A Princess, a Pea, and a Pile of Mattresses – A Fairytale Session in Gilbert AZ

Once upon a time, in a quiet meadow in Mesa, something magical happened. A tiny pea, a tall stack of mattresses, and a brave little girl helped bring one of my favorite fairytale dreams to life.

This session was inspired by the classic story The Princess and the Pea. It’s a little funny when you think about it—no one really knows the lesson of the story! But that’s what made it so fun to create. I didn’t have to follow any rules. I could build the look from my own imagination.

Lately, I realized I had been spending a lot of time on other parts of my photography and not enough on the thing that first made me fall in love with taking pictures: magical childhood moments. My child photography brand is where it all began for me, and it felt like the perfect time to go back to it—with a fairytale twist.

I had the idea for The Princess and the Pea written down for a long time. I always knew I wanted to bring it to life, but the timing never felt quite right. This winter, with the Arizona weather so beautiful, I decided to finally go for it and take it outside.

I chose a soft meadow in Mesa for our scene. I already had a moss-covered ladder from a past session and found lots of colorful blankets and bedding during a trip to Goodwill. The princess dress, cape, and gown had been tucked away in my closet since fall, just waiting for their moment. And our sweet model brought it all together with her gentle heart and big imagination.

The best part of sessions like this? They’re fun! What kid wouldn’t love climbing up a big stack of mattresses and pretending to be a royal? The pink flowers in the meadow matched the colors perfectly, and the whole set-up looked like it jumped out of a storybook.

When I left the session, my heart felt so full. This was the kind of storytelling that made me fall in love with photography. Creating something magical—just for the joy of it—is something I want to do much more of.

If this looks like something your child would love, let’s create a session just for them. Whether it’s a fairytale, a woodland scene, or something totally unique, I’d love to be your fairytale photographer in Gilbert, Arizona. Click here to tell me what kind fo fairytale you’d like to bring to life.

Peach Blossom Family Sessions//Gilbert Arizona Child Photographer

The Inspiration: One of the greatest disappointments to me as a photographer who LOVES beautiful settings is that our floral bloom season here in Phoenix Arizona occurs so early. Every year I find myself wandering in the blooms alone. All I want to do is go out and create beautiful images in the flowers and I find many of my families have not yet recovered from the fall season of photographs.

Sometimes I consider enouraging families to SKIP the annual family holiday photos in favor of these beautiful spring images (but then of course my sanity returns). I understand the importance of updated family photos for the christmas cards and doing pictures when the temperatures are UNDER 90 degrees and there’s never any guarentee our spring temperatures will hold such nice days.

BUT THE PEACH BLOSSOMS.

The shortest floral season of all and it comes first. Lasting just a few days, I can never resist them. The last bloom season was absolutely glorious. We had just enough rain with a mild enough start to the spring that the blooms came out in FULL force and lasted for such a long time. I will always love the grove in Agritopia for offering such a stunning setting for photographs. The farm does a wonderful job of maintaining beautiful scenes and allows photographers the privilege of renting them out from time to time.

The Session: The peach blossoms are one of those sessions that always lend themselves to extra joyful and light hearted images. The blossoms are beautiful, the weather is gorgeous, and it feels like waking up from the dark days of winter into the light bright beauty of spring. It’s a session where everyone seems to naturally frolic and play. I had the privilege last year of not only photographing some beautiful ballerinas, but also this amazing family among the blossoms.

The Review: Of course I’ll be back for this stunning setting for as long as I am allowed! Sessions happen on February 22nd in the evening this year. You can snag one of the 2 spots remaining here