Megan and David

A few weeks ago I had my last wedding of the fall to shoot. One of my friends from Alexandria tied the knot with her handsome groom! The wedding was at the Fairfax Old town Hall which is a lovely venue, however, I was working in zero daylight for the first time which made for challenging shooting conditions -- hence, the BW conversion of many of my photos. Because of the short time I was at the event, as well as the lack of daylight, we didn't do many formal portraits. I'll be meeting Megan and David for their 2nd session next weekend outside! And yes, they have agreed to get dressed again. I'm so excited to hang out again.

In any event, both families were pure delight to work with -- and Megan's 3 girls were the affection of my camera that evening so they are highlighted here. Their dimples and smiles are to die for. If you grew up in DC you may recognize one of the faces who was Captain 20 in the 70s and 80s on WDCA. Megan's brother, also my friend from prep school, insisted I take their photo. I was loving it! Captain 20 (sadly, I don't know his real name) was the DJ for the evening! Captain 20 graduates to DJ-ing. What a trip!

Tammy and her boys!

I'm so delighted with the shots from this shoot. Tammy and her boys have been coming to me for the past 3 years now and as I always say, I love seeing my kids grow!! Jacob and Logan are so photogenic and always ham it up for me. I also love photographing them b/c they are the exact same ages as my boys so I can relate to their relationship together as well as to their mom. And of course Tammy is a stunning model -- great features, great hair! She never takes a bad photo.

Running on a cold morning

It's only 130pm on a Saturday afternoon and my day has been full already. I woke up this morning at 7am to frigid temps only to think that in less than 2 hours I'd be outside running with hundreds of kids and parents. Today was the 'Thanksgiving Fox Trot' for my son's school along with a few others in the area. This little race was a culmination of 6 weeks of training with a weekly running club after school on Wednesdays for Jackson. I joined him today b/c I knew this would be one of those parent-child memories I wouldn't forget. For one, I never did anything like this with my parents and loved the idea. Heck, I never ran 1 mile until I was in high school so I wanted to make sure my kid did this with me! Moreover, after a 7 year hiatus from running, due to medical reasons, I have just started back in early Sept and I wanted to challenge myself. Yes, I realize it's only a mile but again, as I near 40 and mentally prepare myself for that I had to try it. This was the first time I ran on pavement as well as outside in well over 7 years. And I'm happy to say I did it without stopping, as did Jackson and we weren't in the back of the crowd (eh-hem, but not in the front either). I loved it and look forward to more of the same thing! Thanks to Jack and Harry for cheering and smiling us on -- photos taken by our #1 fans.

Maddie and Megan

I'm wayyyy behind on my blog entries. There is NO way I'll be able to keep up with every shoot I have here this fall so I'll be brief! One of my favorite spots in Alexandria is River Farm Gardens or the American Horticultural Society off of the GW Parkway in Alexandria. It's gorgeous all seasons of the year. I have shot weddings here and numerous children as well as picnicked with my own kids here b/c of the amazing Children's Garden. Last week I met up with my good friend Kim and her 2 daughters. Megan wasn't feel totally herself but I did seem to get a few smiles out of her sweet blondie face. Maddie is at that age where exploration is most important, not having your photo taken. Nevertheless, she cracked a smile for me as well! See for yourself! I love how kids from the same gene pool can look so totally different!

Beautiful Cecelia!

Look at those eyes! Are they not gorgeous!? Cecelia's mom and I had been trying to schedule our shoot for a couple months. Normally, I do not take crawling babies for indoor shoots b/c I just don't have room for that since I'm using my basement as my studio space (also the kids playroom!). So when Cecelia's mom contacted me we were all set but then had to cancel b/c of illness and then scheduling conflicts so by the time she came in, Cecelia was already crawling! I did my best and poor thing was sleepy when she got here so it took her a while to wake up. But her mom certainly knows how to make her smile!

Condon Family #1

I say #1 b/c I'll be shooting another Condon family in a couple weeks so stay tuned! And yes, they're related!

This was one of my "almost" cancelled shoots last weekend -- unsure if the grounds would be conducive to shooting, sitting, moving around given the 6 inches of rain we had just received and the muddy grounds. So the sun was out and we went for it! Thank goodness!

I went to high school (my first one) with Pat and have shot him, Michelle and their lacrosse-playing daughter, Madison before. They are always relaxed and fun to shoot. And I love seeing the kids grow and how they change. Maddie is great with the camera and giggly so that always makes it fun for me too. And Jake (arf!) joined us a second time around as well. He's a GUUUUUUD boy!

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was jammed packed for us. Harry's preschool had a halloween parade and songfest in the morning, then we picked up Jackson from school and headed to our favorite Centreville, VA farm, Cox Farms, for their fall festival, then we got home at 6pm, ate dinner and went Trick or T'ing. I think Halloween is a weird holiday frankly. I just don't get kids coming to our door and begging for candy...but we do it too. Granted it's a Holy Day in my faith so there is more meaning and I appreciate that. But I just have to say I'm getting a little jaded of 14 year olds that come knocking with NO costumes and asking for candy. I actually told a couple kids "no costume, no candy" and said I'll give it to you this year, but don't come back next. I'm a witchy lady sometimes!