Dc Metro Photographer - The White House

This year we were lucky enough to be offered tickets to The 133rd White House Easter Egg Roll held on the South Lawn of the White House the Monday after Easter. We were offered tickets by someone who works on Capital Hill and were very excited to go play on the White House lawn. We were invited, along with 6,700 in our session (a total of over 30,000 for the day) of our closest friends, to take part in this historic activity. They have four sessions during the day and we all were in the last session.

This year's theme was "Get up and Go". The focus was healthy lifestyle choices and had many activities for the children to take part in. From hearing a story being read, hearing Willow Smith sing on one of the stages, an Easter Egg hunt, painting crowns from the Washington Children's museum, learning about gardening, face painting, the list goes on and on. To say there was a lot to do with the kids, would be an understatement.

Going to this involves a lot of waiting in lines, security checks, and overall patience. (Yes, they will take Goldfish crackers away from a three year old in the name of National Safety.) Luckily we stocked up on patience before we left the house and were good to go. After waiting in several lines for over an hour in the hot sun, we finally crossed onto the White House property.

Our first stop was the actual Easter Egg Roll. Did you know they use real colored eggs for this? Our little one needed a little encouragement but she finally crossed the finish line.

Our future leader!

This is a picture of our little beekeeper in front of the White House beehive. They had shut it for the day so the bees stayed inside and had to spray it down with water so the bees wouldn't get too hot.

Yes, with this eye roll, I think we are in trouble when she hits her teen years.

This is our keepsake from the day. Provided by the National Park Service.

Thank you for having us over President and Mrs. Obama. We had a great time and look forward to being able to do it again!

Fairfax Virginia Family Photographer - FIGHT!

The day after Christmas I went and had a session with this great, fun family. I have known them for a little bit and our paths have crossed at church and at some mutual friends home for various events. We have always been friendly and I have always enjoyed chatting with them on a casual basis. About three weeks ago I got an e-mail that promptly brought them to the forefront of my mind regularly. Chris, the dad, has been diagnosed with stage 4 Melanoma cancer and is now in a very real fight for his life. What was a busy time of preparing for Christmas became a time of doctor visits, MRI's, extreme diet changes and questions. Some of those questions would get prompt answers and other questions will not be answered for weeks, if not months in the future.

When I got the news of their situation I was really at a loss of what I could do for them. I took the plunge and contacted them offering a free session. It might have seemed to come out of the blue but I honestly feel that there is no better time like the present to document family memories. We don't have to wait until we are at the perfect weight, our hair is done exactly right or every single family member is in town. Taking time out to capture what is happening at that moment is priceless. It is a gift to give our children and our children's children.

I always tell my clients that this is why I force myself to have my own picture taken once in awhile with my daughter. They may not be the type of photos that I want out on the internet, but I know that when she looks back on them she won't see my extra weight, my roots or the face where my wrinkles are getting more and more pronounced as time goes on. (Although, I do have to admit, I am guilty of doing a little editing on my own photos. :) I hope that she sees a mom that loves her more than anything and would try to move the moon and stars for her if required.

There is no PERFECT time to have photos taken. Now is the perfect time.

Please join me in praying for this great family as they travel down this scary and unpredictable road. Chris is in a waiting game right now with his treatment as they try to see if one of the courses of treatment will work for his particular type of cancer. We believe in a God of miracles and in a God that is bigger than cancer.

Chris's mantra that he put on his website is this: " 'I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD' its Psalm 118v17 - so get ready for me to pound you with Gods miracles and works."

Chris, we cannot wait!

If you live locally, you might remember that it was snowing this afternoon and just about as dark and dreary as it could me. We did find some great light in their house and just went for it. I think you will be able to tell, we had a pretty fun time!

Northern Virginia Photographer - One!

Well, someone is growing up. Hard to believe that the little girl that is featured this month on the opening page of my website is now a year old. It has been so fun to watch her grow this year.

We had a fun session right before her first birthday party. She was full of smiles and loved having me chase her around as she showed off her incredible walking skills. (The crawling picture is really just so we could get a shot of those cute little birthday bloomers she had on.)

Thanks for a great year little one! And because every birthday girl deserves a present, if we get 20 comments on this blog post I have a great gift for her and her mommy and daddy. Come on, show her some love!

Of course we had cake and as you can see, she completely enjoyed it!

Here is a look back on the year we have shared.

Her mommy and daddy's maternity session
Her Newborn session
Her 3 month session
Her 6 month session
Her 9 month (actually 10 month)session.

Thanks for a great year!

Northern Virginia Photographer - Family!

I am right in the middle of a very busy holiday season and have met some wonderful people in the past 4 weeks. We have been all over the DC Metro area taking pictures for gifts, holiday cards, and just because. I met this family from a referral from another talented photographer, Alice McGuin, and had a great session at one of my favorite locations.

DC Metro Family Photographer - A Navy Man

I love the other photographers who work along side me in the Northern Virginia Area. There is quiet a tight network here and it is great to be able to help each other out once in awhile. A few weeks ago fellow photographer, Stephanie Johnson of Babysnap photography sent out an e-mail asking if anyone was able to take a session that involved a VERY tight time schedule and a family that wanted to be photographed downtown at the monuments. Luckily for me, I was able to fit them into my schedule at the last minute and we had a great time.

Thank you for meeting me downtown and letting me photograph you in and around some of our nation's most beautiful architecture.

Congratulations on that beautiful little boy and best of luck with your move. Thank you for your service to our country, we are lucky to have families like you working in our armed forces.

Look at that cute little nose!

There was a gentleman that sort of followed us from place to place that afternoon and was very taken with our cute little model. When we were at this location he actually stepped in and asked to take a picture of "my" family. Also, a woman who saw me taking pictures intentionally stepped in front of me as I was trying to get this shot in front of the Vietnam Memorial. Not all of the interesting characters are found in political office around here.

Now our little model let us know many times that he was not impressed. He was such a trooper and hardly fussed but I bet I have 30 pictures of him yawning

Go Navy!

Washington DC Newborn Photographer - Squeezable!

How squeezable is this little one? Seriously, don't you just want to squeeze her right up? I met her, her great parents and doting grandmother last weekend and we had a long session together. She was pretty determined to stay awake and see what all the fuss was about but we finally wore her down so we could get some great sleepy shots.

Thank you for spending the afternoon with me. Congratulations, she is just precious!

Fairfax Virginia Family Photographer -Sisters!

Last week, my good friend Stephanie of Babysnap Photography and I met down in her part of the world to take some pictures of our little girls. I have known Stephanie for more years than I am actually going to put in writing but lets just say it is long enough that we were roommates before we got married, before the internet and 90210 (the original) and Melrose Place were still on the air. :) She is a wonderful photographer and has been so helpful and supportive to my business as it has grown over the past 2+ years.

Our little girls are all about the same age so we have extra excuses to try and get together when we can. On this morning we took our girls out into this field and I had a blast working with her two. They definitely have this modeling thing down!

Thanks for a great afternoon ladies. We must get together more often!

Her youngest, who is just a month older than my little one.

Her second youngest, she was giving me the greatest poses the whole time.

Work it, work it!

Give each other a hug

Now what about a kiss? I love this one! Gotta love the innocence of children.