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Archive for the ‘summer’ Category

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!

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.

Our two weeks in Maine were filled with wonderful visits with friends, delicious meals, escapes to the beach and many trips for ice cream. Oh, and work for me too!

Before my girls went to their camps we spent the day with a dear friend in the woods of Bowdoinham. My girls joined her nieces in raiding the costume basket and having a tea party in the garden….until they’d had enough of the camera and retreated to the pottery studio for hours of clay time.

The day was bliss of the simplest order: friends, art, nature, good food and laughter. It just filled me up to see the kids so free out in the countryside…truly what every city kid [and adult] needs more of!

You can see more of the gorgeous and inspiring Delilah Pottery here. And I’ll let the images speak for themselves to describe the day for you:

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!

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!