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.

Northern Virginia Photographer - So New

Today I had the pleasure of having this little guy in my studio. Now I have to admit, I am not usually one to do too many sessions in my studio. I love the idea of capturing a family in their own environment. It makes for a nice relaxed atmosphere where people can be themselves and I can catch those great candid moments that just don't happen anywhere else. Well, not sure if you have heard, but we are having quite the weather around here and we had to squeeze this in between snow storms before this sweet little guy got to old.

So mom and dad where troopers and bundled him up and drove over to my house where I have my little studio in the basement. He arrived ready to sleep and was such a good sport about us moving him around into different positions. We discovered that as long as he was kept nice and warm, he really didn't let anything bother him. You see, newborns like it warm, very warm. Usually for these sessions I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt because the heat is cranked up HIGH. This was no exception. Add to that studio lights, and in no time at all the baby was comfy as can be but we were all about to fall over from the heat. I'm glad to report that all the adults survived and I was able to capture some sweet shots of Mr. "O".





Thanks for making the trip out to see me today "C" Family. He is just too sweet!

Northern Virginia Photographer - LIttle Heroes

I am excited to announce that I have been chosen as a photographer for The Littlest Heroes Project. This is a non-profit group of photographers that provides photo sessions for families who have a child from infant to age 18 with a disability, serious illness or organizations serving these children. More information can be found on the website for the project.

If you are someone who would qualify for such a session or you know of someone who would, please refer them to this website. There are many wonderful photographers who are volunteering their time and talents to this cause.

I am very excited about this and am looking forward to meeting many of the Little Heroes!

Northern Virginia Photographer - Until...

I got an e-mail about a month and a half ago from a woman who wanted to book a session in honor of her and her husband's 30th wedding anniversary. I was so excited. I love working with adults. They actually listen to me, I don't have to bribe them with candy, AND I can have real grown up conversation with them during the session. Making animal sounds and singing "The Wheels on the Bus" is fun, but doing a session with adults is such a nice change of pace.

During this session we talked about a lot of stuff. I found out that both of them are lawyers. I also asked them what their secret was for a long, happy marriage. Here are their tips:
1. Have fun together
2. Have common interests
3. Don't go to bed mad
4. Don't hold grudges or get upset over the little things.

All very good points. I could tell that they truly do have fun together. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Congratulations Aimee and Bernie on 30 years together! Enjoy your peek.

Northern Virginia Child Photographer - Secrets

Living here in Washington D.C. if you believe what you see in the movies, you would think that everyone here is involved in some sort of secret agency working undercover in dangerous jobs that protect our freedoms and that we are all keeping secrets from everyone and living double lives. Well, I'm not to sure that is true but I am becoming very good at keeping the secrets of my clients and am honored that they trust me enough to do so.

I have had a session with an FBI agent that couldn't be blogged in order to protect him and his family. It was great too, I wish I could have shown it to you. :) We held it downtown with the Washington and Lincoln Monuments in the background. I had an engagement session where the couple didn't want to be blogged because they hadn't announced their engagement yet. They want to use the pictures we took on their engagement announcement and didn't want the news to leak out. I have also had sessions with a couple of moms who didn't want the name of their future little one leaked out but wanted the name featured in some of the pictures we took to share at a later date. So I had to walk around knowing the name of their little one for weeks, I almost burst!

In any case, in the next few days I have four sessions scheduled for Holiday Cards and again, I know I will have to keep some secrets. After all, who wants the best family picture of the year leaked out over the internet before it arrives in the mail? I will blog these sessions but I won't show any pictures that are close to the final product. Those will be shown after the holidays and after all the cards have been sent out, ooh'ed and aaahh'ed over, and the decorations have been put away.

It is truly an honor to hold these secrets close. Thank you to my clients for allowing me to capture such intimate portions of their lives.

No post is complete without a picture, right? Here is my little one today in the leaves with the one thing that made her sit still for longer than a half a second.

And as promised:
Her vest is by Carter's
shirt by Gymboree
Jeans are by Children's Place
Boots are from (dare I say) Wal-Mart

Northern Virginia Child Photographer - Two!

