I can't do what I do without you.

I mean that.

And that is why every portrait I create starts the same way: with a conversation.

Two Seniors Who Looked the Same on Paper

Last year I photographed two seniors who, on paper, looked almost identical.

Both were dancers. Both trained at the same studio. Both chose the same location for their portrait experience, and both chose sunrise.

If I had only looked at their booking details, I might have planned the same experience for each of them. But they could not have been more different.

It Starts With a Call With Mom

Every senior portrait experience begins with a discovery call, and that call is almost always with mom, often followed by a call with dad too.

It's my first glimpse into who your daughter is. You know her better than anyone. You know what she's proud of, what she's working toward, and what matters most to her right now, in this season that is moving far too fast.

Then I ask about you. What do you want to remember about this year? What do you want to see on your wall when she's off at college and her room is too quiet?

Sometimes your answer matches hers. Sometimes it's beautifully different. Both matter, and both shape the artwork we create together.

Then I Meet Her in Person

By the time I sit down with your daughter, I'm not starting from scratch. I already know where to begin. That in-person conversation is where she fills in the rest, in her own words.

Those two dancers stood in the same spot, in the same golden sunrise light. Their portraits look nothing alike. Because they were never the same girl, and their portraits were never meant to be the same either.

The Same Is True for Families

The discovery call is just as important when we create portraits of your whole family.

When we plan your family's portrait experience, I'm not only asking what you'll wear or where we'll go. I'm asking who your children are right now. What your family loves. How you spend your favorite Saturdays. What you'll want to see on your wall twenty years from now.

Because my goal isn't a nice portrait of a family. It's artwork of your family: your children, your people, and the things that matter most to you, and I can only learn that when we take the time to connect before I ever pick up the camera.

Let's Start With a Conversation

I can't create portraits that truly reflect your family without you. You hold the stories, the details, and the hopes that turn a portrait into an heirloom.

That's why every portrait experience with me begins with a discovery call. It's twenty minutes that shapes everything that follows.

When you're ready, reach out and we'll schedule yours. I can't wait to hear about the people you love most.

So where do you begin?

If you have a senior on the way, explore the Iconic Senior Portrait Experience. I take only 20 seniors each year, and every one of them starts with that first call with mom.

If you're ready for artwork of your whole family, take a look at Heirloom Portrait Commissions, where our discovery call is the first step in creating a portrait made for your walls.

If you're not sure which is right for you, book your discovery call and we'll find it together.

I can't wait to hear about the people you love most.

Cate Connery Bury Photography is an award-winning high school senior and family portrait studio in Nashville, TN specializing in creating portrait experiences and artwork where college-bound seniors who struggle with perfectionism and comparison feel celebrated both during the experience and in the artwork we create together and come away believing that their worth isn't measured by what they've accomplished, but instead simply for who they are. The artwork we create together reminds them that their worth is there just because they are, and their parents feel joy and pride every time they walk past it on the wall. We also photograph families, creating experiences that feel polished but not stiff and artwork that makes them proud of the family they've poured their life into, see all they've accomplished, and step into whatever comes next knowing they'll be just as successful there.