Lindsay Ruth at LR Photos

I mentioned yesterday that I would be sharing some of my personal photos from my 365 photo-a-day project from 2025. I had no idea when I started this project on Jan 1 what it would come to mean to me by Dec 31. My goal for my body of work is to be a storyteller. Although I do love the occasional portrait, the photos that draw me in are the ones that capture a moment, a slice of life.
As my world fell apart around me, I kept documenting.
One of the things reflected back in these photos is that my community saved us. Shared meals. People who answered my call when I couldn’t get out of bed because the grief was so cavernous. Friends who taught me about power tools and worked on my car with me. I stayed in guest bedrooms, on couches, and on hide-a-beds. The kids and I hosted brunches and dinners and a Friendsgiving, filling our home with people.
My parents and my sisters hopped on video calls at the drop of a hat, helped me navigate paperwork, and even sent a cleaner to my door. I cannot say enough about my incredible community.
What I see in these photos is the kind of love from my people that holds you steady when everything shifts.
Photo 1 - Sleeping in the guest room of a close friend.
Photo 2 - Shared meals.
Photo 3 - Weeding a friend’s garden to work out my anger.
Photo 4 - Journaling in a friend’s backyard.
Photo 5 - Kayaking many, many times.

If you’re looking for a different type of family photo session, one that documents your everyday life and reflects back to you the beauty in your life I would love to chat.

Like many photographers, fall is my busiest season. That was true this year too… full-time single motherhood, three other jobs, and the work of finding our new normal. I’ve been slower than I’d like. Delivery of sessions has taken longer. This season has been hard. And we’re doing it anyway.
So it may not technically be fall anymore, but I still have fall stories I want to share.
This family invited me into their beautiful home with one simple goal. Photos of them being a family. Doing the things they love. The dad has a love of his special cars. Games on the couch. Easy togetherness.
At the end, I suggested grabbing a few photos on the front steps. And the mom said, “Actually, we love this spot. We sit here and watch the kids play ball in the driveway.” I loved that. So that’s where we ended because it meant something.

That’s always the point for me. Show me your beautiful imperfect life and I will show you that is where the meaning lives. I love to be in a home and with people in a way that feels almost documentary, but still me. It’s like holding up a mirror to motherhood, not to fix anything or make it prettier, but to reflect back what’s already beautiful.

These are the lived-in moments. The real ones. The ones you’ll want to remember.
This is your life. And friend…it is stunning.
Not perfect. But full. Honest. Messy in the best way.
And so, so fleeting.

If this kind of storytelling feels like what you’ve been longing for, I’d love to chat.