Haley Marie Photog

Amy, a registered nurse who now shucks oysters for a living, told BuzzFeed News the idea came about because she wanted a redo on some pictures she wasn't happy with.

She said: "In March when our daughter signed her lease, she wanted to take my picture in front of the apartment complex. I was just not feeling it, but she snapped my picture anyway, and it did me no favours at all. I looked sad and miserable! And that just kind of set off an idea in my mind to do an empty-nest shoot closer to the time she was moving out. It just snowballed from there."