I can't believe that two years ago today our lives changed forever when a cute little bundle of joy arrived. What an absolute blessing it has been to watch her grow, change, learn and develop into one of the greatest little girls I know. (If I do say so myself :) She is funny, happy, bouncy, and loving. Words can hardly express how much her daddy and I love her and we are looking forward to watching her grow.

Happy Birthday sweet little girl! Mommy loves you soooooooooo much!

And one from a little session we did about a month ago that I never shared. One of my favorite pictures of her to date.

I often get asked where I get certain items that are seen in my photographs. From now on I will try and reference the vendors that have items in my pictures.

Tutu by Gymboree
Birthday shirt by Carters
Bow by Unbowlievable
White Dress by Old Navy

Northern Virginia Child Photographer - Update

Ok, so I know this isn't going to be the update that most of you will really be interested in but I wanted to show it off again. The HUGE wasp nest that is near our house is still intact and has even grown a bit larger. I have taken some pic's to show it's progress but today I had a little bit of fun. Thankfully the wasps were well behaved as they have been every other time I am out there standing right under it. I am sure the neighbors think I am crazy but it won't be the first or last time that happens. I still think this is an amazing creation and will be sorry to see it eventually fall or be torn apart. It looks like the side is starting to come apart a little bit so it is probably just a matter of time.

The sun was in just the right spot for me to get some incredible flare. Usually photographers don't want too much of this in their photos. I happen to think it looks pretty cool in these.

These shots are pretty much straight out of the camera with very little post processing done to them. You can create this effect in Photoshop but that is not the case here.

Northern Virginia Child Photographer -- Friends

Yesterday afternoon a fellow photographer, Alice of Fern Leaf Photography and I spend the late afternoon at one of my favorite locations. We each have toddlers and wanted to see what we could do to get them to cooperate with our cameras. You see, getting your own child to pose for picture after picture, can be difficult. Working with other people's children is a learned skill that I would like to think I have gotten pretty good at. Well, "Miss R" was a tough one but we finally convinced her to smile a little bit and have some fun. It might have helped to have my overly-friendly little one with us. Who at the end was convinced that they were best friends. Miss R on the other hand, wasn't so sure.

Thanks for a fun afternoon Alice. I am looking forward to getting together again soon!







At this point, someone was getting hugged! Love that just before sunset light.

{Northern Virginia Photographer} Whew!

So sitting in my office today I heard something that I never really thought I would hear coming out of my husband's mouth, "Grab the baby and get out of the house!" What? Did I hear you right? So as I was running up the stairs my husband explained that the connection to the gas meter on the outside of our home had disconnected and gas was spewing out of the pipes. Well, all I could imagine was the vision of my house exploding so I did exactly what he said. I grabbed the baby and ran out of the house. On the way through the kitchen I did grab the phone and before I was even out of the garage was dialing 911.

In a situation like that what would you grab? I always thought I would grab my purse and a few random things but no, all that mattered was that three of us were safely out of the house and help was on its way. I wasn't concerned about the computer, pictures, purse, car keys, or misc. jewelry. If my house blew up at that moment the two most important things were right there with me and that is all that mattered.

All it takes is a situation that turned out fine but could have been catastrophic to put things in perspective.

After the gas was shut off and the air was clear, the fire and rescue crew from our local firestation let me go inside the house to get my camera. While we were waiting for the gas company to arrive I was able to snap some shots of them. They were good sports and I think secretly they enjoyed it a little (but I won't tell anyone).

Thank you so much guys! We appreciate you and the work you do to keep our community safe!

{Northern Virginia Newborn Photographer} Sleepy!

I had such a fun session this morning. I went to go visit with some friends of mine who just added a baby girl to their family of three, making it a family of four. I walked in and Big Sister was rocking out to her tunes in her room and baby was just sleeping away in the living room completely oblivious to it all. And that is how the session went. Grace's big sister, Ella, ran around and did her thing during the session, and this sweet little baby just slept and slept.
An added bonus was that Grandma was in town so I go the chance to get some three generation shots that are my favorite.

