Baby Sarah Catherine

Little Miss. That's what I think about when I see Miss Sarah Catherine. She is 14 precious sassy months old and has, since this shoot last week, already moved to Texas! Her mom has started a new job down there and she is now ready to tear up Texas! We barely got this shoot in after having to reschdule earlier in the month.

Sarah Catherine kept me on my toes -- as do all toddlers this age. I always tell my parents to not expect many seated calm photos -- as these little tykes must explore and be on their new feet. She kept my word on that until snack time when I was able to get some tighter shots of her beautiful face. Sarah Catherine has been walking a few months now but showed no signs of slowing down for most of our hour session! When I chatted with her mom before our shoot to get an idea of her personality and demeanor, she said "she's super independent"! No question there. I had so much fun watching her go and just take in the spring air and her environment.

Cute boys

Now that I know how to post slideshows, here is one from a shoot last fall. These boys are scrumptious -- they are the same ages as my own so I love working with this family as I really relate to these smoochey boys. This is the 3rd shoot I have done with them in less than 2 years and it's so fun to see them grow.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Today has been a great day. I am still buzzing with excitement from the press the charity I am partnered with received today on The Today Show! It was the first national coverage the foundation has received since it's inception 3 years ago (this month!). There have been a few local stories done on the work we do across the US but nothing of this magnitude and nothing in the DC Metro Area (yet)! I think it was done with great feeling and clearly explaining the purpose of what we do. I know some people have a hard time understanding why people would want photos of their baby who has passed. It's a rare thing to hear that but I have read postings on forums from other photographers who have received scathing letters undermining their work for the charity. It's shocking, but true.

I personally love that I'm able to provide something for these families under their tremendous amount of pain -- to give them something they will forever have, validating the existence of their baby despite the short time they were together. I cry, I mourn, I grieve but I am filled with love for the baby and the family when I am there and truly believe that God has given me a gift to do this and he protects me from feeling too much in that I am able to move forward and not dwell on the reality of the situation. I do this as I want to give thanks to God for my life, my healthy children and my wonderful vocation.

Something different for me

Well this is certainly not something I do regularly -- I save it for those expensive 'headshot' photographers who know what they're doing. I really didn't -- I was somewhat 'winging it' but felt my brain had enough technical know-how and creative thinking to execute this - and I'm referring to the indoor lighting challenges that come with properly exposing the outside light with the subject inside! Backlight presents enough challenges to explain.

I was asked by my lovely and loyal friend, Heather, to help her father-in-law out with some shots in his downtown DC office. His office is moving in a couple weeks and wanted to document this location/view from his office. No doubt he did! Take a look at this! I mean, this is not something you see often in DC. At least I haven't. His office was as close to the Capitol as you can possibly get without being INSIDE the darn building. This is a true view from his office. I was stunned. To help it all -- we had a beautiful winter day with no clouds and the trees outside his office were still naked from winter. Perfect day, perfect time of year!

And I am throwing in a pix of Heather and me for good measure. She was my trusty photo apprentice holding the remote flash about 5 feet away to help with reflection in the office. Otherwise, I could not have done this.

The Corrado Kids

The holidays put me behind schedule as the Corrado Family came to me for their shoot in early December! Normally I would have posted this sooner but they knew I was under the gun to get holiday orders out and they were not in need of products before so I have been able to take more time with editing their shoot. Moreover, Alexandria Hospital has now called me twice in the past week for my NILMDTS shoots in addition to Arlington the week of Christmas. I try to crank out those photos for the families given their unspeakable circumstances. And with that, it puts my other work on the back burner for a bit.

In any event, Christian was 4 weeks old for this shoot. Welcome to the world Christian!! He has 2 big sisters who were doting on him the entire time. Additionally, they were quite the posers for me on their own. No attitudes here. I enjoyed them immensely and enjoyed my time getting to know them!

Twins!

It's been over 2 weeks since my last posting and while my work is slowing down, thank goodness, it's certainly not stopping! Between my usual shoots and my charity work for Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, which is becoming a more regular thing, I have work to do almost every day.

In the past, I haven't had many shoots in Dec or Jan but this year I have had several mostly b/c I can now do indoor studio portraits during the colder months of winter. I'm delighted and surprised at the same time.

A few weeks ago one of my good friends brought her 7 month old twins over for their first photo shoot. I wasn't sure how this would go b/c I have never had the opportunity to shoot twins but in a short period of time (I always want more!) I was able to capture some fun shots of them together -- as well as individually. They are scrumptious!

Dani & Matt

The first two words that come to mind are "cutie pa-tootie's" when I see this couple. Maybe it's because of the slight (okay, huge) disparity in height! Dani is about 5'2" (I'm going to err on the taller side!) while Matt is at least 6'4"!!! So we have to be creative with shooting! I love how striking Dani's eyes are and both have radiant smiles. Dani booked me in early November and I was barely able to squeeze their session in but we did, and had to, as their wedding will be in March -- AND April! They are having a ceremony/dinner at Kentlands Mansion in March and then a full on dance and cocktail reception in April at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town. How cool is that? I have some very cool weddings to shoot in '08!!

The Golden Family

Well I am about done with the last of my 22 portrait sessions since mid-September....no small task with a part time work schedule. OH! How much easier it would have been with a full time work schedule! I was able to squeeze in a couple last minute families after Thanksgiving unsure if I would be able to get orders done in time for Christmas but I will. The Golden family contacted me a couple years but we were never able to schedule a shoot for various reasons. Finally, we got it done! This is one hot family and I love their outfits which I was surprised to learn they are from Hanna Anderson. I always think of them as having colorful clothing primarily for girls but now am proven wrong! I love how the red tree behind them just adds that extra element of Christmas!

Tamara, Matt and Brodie (the dog)

Last weekend I had the pleasure of shooting Tamara, her mom who was visiting from the mid-west over Thanksgiving, as well as her husband, Matt, and their dog, Brodie. I met Tamara when I was volunteering with Junior Friends over the past few years. She lives close by and when she called to do a shoot, I was delighted. As I've said before I enjoy the mix of shoots I get to do -- babies, families, siblings and couples. And this fall I have had an inordinate amount of pets in my shoots as well! I agree they are family so naturally SHOULD be included in the family portraits! I was cracking up with Brodie as he was the most spirited little dog I have had to shoot yet! He was not really the type of pet that wanted to squish himself on your lap -- his interests were more about the ball they were throwing and just galavanting on the property where we were taking photos! Check them out!

The Condon Family #2

So here's the 'other' Condon family I mentioned a while back. Heather and her family have been coming to me for 3 years now for their holiday card portraits. This year we have Finn (who's newborn photos are somewhere on my blog!) making his family-photo debut! We had a glorious day last week after having to cancel one in late October for a rain-out. Leaves were still on the trees which is unusual for late November around here. I took a LOT of photos as I usually have to do when I'm working with a toddler. And as such, I am very pleased with the results which I wasn't totally feeling confident about after the shoot. Isn't Logan's hair awesome? And Finn's lack of hair? And look at their eyes! I am hoping these pass inspection with mom?!

Also, I have to say that Heather is one of my biggest fans and I'm so, so grateful. She essentially could be one of my PR reps. Always promoting my website and my work and I have received several referrals b/c of her. Thanks Heather!