http://kelsigrantphotography.com/

Kelsi Grant Photography, Chesapeake, VA (2026)

12/05/2025

My own version of this trend - thinking ahead to who we will be down the road, instead of looking back, and what the future you will want to remember the most🤍

Chesapeake Virginia Family Photographer, Hampton Roads family photographer, Virginia documentary family photographer, storytelling family photography, Norfolk Virginia family photography

08/18/2025

Our bubs 💔

14 years together, this month. Two weeks after I turned 18 to now, a few days after my 32nd birthday. 7 big moves, 5 different states, 1 marriage, 2 babies, he’s been there through it all.

I brought you home barely two weeks into my freshman year of college. You lived so much life with me it was easy for me to forget that you wouldn’t be able to stay with me forever. A reality I pushed far away as often as I could.

From following me on trail rides, riding with me to babysit, and meeting Adam for the first time, to quickly becoming his absolute best friend, making every move with us, and being there for every single big moment in our family’s life.

You never asked for a life with babies, but you’d lay on my belly to feel their kicks and guard their door every night once they arrived. You kept us safe, and you kept me grounded. You always knew when I just needed your head to lay on me. From college finals stress to the 1am newborn feedings.

You weren’t the perfect dog, but you were the perfect dog to us. You will never be replaced, my sweet boy.

We love you so much, Hercules. I will never be able to thank you enough for the role you played in helping me become who I am today. 14 years will never be enough time.

08/13/2025

Just a quiet morning spent next to the river, watching the “Great Bridge” and boats sailing by and playing games underneath a 100 year old oak🤍

07/25/2025

As a military family, I have brought my children home to different homes than they took their first steps in, and then had to leave behind precious memories like breastfeeding, first neighbor friends, and slow back porch mornings.

Home will always be a huge part of a family’s story: no matter what that “home” looks like. Whether it is your favorite places in the backyard, the walks you took in the neighborhood, or the way that you see the world from the back of a camper or van.

THAT is why “in-home” or backyard sessions will forever be some of the most meaningful work that I am blessed to take part in❤️

07/14/2025

Don’t ask me for advice unless..

You actually want photos that feel like your family, where you don’t have to stress over locations, outfits, or behaviors (newborns and dogs, included) and unless you want photos that will feel like heirlooms, and windows back to this sacred time 5, 10, 20 years down the road ❤️

This session was such a dream. I actually grew up with Carly and Jerad, we were raised in the church together and they have seen me at just about every phase of my life. The kicker? They only just recently started their lives together! I can remember when we used to tease Carly bc we were convinced of her crush on Jerad back in our youth group days, and now here they are - reconnected, married, and adding to their beautiful family🤍

So amazing to see friends build such amazing lives together, and what an even bigger honor it was to be asked to document it when I came back home for a visit!

KW | Hampton Roads Photographer, Virginia Beach Family Photographer, Chesapeake Family Photographer

07/07/2025

Myth vs. Truth: Backyard Session Edition 🌿

Would you believe that we put together this sweet backyard session at the last minute, like within an hour. while I was doing a family photo session for my brother’s family - Audra and Jessie happen to be their neighbors so they took advantage of having a photographer across the fence. All they needed was each other and their own little spot of sunshine in their front and backyard and here we are🥹

Which brings me to a few of the myths surrounding at-home/backyard photo sessions:

❎Myth: you need a scenic or fancy location for good photos
✅Truth: the most meaningful locations are the ones where your life actually happens. The chicken coop you built yourself, the yard that your little one will learn to walk in, the way your pup sprints down your front porch stairs

❎Myth: Our yard is too small or messy
✅Truth: it’s not the size or the scenery that counts. It’s the memories that you’ve made here. These are the photos you’ll pull out to show your little one what their childhood was like. Where did they spend the majority of their time on those summer evenings? Plus: leave it to me to turn your yard into that beautiful backdrop in the photos 🥰

❎Myth: A backyard session won’t feel “special” enough
✅Truth: it’s not the location that will make you emotional when you look back at these photos in 5-10 years; it’ll be the connection. Where better to let that connection live and breathe than in your own backyard (literally or figuratively- inside your home also works here lol)

KW | Hampton Roads Family Photographer, Nashville Family Photographer, Virginia Beach family photographer

06/11/2025

One thing about me: I’m going to make sure my babies have these moments forever.

On a personal note, I only have a handful of photos from my own childhood.

Not because no one took the photos, and not due to anyone’s fault - but life happened. Divorce, moving, belongings in and out of storage units - I’m still hoping we’ll come across all of those memories as we continue looking.

But even still: some of my sweetest memories were the days I spent on my grandparent’s living room floor thumbing through their shoeboxes of photos. I would pick up a picture of my uncles and flash it to my grandma and she would laugh and tell me what life was like for her during that season of motherhood.

That’s when the seed was planted: photos are more than keepsakes. They’re conversation starters, memory savers.

That small seed burst through the soil when that same grandma began to lose her memories. We would ask her about certain things, certain stories, and we’d be met with heartbreaking confusion in her eyes. BUT, if you pulled a photo out to ask her about it, flashes of familiarity would appear. It awakened something - and we could continue to hear her tell her stories.

These are the moments that I carry with me to every session I photograph, and they’re the intention I have when I set out to make sure my own family is documented in a way that feels true to us.

As a mom, it’s my dream to have these photos that my children can bring to me and we can reflect together on their childhood and this season of motherhood.

As a photographer, it’s my dream to help other moms and families be seen in the very moments that you’re often too busy living in to document. But, those are often so much more meaningful than the “big milestones” or “holiday photos” that everyone thinks they are supposed to wait for.

