No better way to kick off a friday than with this ADORABLE family!! They welcomed their beautiful baby girl in August and we sure spoiled her with photos!! And I have loved every minute of it!! Since her big sis is now in school I came to them for an evening family session where we got to use their amazing yard! August is always perfect for outdoor newborn sessions and we were lucky the weather was ideal with temp and low humidity! We started the session with sibling photos and big sister Brooke was a PRO. They are clearly going to be best friends and I cannot wait to see their bond and friendship grow!! I love all of the family and parent photos we got as well and am so so glad we got to do these outdoors! This location was absolute perfection. We even snapped a few solo of baby Chloe in the flower beds. Everything about this location was magical and I am so thrilled with what we captured! We even got an end of the session smile. <3 I adore this family so much and am so thankful to have now captured both of their little girls newborn photos!! Come back next week to see baby Chloe’s in-studio session!! Have a great weekend!!
Summer Baby Photoshoot with Baby Delilah
2020 RECAP!!
Every year I am SO embarrassed to log onto my website after a crazy fall and see how far my blogging fell behind. Every year I vow to do better with it and every year I start strong and theeeeeeeen boom life and busy season hit and blogging goes out the window. I had SO many incredible sessions last year but 2020 was a year unlike any other. Words cannot even begin to describe the insanity of this past year and the emotions that shook every single person’s life. But as this year came to an end there was also much to celebrate. With extra time at home we were safe and healthy and really able to focus on our time together as a family. I am so grateful for that extra time as it benefited Finley and I think really benefited us as parents too. Sure being cooped up had its difficulty but overall 2020 gave us so much to be thankful for.
The year started off strong and I was incredibly motivated after completing my best year yet. January-March started better than most winter months and I was fully booked for April and into May. When all of the lockdowns hit I was devastated and terrified. Like most families there was no warning for one if not both family members income coming to complete standstill with so much uncertainty in sight. Panic certainly set in and I had to figure out a way to make the most of my time not working. In that time I began becoming interested in plants and by the end of the summer had a full fledged garden in the backyard and on my deck. Fin was my assistant gardener and we had a blast learning about plants and exploring garden centers. It was incredible! We were able to grow herbs, a few veggies, and sunflowers. We also made the decision to completely redo my studio space. It had been something I had needed and wanted to do for years and we finally made it happen. Now it is so much more cozy and certainly reflects my business style and brand. I am obsessed!
As Covid restrictions started to lift I was fortunate to be able to reopen for outdoor sessions and then shortly after indoor sessions. I am so thankful for the flexibility, patience, and overall understanding of my clients that allowed me to do so. This year alone I photographed 152 sessions and met 53 new families. The highlight of the year was capturing the newest additions of past clients whose other kiddos I also photographed. I even had the amazing opportunity to photograph my first home birth, and caught lightning on camera 3 times! This year gave me the time to really push myself creatively and feel like I truly honed in on my style and was able to express my artistic vision with each session. Every single on of these families holds a special place in my heart as they stood by me and supported my business through the most challenging year for small businesses. The trust you have had in me to safely photograph your families and newborns is truly a blessing and what kept me going all year. It is because of you that I crushed my goals for the year and saw my business only increase since 2019. THANK YOU. There are so many times in business you feel defeated or uncertain and having new and returning faces contact me with exciting news of pregnancies or wanting updated photos is the best part of my job. Every year I try to do a recap of some of my favorite images and this year was SOOOO tough. Once again I narrowed it down to well over 250 images and made Jeremy narrow it down for me :) Thank you everyone again for supporting me and my business!! I am so excited to tackle whatever 2021 throws my way and cannot wait to meet you!
BABY EVERLY | NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER | STAFFORD, VIRGINIA
Meet Everly!!! This little girl is one special little lady! I met her mom and dad over 4 years ago when I photographed their first little boy. He was one of my first milestone babies and was incredible at every session. Then came their second little boy who I also had the pleasure of photographing for every milestone. He had big shoes to fill for those sessions and he also rocked his sessions. When I got the email that they were pregnant with their third and a little girl I literally squealed lol! To have the honor of photographing 3 kids for every milestone session is truly the greatest part of my job. It really makes you feel like family and watching these kiddos grow into their personalities and uniqueness is the most amazing gift. With all of the crazy covid stuff going on I was SO nervous this session wasn’t going to happen the way we had hoped. BUT someone was clearly looking out for us because she was my first official studio session after I was able to re-open. Literally every setup I had been planning happened and she did INCREDIBLE. Oh Everly I cannot wait to see you for your milestone sessions and watch you grow into an amazing little girl!! Here are some of my favorites from her session <3
PATRICK | NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER | STAFFORD, VIRGINIA
Meet Patrick!! Believe it or not but this handsome baby boy is already over a year old!! HOW!? I saw him early March for his one year session and yes I am just now blogging his newborn session! But hey thats ok because it was a GREAT one! This adorable baby boy had the BEST hair ever and was so cuddly. I loved every second of getting to know his parents and have loved working with them over the past year. I miss you guys and am SO thankful to see you once more before the world went crazy <3 Here are some of my favorites:
BABY WYATT | NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER | STAFFORD, VIRGINIA
Meet Wyatt!! This adorable little boy was SO much fun to photograph and I absolutely LOVED spending the morning with his family! His big sis was a rock star and going to make sure that little guy is protected forever. Wyatt was SOO sleepy and I captured some of my favorite sibling and prop photos EVER. Wyatt you are so loved and I cannot wait to see you again!! Here are some of my favorites:
BABY CHARLOTTE | NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER | STAFFORD , VIRGINIA
During this crazy time I am really going to be pushing out blogs more and more. My goal is to continue to flood your news feed with squishy newborns, gorgeous mamas and lots and lots of incredible families! Today meet Charlotte! She was an absolute dream to photograph!! I saw her about a month or two ago for her 6 month sitter session and she is still as squishy and beautiful as ever. I remember her newborn session like it was yesterday. She was such a gorgeous little baby girl. Her mom and dad are some of the sweetest people ever and I love working with them! Here are some of my favorites!
