Motherhood is an incredible journey! Hope and Ryans’s timing for their maternity photoshoot. coincided with their ranch’s calving season. As a wedding photographer, I love spending time with my past wedding couples and getting to know their growing family. Spring is a beautiful time in Montana. It can be a very exhausting yet rewarding time for ranchers. I love that Hope chose to start out among the momma cows and baby calves for some of her pictures! Ryan’s pet cow kept their son busy while we spent a little time with just the two of them.

The peacefulness of the evening was abruptly cut short when Ryan realized that some of his cows had gotten out! We made due and had a leisurely walk while he went to try to get them in. This is a scene that I am all too familiar with. Ranching has its uncertainties. You can never truly count on a day working out the way you imagined. But it’s real and the perks, like watching a mother cow bring a calf into the world or taking in the landscape void of anything but animals and grass, are irreplaceable! 

My people bring me to their homes and I am absorbed in their lifestyle. And I cherish it. I cherish the hard-working hands and hearts that exist in this country. I cherish the strength and perseverance that my people contain. It inspires me every day.

As a side note, Ryan was not able to get the cows in, but we were able to get a few more shots with him before he rushed off to finish the job before dark.

It doesn’t always work out the way you want it to. But Mother Nature gave us a heck of a sunset and I was able to get the best images of a beautiful mother-to-be and her little boy!

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