Happy September! Wow – it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. I’ve had lots of time on the road with my family and visiting so many amazing, old friends. My Maine friends really know how to live – huge gardens, sun filled studios, colorful art-filled homes, good food and….chickens! I could go on and on but instead will share some favorite images now that I’m back in the urban jungle.

Here’s to hanging on to the slower pace and golden light of summer just a little longer….

Here’s the “country girl” passing the chicken to my tentative “city girl”:

Isn’t this the coolest mod chicken coop?

These lovely pots are by my talented friend Sara. You can see more from Delilah Pottery here.

I never knew that there was a hard core surf scene here in Maine. California maybe, but in the North Atlantic where water temperatures rarely break 55 degrees?

At a dinner last week, another guest mentioned a possible book project about Maine surfers and that they were looking for photographers. Say no more! The next day I was inspired to stick around on the beach later than planned to see what I could capture. I met some funny, friendly folks who surf here year round and were more than happy to let me point my camera in their direction. One surfer even told me about a website Magic Seaweed for checking surf conditions across New England! I do love seeing the “surf bettys” out there – strong, powerful women with their boards.

Next time I’m go back with a longer lens and in my swimsuit!

Optimistic surfers in pursuit of a good wave:

This is my third summer photographing in Maine. I lived here twenty years ago, met my husband here, got married here and have returned once or twice every year for the past eighteen years. The landscape here, whether summer or winter, brings tears to my eyes and I am not kidding.

Besides the idyllic location and amazing light, one of the many wonderful aspects of doing my work here is connecting with DC families. This portrait session was in honor of an 80th birthday held at the family’s beach cottage. I think I wore everyone out trying three or four spots for the entire family, but my favorite was right here in front of the cottage.

After that we gave the grandparents a break and took the cousins down to the beach. It had been very bright, then as the sun set it became simply magical. These images capture the essence of what I love about photographing in Maine. Beautiful children on the beach quietly exploring a tide pool in the end of day glow. Sublime.

the way life should be” says the welcome sign. And as I enjoy another clear day in the 70s and 80s I’m feeling that is oh so true. I’ve happily shifted locations for the juggle of family time and work and wonder if we can do this for longer than two weeks next year.

Being someplace so beautiful inspires me to bring my camera along more than usual. The Farmer’s Markets here are unreal – the bounty of summer harvests and an amazing community of farmers and creative folks from all over Maine selling their wares

This one of the carrots was taken by my nine year old. She’s been begging for me to show her how my camera works so we made the Farmer’s Market our classroom for a lesson on depth of field and exposure – fun!

Sneak peeks of family portraits on the beach coming soon….

Where did July go? I’ve been neglectful of my blog but plenty busy with family and my family of clients too. I even managed a whole week away with my hubby and no kids. Splendid.

I thought I’d catch up a bit by sharing photographs of my children when they were in a friend’s wedding recently. They were so excited, much more interested in being with the bride and bridesmaids than with me, but allowed me a few quick portraits.

Here’s one at the rehearsal – think my girls are saying to themselves “eewwww, they’re kissing!”?

Happy July! [how did that happen already?!] It’s been a whirlwind start to summer between portrait sessions, crazy camp schedules and getting my daughters ready to be flower girls in a wedding. I’ll post some images of that soon but first am so excited to introduce baby Julia to you. She is sweetness embodied.

If you’ve been following my blog the past few years then there might be some familiar faces here. I have been fortunate enough to photograph all three pregnancies for this gorgeous mama and capture each baby in their first ten days. Amazing.

P.S. Mamas, take note of this fab dress and how great it looks for newborn portraits.

And then an outtake I couldn’t resist….kids always love my reflector but this little guy just grabbed the case and put it to good use!

Lately I feel I’ve become one of those women who used to stop me on the street with my baby and say “Oh, look at your baby! Mine is all grown up. ” Insert teary eyes here, “It goes so fast, treasure every moment!” It IS going so fast. Are the calendar pages just flying off the wall cartoon style or what?

In the pre-digital world I first photographed these leggy twins as bald, chubby babies. Just look at them… and now with a yummy little sister too. This was Miss T’s first professional portrait session and it was so fun to see her through my lens along with her now much bigger bro and sis.

Hooray – summer is on it’s way! Once again I’ll be booking a limited number of family portrait sessions in Maine where the northern light is magical and the temperatures are much more enjoyable than what we have here in D.C.

Did you know that the Maine slogan is “The Way Life Should Be?” Love it. We always talk about that in our family and get excited as we finally, eleven hours later, drive across the state line to see the big sign proclaiming just that.

If you or friends will be vacationing in Maine, or if you know folks that live there, and are interested in a family portrait session please let me know. I’ll be scheduling a limited number of portrait sessions in early to mid August and possibly in July as well.

Anyone who gathers three other families for portrait sessions gets a free session for their family!

Here are some of my faves from last summer that never made it to my blog. You can also see more images from Maine here. There are so many wonderful locations from the beach to open meadows to the backdrop of old barns and homes:

I am fortunate to work with many families over time and even photograph multiple pregnancies throughout the years. This family is one of the really special ones to me, I’m not even sure how to describe it. We’ve worked together regularly for many years, and in such an uncomplicated and intimate way. Five years ago I photographed the mama’s first pregnancy and newborn, then one year old and so on until pregnancy #2 [see blog post about expecting Baby Firetruck then as a newborn] and now…pregnancy #3. We decided on Montrose Park as our location, same as pregnancy #2 – love that ivy covered tree and all of the open space in the city.

She is just striking and so at ease being pregnant – though she may disagree with me on this hot day close to her due date!

Look at those sweet boys showing off their bellies too!

Then some faves of the boys, just being themselves. Can’t wait to see them as big brothers together to a new baby brother or sister…stay tuned.

I spend alot of time with my clients discussing what to wear. I love this part of the process, maybe it’s my unrealized desire to be a stylist or fashion designer. I go to clients’ homes to see outfits laid out side by side; I look at snaps via email of clothes spread out on a bed. We talk about wearing bright bold colors, textures and layers and ultimately being yourself. And it really pays off in the portraits – as seen with this family below. Even in the black and whites you can see how the textures enhance the image [helped, of course, by the lovely grandma-made quilt].