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Archive for the ‘family portraits’ Category

I love walking around the Hill, our small village in the big city, and seeing all of the new babies in the spring. This sweet girl had some especially good timing as she arrived during a warm spell and came home right as the cherry blossoms peaked. Such love…..

Last night my husband and I had a rare night out to hear live music. We went to see one of our favorites, Beth Orton, play at 6th & I Synagogue downtown. She was phenomenal. Her gravelly, delicious voice ephemeral as it echoed through the great space of the synagogue. I cried at least twice it was so beautiful. When she introduced a song about love, she paused and said “Well, really all of my songs are about love!”

I realized that in some ways her work is about love and so is mine. I see the love in your families. I see the way you look at your children and the way they look at you and I want to capture that. I feel I’ve succeeded when I look at a portrait and really feel something in my heart. And I want you to have that same feeling when you see your portraits everyday in your home.

And that’s certainly what I feel when I spend time with this family. I’ve watched them through my lens over the past eight years, from first pregnancy through school age kids, from my old box camera to digital. This is our eighth year of working together. What an honor and what a joy! And what love.

Summer is officially over and the kids are back in school. I love summertime and this one was truly wonderful. Busy with work plus great family trips, hanging with my girls more and then working and playing in Maine for most of August. Oh, and mid way through the summer I broke my big toe [ouch] which has meant a much slower pace than I am used to! It has been a real exercise in patience while still doing the daily juggle.

All that has left little time for blog posts so I thought I’d kick off the fall with some faves from early summer. This little peanut was such a delight and with such relaxed parents the session was particularly calm and easy. I love how they all engaged with one another as we enjoyed the shade of the big old trees in Stanton Park. I think their clothing worked together fabulously and shows how mixing patterns and textures can add depth and interest to an image. Enjoy!

Every so often I photograph kids the same ages as my own and it makes me even more acutely aware of how big my girls are getting! I last photographed these kids when they were closer to 2 and 5 years old and now they are 8 and 11. It was such a treat for me to see them through my lens again but also just to hang out and get to know such interesting young people.  As you can see from all of the smiles below, we spent the better part of the morning just cracking up in between conversations about soccer, science experiments and books. Love it!

Springtime in DC has been quite a teaser this year…..not sure if  I’ll be wearing my gloves to a session or sandals!?! I bike to as many DC sessions as possible and have been grateful for those not too chilly mornings when I can peel of the layers and warm up in the sunshine as I photograph. The azaleas and dogwoods were truly in our favor for this session, as were the gorgeous kids, family and grandma too! Love those blue eyes and all the great patterns amongst the textures outdoors….

One of my favorite clients, whose family I’ve photographed in many great DC locations for the past several years, recently wrote to me saying she wanted to do “something different” for this year’s portrait session, yet still generate some images for holiday cards. After a few email exchanges we came up with a plan for a mini “day in the life” type session. We started at home in the kitchen, where they normally hang out Saturday mornings, then strolled over to Eastern Market, one of their favorite weekend destinations. It was a spectacular fall day and really so much fun…..and I’m so excited about the images that came out of it. Here’s to “something different!”

This has been a wet fall to say the least! I am thankful for the amazing weekend weather we’ve had but I’ve been caught in more downpours, camera in hand, than usual this time of year. Luckily, I’ve spent alot of time with this wonderful family so we were perfectly comfortable crowding together trying to stay dry during the sudden deluge mid-portrait session. Here are some faves of from the morning – thanks for braving the weather with me!

When I meet with clients for their pre-session consultation I always ask where they spend time as a family and what would make for a meaningful location for their portrait session. Well, this lovely couple actually had their wedding at the Jefferson Memorial a few years ago [how cool is that!?] and wanted to return for family portraits. It was such a spectacular setting and was made all the more memorable by knowing that this was where they were married. Such joy!

I have more images from Maine to share! Interestingly, like my last post, this portrait session was also right before a move, though this time we focused more on capturing the home that was dear to my clients. Details of their lovely house, interactions with a beloved neighbor, favorite rooms and so simply, the front stoop, one of my favorite urban locations for portraits.

Isn’t she a delight? I love seeing both the quiet, contemplative moments and bright, smiley ones.

While I sit under the fan in my air conditioned studio and the temperature outside is pushing 100, I am dreaming of last weekend in Maine…when 85 degrees didn’t feel too hot and I got to dip my toes into the chilly waters in Kennebunk.

I had an amazing time with some very dear to me clients who so graciously welcomed me into their home again. The teeny new baby of two summers ago is now a headstrong two year old and the “big girls” are moving onto college and new jobs.It was a perfect time to update the collection of family portraits.

We took advantage of the gorgeous end of day golden light for the portraits then I shared in their delicious family meal [with the best corn I've had yet this summer]. While the little girls were sleeping and the grown-ups relaxing with their books, I edited the images and prepared a presentation for the morning. It was a treat to get to share the portraits with everyone right away before we all went our separate ways….from the Midwest to Mid-Atlantic.

I had a tough time narrowing down the ones to post here!

In my room….love the Home Sweet Home pillow…..

If you look back to my posts from Maine, you’ll see these guys walking together on the beach but holding two of the three girls because they were so little!