BABY ABBY | NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER | STAFFORD, VIRGINIA
There is no greater joy than having the ability to photograph newborns, but when you have captured both babies in the family my heart seriously explodes!! Meet Abby!! She was a dream during her session and I had a blast getting to capture SO many setups including what may be some of my favorite prop shots to date! Her big brother had tough shoes to fill because he was also great for his newborn session but I think this little lady gave me juuuuust a little more sleepiness <3 And lets not forget to mention how big brother Colin did PHENOMENAL for his sibling shots. Toddlers are not usually easy but he is clearly a pro already and so in love with his little sis! These 2 kiddos are so loved and I cannot wait to see them continue to grow! Here are a few of my favorites from Abby’s session last fall!
BABY AYLA | NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER | STAFFORD, VIRGINIA
I love when I have the opportunity to photograph a fellow photographers sweet babe! I absolutely LOVED getting to snuggle adorable baby Ayla! She was wide awake most of her session but was so laid back and even gave us some perfect little smiles and great eye contact! Ayla kicked off 2020 in the best way and I cannot wait to watch her grow! Here are some of my favorites!
2020 HERE I COME!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
As I kick off this new decade I wanted to thank all of my clients who have made 2019 AMAZING! This has been an extremely challenging year for my family and for me, personally. It has been a year full of loss, personal development, and a lot of chapters in my life coming to a close. But the amount of growth my business has had this year is incredible and an absolute dream come true.
The end of January marks the start of my 7th year in business and I am still in shock at how much this profession has provided me, both personally and professionally. When I started my business, I was fresh out of graduate school and wanted no part of the art historian career path I had invested so much time and money into. I remember sitting in lectures listening to the stories of how people found their way into their career, and not one of them was doing what they originally set out to do. I felt so overwhelmed by that, especially since I knew in my heart that this was not the life I wanted. When I came home from London I had a masters degree, a ton of student loan debt, and zero clue what was ahead or where to go. I felt like a little girl who loved taking photos and loved working with people, but I had no clue what to do with that. I applied to so many jobs, had a handful of interviews, a few leads, but no job offers. It was daunting and very discouraging. Here I was with a lot of education, little experience, and even less self confidence. I thankfully had a soon-to-be husband who believed in me, but the biggest challenge professionally was convincing someone to take a chance on me by offering me a job. When that offer never came I decided I needed to create my own opportunity. When I started this business I had no idea if I could make this dream into a career. But I had a husband who believed in me and a serious drive to make it happen. So I went for it. I certainly could not have imagined the potential or direction that drive and passion would have taken me.
From year one until now my business has truly transformed into something I am so proud of. Every year I have pushed myself out of my comfort zone, tackled the balance of my day job with my side hustle, and dealt with some really significant life changing moments. By being a small business owner through all of that I have learned more about myself in those 7 years than i have in my entire life. When I started this career path my ultimate goal was to provide income for my family while staying home with my kids. And each year I had the opportunity to be one step closer to both of those dreams. When I finally quit my day job in 2015 I was terrified, but because of the trust of my clients and their continual support I have not once looked back. There have been SO many tears, late nights, and a lot of self-doubt. BUT, at the same time, there have been light bulb moments, bursts of creativity, and some of the most extraordinary moments. I also had the blessing of enjoying every moment of pregnancy and then being home to watch my daughter take her first steps, say her first words, and literally photograph her every single day of her life. All while pursuing my dream job. And after a year like this one I cannot be more thankful for that gift.
This year alone I photographed 162 sessions (42 more than last year) and met 57 new families. That is HUGE! That means 105 of those sessions were from families who came back to see me again and that is the greatest compliment a photographer and business owner could ever hope for. We have been through so much the last few years but this year really hit me hard and it was because of my clients being so incredibly compassionate and supportive that gave me the drive to keep on trucking. And I cannot thank you enough. It has been with your trust, patience, and willingness to be that person to take a chance on me and my artistic vision that has brought me to this point in my career. I cannot thank you enough or tell you how thankful I am to have been able to capture your most important, private, and pivotal moments of your lives. It is because of that faith in me that this year has been so successful. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Some of my favorite images of all time were captured this year and it is because of every single one of you trusting my creative vision for your session.
I am SO excited to kick off a new decade and to see what 2020 will bring. I am in the process of revamping my pricing guide and packages and really going to be streamlining my brand. My goal this year is to push myself even further creatively to give you more gorgeous and unique images. I am also so excited to start implementing new things I have been learning in a business course I enrolled in this fall. And I am excited to start making your client experience even more special!
Thank you again so much for supporting my business and for continuing to allow me to photograph your family! I cannot wait to see you in 2020!! But first here is a recap of my favorite images from 2019! Man it was hard to narrow it down!! <3
Much love,
Laura
