Allison Patel Photography

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Brush Strokes

I was wrapped in layers smoking a cigarette on the back porch, one dark December night in 2010. I stared into the sky and felt the urge to shake up my 28-year-old life (my goodness, what a baby) and stood there brainstorming ideas. My job as a facilities manager wasn’t fulfilling, and I wanted more.  

I had also been considering quitting smoking the following summer at the milestone 10 year mark, but in that moment, I made two impromptu and life changing decisions: I’d quit smoking on the fourth of January (not on the first, where resolutions start their trek toward failure) and I’d start a business on the same day, doing what I’d gotten my degree in: photography. I’d already been paid a few times for my photos - this would just make it official, and it would be easy. People would hear about my photography via the internets, and would come from all directions to hire me, obviously.

And so it happened that I spent the remainder of winter break putting together my new venture, with zero business experience, having never heard of business plans, FEIN numbers, or the difference between LLCs and sole proprietorships (I’d end up choosing the wrong one and having to reorganize in 2013). And with the naive notion that Flash was a good idea for a website. 

Who knew that quitting smoking would be the easier of those two decisions?

It’s been 14 years since I looked up at Orion’s belt in the crisp cold air and felt the need to change my life. And nearly five years since I made the additional leap to quit that facilities job completely, and get really serious with my business, making myself a full-time artist.  

The photography I thought was so great in 2011 (cringe) has morphed and grown into work I’m really proud of. I’ve worked for the last 14 years to find what I’m really passionate about (hint: it’s not weddings). What I really love is encouraging positive mental health and self confidence in kids and their parents, by showing tangible proof that you really are connecting with each other, and that you really do love each other. 

Documenting how you care for your kids when they’re hurt, hangry, scared, and sad; and celebrating those joy-filled moments of contentment when everything falls into alignment and everyone is at peace. Capturing the chaos of real life and finding the absolute beauty of the shenanigans of living with others and being outnumbered by toddlers. 

Going into 2025, this is where I continue to press on. I make imperfect art that mirrors our imperfect lives, full of love and joy and connection. I don’t strive for perfection, and all its unforgiving insistence on flawlessness. I aim to show you what’s already there, that you might be missing from your insider perspective. 

Each photography session is different because no family is the same as any other family, and each family changes itself constantly, day by day, with each baby milestone and each new challenge. 

This frozen moment in time doesn’t tell your whole story. It serves as but a sliver of the whole, a brush stroke in the painting that is your life. You can print the photos and watch as this stroke influences future brush strokes. 

I want you to build on this as your kids see themselves and are reminded that their lives are worth documenting because they are important, not because they dressed up pretty and posed perfectly and made their parents happy, but because they are who they are, and are loved completely for who they are. 

I want you to realize where you are as you see yourself on the wall and are reminded of how lucky you are to be who you are and where you are at this moment. 

So in 2025, I’ll continue to offer maternity, newborn, and family photography here in Richmond. I have new things coming this year to keep it interesting and maybe make things easier for you, too. (More on that in the next few weeks.) And I’ll help you get your own family photos off your phone and into a book, so your kids can see even more brush strokes, and the paintings of their lives will be that much more colorful. 

How can I help you this year? What sliver of time do you want to remember? 

Click here and let’s chat.