lifestyle + documentary photography
I love to do fun, casual Extended Family Sessions. I do capture some portraits of the family together, but there are plenty of moments in between that I capture and include with your gallery. We explored Ridley Creek State Park for this session and we had such beautiful light at sunset. It was great to see these two girls again and I loved meeting their grandparents :)
I love that I get to work with this family multiple times each year. This past fall, we met at Longwood Gardens and explored the conservatory. It was a hot, humid day so the conservatory was a perfect spot for a session. The girls were excited and we were able to get lots of fun, playful shots :) Stay tuned, because the next week I did an extended family session with this family. It's up next on the blog!
We were so lucky that we didn't have rain for this session! We had Longwood Gardens to ourselves this morning and had a wonderful time being silly and exploring. We even had an outfit change at the end to get into some of the cutest play clothes I've ever seen! :) I went to school with this mom and grew up in the same town, so it was fun to reconnect after all these years! Her daughter was the cutest toddler and I loved her giggles!
Our goal for this lifestyle/documentary session was to capture life at one! Making it through the first year is something to celebrate - both for the baby and for the parents! This sweet family wanted to remember what life was like with two one year olds running around because these ordinary, often simple moments are the ones that make life extraordinary. I arrived and the twins were waking up from nap and we captured everything from bath time to dinner time. I always like to include pets in my sessions... after all, they are family, too <3
I worked with Juliet's beautiful mama years ago and I was so honored when she reached out to me about newborn pictures. We had a great time catching up during the session and it was amazing to see how much big sister has grown since I last saw her! She was so sweet with her new sister and loved snuggling her <3
I met sweet little Dolan on a Sunday afternoon during the Eagles game :) He had the most fun "big brother" as well... so we made sure to get a few shots of him with his best bud. Dolan's favorite spot was in his mama's arms, so he spent a lot of time that way. When you bring a baby home for the first time, your entire life suddenly rotates around feeding, changing, and if you're lucky, sleep! I love to capture it all. After all, this stage is only a phase and they grow up too fast. I love having images of the early days with my girls to look back at <3
I went to high school with Esther and we have keep in touch over social media for the last several years. I was so excited to hear she was expecting her second baby and coming home to deliver him :) After, I'm sure, what seemed like a whirlwind, he arrived safe and sound and we set up a newborn session over Labor Day weekend. It was so good to see Esther again and meet her beautiful family. I loved using the spaces they had in the home they were renting to create some of my very favorite black and white images <3
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.
