lifestyle + documentary photography
At the end of last summer I did a 30 minute maternity session for my friend, Robin. She was expecting her third baby and we caught sunset over the water. It was fun to capture some family and maternity shots of their family of soon-to-be five. It's amazing how in a few weeks, everything can change <3
I had a wonderful time with this family and their sweet little girl. We explored the park and tried to stay cool on a hot summer day! She loves reading The Hungry Caterpillar so we took a break to read for a bit part way through the shoot. It was so fun to wok with these three!
At the end of last summer, I did a Mommy & Me Newborn session with a beautiful mama and her two boys. Big brother was super sweet with the new little guy and he loved relaxing with his mom and helping to take care of the baby. Their family was in the midst of a move, so while I enjoyed capturing a bunch of "clean" images, I had to take one with the HUGE stack of moving boxes mom had been working on packing all week! Supermom for sure!!! She's also a talented local photographer so we had fun talking shop as well ;)
This is one of those sessions that I love more and more each time I come back to it <3 I met this family of three on a warm August day and sweet Izzy could not have asked for more loving parents. They just adored her... and so did I :) She was so quiet and easy going... and so, SO tiny. I love the classic look of these images and how, even many months later, I feel like this was yesterday when looking back at the images <3
It has been awhile since I've blogged. I had to take a break to keep up with my fall sessions, but now I want to get back to sharing some of my favorite sessions from 2016. I did this lifestyle session at the end of last summer. Mom wanted the session to have a newborn feel to it even though their baby as about three months old. I was a little nervous about how it would go because I had not done this before, but it turned out to be one of my favorite sessions. Three months is such a great age. I feel like it's around this time that their personalities really start to peek through... and oh the smiles! I love them :)
I spent a beautiful night at Marsh Creek State Park capturing this amazing family to honor their daughter's first birthday. There is nothing better than a beautiful sunset, warm water, and lots of love. Happy birthday, sweet girl!
I recently did an Extended Family Newborn session at a local home on the Main Line. This is the second time I've done a session like this and it's really so special for the family. We spent two thirds of the session doing my Newborn Lifestyle Session and then we worked on capturing some extended family photos with the grandparents :) We did some indoors and then moved outside to play. If you are interested in including extended family at your newborn session, let me know!
As I sit here sipping hot tea and debating about plugging in my space heater, I thought it would be fun to look back at a session from August. It was SO hot this day and the heat index was over 100. These guys were such troopers and we embraced the heat, enjoyed the morning, and cooled off at the end in the children's garden. I love working with this family each year! They have been with me since I first opened and am so happy to have connected with them. I've loved watching Dylan grow from a toddler into a preschooler, capturing Zooey when she first entered their family, and now her one year old pictures :)
I do newborn sessions in the morning or afternoon; it depends on when you have the best natural light in the rooms you want to use. Sometimes, the afternoon sessions coincide with afternoon nap wake ups. As all of us know, some days you wake up happy... and some days you don't ;) My sessions are long and leave plenty of time for toddlers to do things on their own time. I love playing with puzzles or reading books as kids slowly wake up :)
Before big brother woke up, we captured a few shots of Jamie with his parents. Once he woke up, we played for a bit, read books and snuggled, played with planes and trains, read more books... and had a few feeding breaks in between. It was a relaxing, stress free session capturing their life as a new family of four :) Enjoy!
I've known Vera's mom since we were seven. We did summer swimming together, went to school together, and now are moms together. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to photograph my friends - new and old <3 I don't take that lightly. I loved spending the afternoon at Ridley Creek State Park with these five (!) to capture some images for Vera's first birthday. Vera adores her big siblings and always has her eye on them. Pretty soon, she will be able to keep up with them too :) Thank you for trusting me to capture these memories and fleeting moments for you!
Celia's family recently moved into this home, but you would never know it. They had already put their personal touch on almost every room. Big brother was so proud of his room and he enjoyed showing me around and some of his favorite toys while his sister took a little break. Celia was such a happy baby and was pretty content during most of our session as long as she was being snuggled or fed. My sessions are very laid back so you are free to stop and feed, have a snack, or take a break at any time. I make sure we have enough time for it all so we are never rushed. Take a look at sweet Celia and her wonderful family :)
There is something just so sweet about a newborn session with first time parents. There are so many peaceful moments where the parents are in just total awe of their new baby. It always brings me back to my memories of the first week home with my oldest daughter. There is something so special (and terrifying!) about that first two weeks. And while I do miss the chaos and fun that an older sibling brings to the mix (really, I do love toddler chaos!), I love being able to relax a bit more and shoot much more deliberately. Take a peek at Joseph's session on the blog today. I really miss those lazy newborn days!
I love doing sessions that have a more documentary feel to them. For this session, we met at one of the family's favorite parks and played for a bit before taking some more posed photos. This family has three kids three and under and they had so much fun letting the girls take the lead. It was fun to get to know all of their personalities and get a few laughs here and there.
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 :)
I am always so honored when I have the opportunity to photograph families I know. I recently did newborn photos for my husband's cousin's family. Lindsay was so peaceful and totally content in her parents' arms. We photographed her in her nursery and other favorite rooms in their house - including the kitchen! In this session, I love the bright and airy images just as much as the moody black and whites. We spent a great afternoon together and I can't wait to see this sweet girl again!
I bet you can't guess who locked Dad and I out of the house at the beginning of this session. Seriously, you'll never guess ;) This crazy guy was the best big brother a little sister could ever hope for. He was fun, energetic, kind, and gentle. He was so sweet to Maeve and loved loving on her. I loved spending the morning with this family of four (plus one furry one!). The light was beautiful in various rooms of the house but I think my favorite was the master bedroom. There is nothing is better as a photographer than a session with great light and a great family :)
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.
I met up with this sweet family a couple months ago to take some announcement pictures for their big surprise :) It was fun to capture this family of three as they celebrated motherhood and Adam getting ready to embrace the world as big brother! We even had time to play around with some pink glitter at the end. I can't wait to work with the again this fall for official maternity pictures :)