Thanks for a fun morning "D" family. The girls are just gorgeous!

I love how in this shot all three ladies put their hands into the picture the exact same way. No thumbs. I bet they didn't even notice.

{Northern Virginia Photographer} Oasis

Today my little one and I joined my Mother in Law for an outing that I wasn't expecting. We went to a small, very out of the way park in the District. It was nice to have my camera out for the pure enjoyment of taking a picture or two. You see, as I wrote in a previous post, I have a new camera. My new camera and I are still dating and things are going very well. But, we haven't quite hit that old couple groove yet. You know what I mean? I still fumble with the controls a little bit, lose track of where my fingers are and what button does what. I feel confident that my clients will like what they see but it will take a few more weeks I think before Mr. New Camera and I hit our groove together.

So today was a treat to have someone with me who could watch the wee one and I could concentrate on what I love to do, take pictures. The flowers were lovely and so different than what I find in my normal locations. You will be able to see that many of them were HUGE, even taller than I am in some instances. Even the lily pads were huge. A fun morning in a great location that was different than your normal walk in the park, and I loved it!

I would love to know how some photographers UV filter ended up out in the middle of this pond on one of the giant lily pads.

{Northern Virginia Photographer} Winner!

Yesterday morning I met with the grand daughter of my latest session winner at the US Botanic Gardens on Capital Hill in downtown Washington, D.C. I had never done a session down there and was looking forward to finding great little areas that I could use location ideas in the future. Capital Hill is a beautiful place and we couldn't have asked for nicer weather. You see, we had previously scheduled our session for the evening before but we were rained out. My family was only in town for the weekend and we had to try and make this happen before they got in the car for their two and a half hour ride home.

I expected a little ball of energy and that is exactly what I got. Little Miss "L" is exactly one day younger than my little one and it was so fun to see the similarities in their behavior. I got lots of "no's", shaking of heads, running in the opposite direction and a few tears. But in between it all I also got some really great shots. And true to form, a little candy can also work wonders in getting a little cooperation from an almost two year old.

Thanks for a great morning "C" family. Enjoy your sneak peak.

(Oh and dad, sorry your team got spanked by the Nationals. :)

Follow Up {Northern Virginia Family Photographer}

I recently had a session with Little Miss K and posted one picture from that session here on the blog. I promised you a few more, so here they are. Aren't those lips to die for???

I never would have had this session if it wasn't for the referral of a dear friend of mine and fellow photographer, Stephanie Johnson. I have known Stephanie for years. We were roommates back in the day and I even sang in her wedding. It is great to have friends in the same industry who can look out for you and refer client when appropriate. Thanks Steph!

Amazing {Northern Virginia Photographer}

Today was a special day. It isn't often in our household that we can greet a Saturday with absolutely no plans. Usually one of us is going in one direction or another while the other one stays home with our Little One. So before we went to bed last night we planned out our morning. We made a trip to the Farmer's Market, the computer store, the park, and drove by a few garage sales. One of the garage sales was right around the corner from our house and as we were pulling away we saw the most amazing sight. A HUGE wasp nest was hanging up in the tree right by the side of the road. This thing had to be over a foot long and almost a foot wide. I immediately knew that as soon as someone went down for her nap that I would be back with my camera to take a few pictures of it.

When I came back I was standing in the middle of the road when the owner of the house drove up. He got out of his car and said something like, "I'm glad someone else has an appreciation for that like I do." I asked him a few questions about when it was started and how long it took to get so big. He told me that he first noticed it in July and it was the size of his fist. He had been tempted to come and spray it but because the wasps weren't anywhere near the house or bothering anyone, he couldn't bring himself to take it down. I had to agree. The pictures do not do it justice. It is beautiful in it's own way.

SHHHHH!!!! {Dorie Howell Kids}

Today's session was so much fun. I love this family. I have known them for a couple years and they are just as nice as can be. Today we had a session to take pictures as a gift for Father's Day. Dad doesn't know about them yet so if you know these kids, don't let the cat out of the bag. I had such a hard time picking which ones to show here. I know that Dad is going to love all of them.

Here is your "Personal Picture" B.