Alabama photographer Heather Mitchell of HMP Couture Imagery is the mother of 8 year old Paislee, a spirited girl who plays extracurricular softball with other young girls. While standing on the sidelines of her daughter’s game, she remarked aloud that she hoped her daughter was enjoying herself given how athletic she is when another mother remarked that she saw Paislee more as a ‘girly girl’ than as ‘an athlete’. This got Heather thinking “Why can’t my daughter be both athletic and girly? So she set out to prove that Paislee, as well as other young girls, needn’t be one or the other, but instead could be both.

Heather Mitchell Portrait Photography

Heather decided to bring Paislee into her studio, dress her up as a Princess in delicate and ruffly dresses (several by Dollcake) and load her up with Softball gear and shoot some film. Voila! Heather Mitchell Girls Portraits were born.

She posted the images of her daughter on her Facebook page accompanied by the words “Because you can do it all.”

It wasn’t long before other mothers requested portraits of their own daughters in a similar fashion. Before you know it, Heather’s schedule was packed.

“Our daughters do not have to choose,” said Mitchell. “My parents taught me that I could be anything I wanted growing up. I didn’t realize until I was much older that everyone is not that blessed.”- Heather told Today

Heather is not the first Photographer/Mom to inspire young girls to be more than just girly. Jaime Moore produced the “Not Just A Girl” series of photographs with her five year old daughter Emma dressed as female role models other than Disney Princesses.

Thank you to Heather Mitchell and HMP Couture Photography for the info and images