful!

REAL IS BETTER THAN PERFECT!

It has become my tag line and it it something I truly live and breathe!

So what does this mean you might ask!!!

  • I am inspired by moms!  I am inspired by YOU!  Real moms… every day moms!  Mom’s who wake up and aren’t able to shower all day long because you are too busy taking care of your children!  Mom’s who are able to work full time jobs and then come home and take care of their family and yet still find time to take care of themselves.. AMAZING!  I am just inspired by MOMS!
  • Community for moms and women just needs to happen!  We are so much alike in some ways that we need to lift one another UP!  There is an enormous amount of pressure on us from all areas so we should be in a community with one another to support each other, say kind things to one another and love one another
  • I believe our true beauty really comes from ability to unconditionally and selflessly love all the time!

 

Now that you know a little about me, my story and my why… here’s what you can expect…

You can expect me to always serve my mom’s 100 percent!  To always walk the walk of real is better than perfect!  You can expect me to want to understand YOUR story and find out your very own why behind your family and what your family believes in with all it’s heart!

You can expect me to provide you with an experience that will be FUN and playful!  You can expect images that will be real, endearing and raw!

More importantly mom’s… you can expect me to be all for you!

 

 

 

Filed in:For Moms | PersonalTagged in: | | | | | |
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  • June 3, 2015 - 2:06 pm

    Ginger carl - When Linc grows up someday he will telling every one that he had the perfect Mom. He’ll remember love and laughter and all the fantastic times he’s had growing up with his mom and dad.ReplyCancel

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