What happens after the photo session?

Yes! Tween boys can be part of The Inside/Outside Project too. This one happens to be mine, but I’m showing it off so you can see the next phase of what follows the session…where the magic happens. 🙂

Once our photo session is over I take all the photos + the surveys filled out by family and friends and incorporate them into a video to tell their story. Each tween is so different and I love reading all the beautiful things noted about each child. It’s easy to say things out loud to kids in our daily lives. It’s unbelievably impactful when you can gather so many in one place. It becomes a personal devotional to each tween and a constant reminder of all the wonderful things that make them so special.

And that seems to be what gets parents and their tween the most. Seeing it all together. Parents don’t see what everyone else has written until all the photos, music and quotes are presented in video form first. (Tweens don’t even know this is happening until the big reveal — usually about two weeks after each session.)

It gets me Every. Single. Time.

While sometimes photo sessions can feel like they’re more suited for girls, I honestly think The Inside/Outside Project is/can be even more important to boys. Boys want to be tough, and if there’s anything going on in their lives the tendency may be to keep it inside. If they’re feeling insecure, maybe Mom and Dad are the last to know. And that’s what gets me so excited to shoot these sessions. All of those things parents say or want to say are right there for the tween to read and remember. Maybe it’s just another wonderful reminder for that tween how much they are loved, but maybe one day in the future it will be EXACTLY what they need to see on a very bad day we just haven’t imagined yet.

In the meantime, it makes me so happy to hear how much these photos and albums mean to each family. That’s why I do what I do. XO

Don’t forget to check out this quick video showcasing many of my 2016 Inside/Outside Tweens. You can also watch Jack’s reveal video here.

And scroll down to see how messages are incorporated into the photos themselves + a peek at an album.

Photographers in Greensboro NC with tween boy on bed with soccer ball

Photographers in Greensboro NC with tween boy on bed

Photographers in Greensboro NC with tween boy making funny faces

Photographers in Greensboro NC with tween boy playing iPad

Photographers in Greensboro NC with tween boy with soccer ballPhotographers in Greensboro NC with boy kicking soccer ball

Photographers in Greensboro NC with tween boy

Here’s a peek at what finished albums look like. Quotes and anecdotes from all the family surveys are included on page after page to highlight each tween. It’s a keepsake they (and you) can go back to and read year after year.