Northern Virginia Family Photographer - Chilly

This past Saturday I met with this beautiful family downtown at a new location. I love finding new places to hold my sessions that not many people know about or dare to go. I, as usual, had great expectations but Mother Nature decided to cut them short by turning down the heat. These kids were troopers and it didn't seem to bother them that it was barely over 40 degrees outside. Even though it was very chilly, we got the job done and by looking at the pictures I don't think anyone will be able to tell that we all were freezing our tails off.

Thanks for coming out and enduring the cold with me "H" family. Your children are absolutely beautiful!

How cute are these twins? I could have just played with them all day!

And their adorable big brother, right before he showed me all his great sports moves.

Northern Virginia Photographer - 3 months down

Here is Miss "S" at three months old. You might recognize her as my little Santa Baby from this newborn session and her momma from her maternity session. I just want to squeeze her and all her little rolls that are popping up all over. This was the second session for her in her baby plan. Four sessions in the first year all to document all the important milestones like sitting, standing and walking. I can't wait to watch her grow and change over the next year.

If you would like a baby plan just like this please inquire as to how it works. The first year is such an important time of development for your baby, don't let it pass by without documenting those important milestones.

Look who decided to find her thumb for the first time during our session!

Northern Virginia Photographer - Fab Family

During our vacation to California I had the pleasure of meeting up with this great family. I have known mom since forever and it is always a highlight to spend some time with her and handsome family. I was thrilled that she asked me to do a family session with them. What could be better? Spending time with good friends, enjoying the beautiful California weather and doing something that I love.

Thanks "P" family for being such great friends and letting me photograph you. Now it is your turn to come our way. Just imagine what a great photo session we would have on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial? hint, hint, hint... :)

How handsome are these boys?

No wonder they are so handsome, right? How could they not be? We were battling some pretty good wind that day but I just love the way their hair is not perfect. Makes it more real that way.

I had to include this beautiful shot of mom. Seriously, is she not gorgeous?

Thanks again J, S, D and J. I can't wait to see you again real soon!

Northern Virginia Photographer - Beach

Well, I am finally starting to get all caught up from vacation. Don't get me wrong I still have three sessions to edit, sneak peeks to get up, website updates to make, new sessions to schedule, the list goes on and on. But tonight I came across these pictures of my little one that I took while on a short, sunset visit to Corona Del Mar and wanted to take a few minutes to share them. She was so funny on this day because all she wanted to do was pick up sand in her hands. It didn't matter if it was wet or dry, she wanted to pick it up. She started as soon as we stepped foot on the beach and didn't stop until we left. Something about that sand, she loved having between her fingers.

She did discover that it didn't taste very good.

If you follow my blog you will know that I am a purist when it comes to my post processing technique. I don't usually show much more than a classic black and white. But lately I have wanted to branch out a bit and try some new, but still fairly subtle, things. What do you think?

To my clients: If you are waiting for your session or sneak peek thank you so much for your patience. I am getting through them bit by bit and hope to have everything caught up by Saturday.

Northern Virginia Photographer - Best Laid Plans

While in California I reconnected with and old friend of mine who has triplets. So we set up a little mini-session to try and get a good picture of them together. So before I got to California, I put my mom on a mission of finding an old Radio Flyer wagon to put the triplets in for the session. I figure that containment was my best chance of getting a picture of them together. My mom delivered but the triplets, not so much. They wanted nothing to do with me, my wagon, or my camera. It took quite awhile and almost a whole bag of goldfish before they warmed up even a little bit. You would never know from the pictures but we did end up having a fun time.

How sweet are they with their big blue eyes and porcelain skin? Sometimes the best pictures are when children just look natural, no big smiles needed.

I just had to throw this one in.

Northern Virginia Photographer - Nature

While we were on our vacation I took advantage of the down time to capture many things with my lens, not just people. Here are three of my favorite non-people pictures of the week.

I took this picture as it was raining on my parent's patio. I was pretty excited to see the flowers within the drops.

Nothing better than a Southern California sunset. These where taken from the middle of the road in Corona Del Mar. I did very minimal post processing on these pictures. It really was that vibrant that evening.

Northern Virginia Photographer - Generations

We recently took a vacation away from the cold weather here in VA and traveled to my hometown of Fullerton, CA. I was looking forward to this trip for many reasons. I always love going home and seeing my old neighborhood, visiting with my dear friends that I left behind a long time ago and having Grandma there as a babysitter is a pretty good vacation bonus too! This trip I took some time out for a little work to do some sessions for my friends who I don't get to see as often as I would like. Here is the first of those sessions.

I was particularly looking forward to this "Generations" session because we agreed to do it at my High School. I went to a beautiful school that has graduated over 100 senior classes. It was built in a traditional Southern California Spanish style and has been kept up wonderfully over the years. I knew that the murals, arched walkways and big trees would be a lovely backdrop for these three ladies. Mom, Grandmere, a spunky little girl and I met there for our session and we had a great time.

Thanks for a lovely morning "W" ladies. It was so great seeing you in the old 'hood (do kids still say that?) We are looking forward to having you visit us on this coast.