get to know more about me

  Hello!  I'm Wendy, wife to my incredible husband Eric and mom to 2 awesome kiddos.

My Why

Why do I do what I do?  Well, the reasons have evolved over time.  

My husband and I love to travel, especially to warm beach destinations.  Talk about plenty of gorgeous landscapes to photograph!  So, the point and shoot camera wasn't cutting it, thus we purchased a DSLR.  

Then I had to learn how to use that beast :)

A few years later, we were blessed with our first son, and my passion for photography grew as I desired to capture every tiny detail of this sweet little human.

Not quite 16 months later we were blessed with our second son, with oh so many sweet moments to capture that I never wanted to forget.  I mean, you're so sleep deprived as a new parent that it's hard to remember what you had for breakfast, let alone the minute details of your child's long eyelashes, those paper-thin fingernails, and yes, even the slobber.  Because someday they won't slobber so much and you'll forget all about it.  I wanted to remember everything, slobber and all.

And I want to help you remember those details of your family too.  So while I still enjoy photographing my own family, I am truly delighted to do this for others.  As an Urbandale Family Photographer, I want to help YOU preserve your family's memories.  I know that sounds cliche, but it's true.  

Which brings me to the most important reason for my why....

When my mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2011, I was expecting our first son.  No one knew if this was something she would beat or not.  I wanted our son to have as much time with Grandma as possible, and to have photographs for him to remember that time with her, just in case.  

She passed away in 2013.  Our son was young enough that he doesn't remember his Grandma Rosemary, but he has photographs of him with Grandma that he will treasure forever.  They help him remember Grandma.

My mom was one of my biggest supporters of my photography journey, and always told me my photos were wonderful, even if they really weren't :)  I love her and miss her.

And I never anticipated this.....I've had the privilege and honor of photographing families when it was their last portrait together.  In one instance, it was expected, but for a few others it was not.  In the midst of heartache, I was able to help these families order prints to preserve their precious memories.  

Photographs matter.

To me, that's priceless.  That's my why.  And I would be honored to photograph your family.

Want more information about a portrait session?  Contact me today so that we can go over all the details and start planning your amazing senior or family photo session!