One day, our babies will sit with these images and wonder about this time in our lives together - and we’ll be able to tell the stories with the proof❤️

📸 .photo_ edits by me🤍

Hampton roads photographer
Norfolk Virginia photographer
Chesapeake Virginia photographer
Virginia Beach Photographer

06/06/2025

If there’s one thing us military families know, it’s this:

Life can shift in an instant.

One season life feels like a dream. You’re all under one roof, consistency is your house guest, you’re sharing breakfast and you know what time everyone will be home for dinner and what your weekend will look like. Those are the little moments you barely realize you’re memorizing..

And the next: routines are replaced, changed, and distractions become your new norm. Dinner together is replaced with running feet to answer the FaceTime call on time before the WiFi drops again.

This is just one of many reasons that these photos are so valuable, and why they bring so much comfort in those seasons of change.

They’re not just for the holiday cards or to be put in the frames down your hallway (although - HIGHLY recommend!)

They’re for the nights when you want to remember what it looked like to have your partner kiss your baby’s tiny fingers - knowing those fingers will look different the next time they’re grasping that hand. These photos are for your little ones to always be able to look back and *feel* connected. Even if they don’t have a clue what’s happening right now (because you’re doing an amazing job holding down the fort) they can be brought out in anticipation for their inevitable next shift - “look at how much you have always been loved. No matter the distance in our family.”

No matter how many times life, or the military, tells us to adjust or start a new chapter, *this* season is worth remembering.

05/10/2025

I almost chose not to have these photos.

I made the last minute decision to get in front of the camera when the opportunity presented itself, and to be totally honest, I wasn’t feeling very confident about it.

Our outfits didn’t feel perfect, my hair wouldn’t cooperate, rain was in the forecast, and I *knew* my kids were likely to be on their worst behavior since they like to reserve that for us moms (iykyk)

But I’m so, so glad I did this.

I did my best to coach my husband on angles, set my camera settings and hoped - like so many of you may understand - for at least 1 or 2 photos that would be meaningful to me.

Chaos, tantrums, and mean-mugging from my 3 year old aside, these photos mean so much to me going into this Mother’s Day weekend.

My extra grumpy, hangry toddler snuggled into me the same way he does every time he’s having a hard day, wakes up groggy, or scrapes his knee. My five year old wanted to do her makeup just like mommy and chose her favorite dress to twirl in.

We never forced a smile, didn’t push certain poses, just leaned into what our everyday love looks like.

The photos aren’t *technically* perfect (he did AMAZING - but this was also a reminder why I get paid the bucks to be behind the camera 😉😅)
But they are perfect to me. They *feel* like me - like us. Mean mugs and all 😅🤭

I wish I could share all of the goodness, but this is likely the beginning of me keeping our babies a bit more private over here, especially on the feed. 🤍

04/28/2025

As a Family Studies professional and now a mom and family/motherhood photographer, this whole “science meets photo importance” topic is RIGHT up my alley.

If you’re curious about the actual sources of these articles, I will have a blog post summarizing all of them linked in my bio❤️

Some of the biggest data point takeaways:

75% of participants in the cited studies (parents) states that looking at printed photos of their family gave their child a stronger sense of their own identity.

68% of participants stated that looking at family photos enhanced their child’s imagination and storytelling abilities.

83% of participants stated that looking at family photos strengthened their child’s connection to their family.

And my personal favorite (bc we can all use this reminder): 68% of participants stated that looking at photos of their family made them feel like they were doing a good job as a parent 🥹

Did you know family photos carried this much importance?? How often do your kiddos ask or want to look at photos of your family? (Bc it’s one of my kiddos favorite pastimes, I swear😂)

04/21/2025

Every moment spent with this family feels like a blessing. But these moments when I am invited in to see my sweet friend in ultimate mom-mode, holding her third precious baby, feels like a different type of sacred celebration. Again, what an incredible honor it is for me to be trusted and invited in to such a vulnerable season of new life, and given the task to put permanence to these sweet feelings and precious moments.

Obviously, when the praise comes from my friends I take it partially with a grain of salt bc of course I have the most amazing and supportive friends that sing my praises🥹, but something Becca had to say about her gallery really stuck with me.

We were chatting about something unrelated weeks after her session, when she sent me a voice message, and in it she said something that really meant so stuck out to me:
“I also just wanted to reiterate for the 500th time - I literally cannot stop looking at our pictures. Like how do you do that. I showed [my husband] when you sent them the other day and he was like..holy cow. Like, I don’t know. We’re just sitting there, I feel like like these aren’t gonna be very good, I don’t feel like I look good, I don’t know, I feel like E isn’t smiling enough - whatever - I do not know how you get what you get. You are incredible”

So often, this is the case. And I know because I’m the same way when I’m having my own photos taken. You can’t help but be focused on how you’re sitting, your posture, your kids behavior, if your spouse is engaged, etc. but that is the beauty of having a photographer that brings you back to the moment throughout the session. Even one who steps far enough away that your little ones can focus on you reading to them and forget about the big camera pointed at them.

More on this to come - but for now, please enjoy the sweetest in-home newborn session celebrating this precious boy joining the family. If you know this family you know what a joy and a blessing it is to call them friends. 💙

Hampton roads newborn photographer, Norfolk Virginia newborn photographer, Hampton roads lifestyle photographer

Kelsi Grant Photography

12/05/2025

08/18/2025

08/13/2025

07/25/2025

07/14/2025

07/07/2025

06/11/2025

06/06/2025

05/10/2025

04/28/2025

04/21/2025

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