Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Thank you for a wonderful 2011. I'm looking forward to all the great things that will happen in 2012! I appreciate the opportunity to photograph your children and families and your loyalty to my business. Being a part of capturing your family memories is a true honor. I have had a great year and could not have done it without you! Thank you!

May all your wishes in 2012 come true!

I'm now booking Spring Sessions and am looking for one special family that would like to do a session in the snow! I can't wait to see everyone this year!

Northern Virginia Family Photographer - Sweet Boy!

A couple weeks ago I met with this family who contacted me through a program called "Inspiration Through Art". They are a non-profit that matches up photographers with families who have children who are dealing with life altering conditions. We had a great session and he was just as sweet as can be.

Thank you for letting me photograph you. It was a pleasure meeting you and hearing your story. You are heroes!

How sweet is this moment between brothers?

Vienna Family Photographer - Blossoms

Today it was gorgeous so I took advantage of that and was able to get some updated pictures of my little one. She wasn't quite sold on cooperating (photographing your own child is always the most difficult!) until I pulled out this dress that she could twirl in. As you can see, it was a hit and she twirled so much I think she still might be dizzy in the morning. :)

Love this face!!!

The dress is from Gap Kids. The headpiece is from Gracylu Originals and the shoes are from Rack Room.

Vienna, VA Newborn Photograher - Alert!

This little guy had absolutely NO interest in sleeping and allowing me to do my job the other day. He was very intent on making sure he didn't miss a minute of the fun. He was so sweet with the most gorgeous blue eyes. Thanks for letting me play with him mom!

I just love this one of his profile.

Northern Virginia Newborn Photographer - Twins

Yesterday was so fun! I joined the fabulous Stephanie of BabySnap Portraits on one of her sessions photographing these adorable twins. How cute are these two? They were perfect angels during the session, slept almost the whole time and barely made a peep!

Thanks for letting me join you Stephanie!

Northern Virginia Photographer - Happy Birthday!

Two weeks ago I got a call from a fellow photographer saying that a client of hers was having a big get together in honor of her Grandmother's 85th birthday and was I available to take pictures of the family at the party? Event pictures are not my usual thing but I paused for a minute and thought, "why not"?

The reason being is that last March when we had my Grandmother's 100th birthday celebration, we hired a photographer to help us capture the memories that day and it was the best thing we could have done. I didn't have to "work" that party and we were able to commemorate Grandma's 100th birthday with some formal and family portraits that will be treasured by my family for generations to come.

I wanted to be able to provide that same thing for this family as they gathered to celebrate their grandmother's birthday.

Happy Birthday Mary! Thank you for letting me document your big day with your wonderful family.

Four generations of beautiful ladies.

The beautiful guest of honor.

Northern Virginia Portrait Photographer - GIVEAWAY!

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Please excuse the typos and punctuation mistakes. We have been a bit sickly around here and I just didn't have the strength to go back and fix them.

Fairfax Family Photographer -Week 3

So here is week three's submission for Project 52. The theme this week was "Shades of Gray". It was my goal to submit a color photograph, meaning one that I didn't convert to black and white, that showed the range of blacks and grays. I had to look no further than my car that is a dingy, horribly dirty color of gray right now because of all the salt and sand that they put on the roads in preparation for snow. Can you guess what part of the car this is?

See you next Friday!

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 Portrait Photographer - The Moon

You might have heard that this week we had a full lunar eclipse. Many in the photography world were very excited to get their camera on the moon that night. Well, I did wake up and go outside around 3:30 in the morning to see if it was worth carrying out all my equipment to try and get some pictures of the moon. Not only was it below freezing, but there was a very good cloud cover that prevented me from seeing the moon anywhere. So I just went back inside to my cozy bed and didn't think anything of it.

The next night as we were driving home from dinner I couldn't help but notice how the moon looked in the sky. Just big, round and beautiful. So after putting the little one to bed, I bundled up and headed outside to take some pictures. There was a very fast moving cloud cover so I had to time the photos just right. Every once in awhile there would be a hole that the moon would poke through. When it looked like a hole would be in the right spot I would click the shutter button hoping that the timer and clouds would cooperate at the same time. (Hint - if you want shots like this, use a tripod and the self timer, helps eliminate camera shake and motion from the longer exposures you might need.)

I actually like how the clouds add a different dimension to these photos. Sort of mysterious.

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.

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 Child Photographer -Getting Big!

This morning I met with this little sweet one for her 9 month session. I always love seeing my baby plan clients. It is so much fun to watch them grow throughout the year.
9 months is one of my favorite ages. Their little personalities are really starting to shine through and oh the different expressions we get. So much Fun!

Just look how cute she is!

See you in January little one.

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.