lifestyle + documentary photography
I spent a bright and sunny morning with this amazing family last month. We blew bubbles, splashed in the water, and built sand castles. Oh yeah, and took a few family photos, too ;) I loved their outfits and the pale pinks and greens looked great in the sand and by the dunes. I love OCNJ and capturing memories for families at one of my favorite places is the icing on the cake :)
We had such a beautiful night for this session and had plenty of beautiful areas to explore with the kids. I love to keep kids moving during our sessions so that they don't get bored and are always excited for the next place we are going to see. You never know how sibling shots are going to go, but I really love the ones we captured at this session <3
I worked with Noah and his family for his newborn photos and I was so excited to see them again for Noah's first birthday. We spent the evening exploring Longwood Gardens and even enjoyed a bit of cake ;) It's amazing how much babies change in the first year... but also how much they stay the same. I love getting to see all of these babies grow up!
Mom's first line in her email inquiry to me was, "I'm looking for photographers who can capture our family as we are." She said she loved "candid shots" and "real moments." My heart sang when she chose me. We decided to do a sunset shoot at one of our favorite places - Longwood Gardens.
I arrived as they were eating dinner, we took walks, we played, we looked for airplanes, and we ran. Fast. There were no formally posed photos... there were no fancy clothes. There were shy moments, snuggly moments, yogurt moments, and moments that had us all out laughing. They were perfect moments... real family moments... just as they were.
Towards the end of the session, I took a picture of Ellie's hand resting on her mom's hand. Ellie was tired and we were walking towards the exit. I stopped to show Mom the back of the camera and said, "As a mom, this is one of my favorites." They won't always sit on your arm with their diaper peeking through; their hand won't always be small enough to rest on yours. We were well past sunset and the image has a good bit of grain. But memories and little moments don't always need perfect light. Mom said to me, "You got it! That's just want I wanted: to capture us together and Ellie... just being little. Because, she won't always be little... she's so much bigger than yesterday!"
I love all the sessions I do, but this continues to be one of my favorites. I love sunset, I love families, and I love real moments. True documentary photography is where my heart lies.
If you are interested in capturing your family, as you are, I'd love to do that for you.
It's hard to believe that it had almost been a year since I had done this little guy's newborn session. We met up at the Haverford Duck Pond for this Simple Session and enjoyed exploring, looking for geese (we found some!), and catching up. We ended up with a beautiful morning after having to reschedule for rain and we couldn't have had picked a better spot.
I absolutely loved this documentary family session. We spent the morning walking around the borough of West Chester. The Q family lived in West Chester when they met and it was fun to share some of their favorite spots with their soon to be one year old! The brick sidewalks and beautiful town were a perfect backdrop for this session and I loved how it had a more urban feel. At the end of our session, we stopped by D'Ascenzo's Gelato for N's first taste of gelato. I think she loved it :)
I always love when I get to work with this family. I went to high school with these cuties' parents and I am so honored that they have chosen me to capture these memories for them. It's amazing how much their girls grow up between each session. I've loved being a part of this chapter in their lives. For this session, we explored Longwood Gardens early one morning. The girls love going here so we made sure to find some new locations for them to explore.
I love, love, love sunset sessions. In addition to the gorgeous light, I just love that during these sessions, I can let kids be kids. They can stand (let's be honest...run!) any direction they want and face any direction and the light just works. I don't have to be as careful with lighting because I can get gorgeous images from any direction. I love mixing backlight, sidelight, and the unique shadows and warmth that this time of day gives. I end up with so many more natural moments and a few more cuddly ones too! Of course, sunset coincides with bedtime... but kids really do great. We play, we run, we are silly. They are outside in a new location and after a late nap and a good snack they forget all about sleeping to just have fun and explore.
I love getting to see clients grow up. I worked with Penny and her family last fall and I was so excited to see them again for Penny's one year session. She has gown up into such a big girl and was happy as can be at our early morning session. She loved to give high fives, get cuddles from mom and dad, and walk ALL over the place. She was a brave little explorer. I loved walking around with these three and hearing about their big move. Penny's mom is a veterinarian and recently got a job up north. I have no doubt that she is the sweetest most caring one around :) I will miss these guys!
I met this family during my Christmas Tree Farm sessions last December. B didn't have a newborn session, but they still wanted to capture all things "baby" about him and photograph his adorable little nursery. So, we set up a lifestyle session once B was sitting comfortably (and since he's a mover and a shaker, he said, enough of this sitting business... I'm ready to crawl!). It was a lot of fun to see how much B has grown since December and capture little details about him and their life as a family of three :)
I was so excited to work with Henry and his family again. I did Henry's six month session a few months ago and suddenly, he was one! He was the happiest little guy and I loved following him around the first floor of their house. He was eager to explore and just adored his big brother. We had so much fun capturing his little details and playing outside in the snow once his big brother woke up. We even had time for hot chocolate!
It was a winter wonderland at the Haverford Duck Pond when we got together to take one year old pictures of the twins (we had no idea we'd have such snowy luck when mom booked the session last October!). As beautiful and sunny as it was, it was so cold that morning!! The kids had lots of cuddles from their parents throughout the session to keep warm.
We had a lot of fun exploring and being silly during this session. I don't think I've ever captured so many giggles during one session. Most of the leaves had fallen by this point, but we were still able to a find a few leaves with some fall color!
I had so much fun working with this family at the end of the fall season. It was a windy day and pretty cold in the shade. These kids were troopers though and we even found some leaves to play in at the end!
I worked with this family this past spring and had the pleasure of hanging out with them again for M's one year pictures. We did some birthday shots inside before heading out to play in the backyard. M was a happy one year old! He had an amazing smile and a contagious laugh. We had a great time goofing off and capturing the essence of being one.
We lucked out with some gorgeous fall colors for this family session. I really think it may have been the peak for fall foliage and we picked a great location to capture it. T is absolutely in love with his little sister and gives some of the best hugs around... and M was such a good sport about receiving all those big brother hugs. She was also quite a fan of all the leaves ;) I loved working with the K family!
You would never guess it, but as I drove over to this session, it was pouring rain!! Earlier that day it had even snowed/hailed. We waited it out and ended up with a gorgeous evening! I can't wait to share this gallery with this sweet mom and her adorable family.
I love Longwood Gardens in the fall and it's one of my favorite spots to shoot at with young toddlers. There is a lot to see and plenty of paths to explore. We had a beautiful fall morning a few weeks ago and little A was probably the fastest nearly one-year-old that I ever had the pleasure of chasing around!
