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!!
THE ROACH GIRLS | MOMMY AND ME SESSION | NOKESVILLE VIRGINIA
Once a year the most gorgeous sunflower fields are in full bloom and it is the most magical place on earth. Burnside Farm in Nokesville has truly created a unique setting of over 70 acres of sunflowers where people can come explore mazes, pick flowers, socialize, and partake in all of the things that make summer break incredible. Once a year I am able to offer sunset sunflower sessions and they have easily become my FAVORITE end of summer treat!
Photographing this gorgeous family is always the best experience, but this time we got to focus on mama and her girls!! And also her niece. Mommy and me sessions are SO important!! Kids grow way too fast and capturing some special photos together is such a great way to freeze time and remember these summer nights. All of these beautiful ladies are pros when it comes to sessions with me and photographing them is a dream. They are full of personality and spirit and always rock their posed photos. It was so much fun exploring the fields and chatting. This was my first sunflower session of the season and set the bar really high. I adore these girls and cannot wait to see them again!!
If you are interested in a sunflower session I have one more date available!! Email me! I look forward to hearing from you!!
EMILY AND DECLAN | MOMMY AND ME | STAFFORD, VIRGINIA
I cannot believe that this summer is coming to an end! Kids will be back in school in 3 short weeks and pumpkin spice candles and fall decor will be slowly entering my house!! But until then I am having a blast going through the sessions I photographed this summer! The creek will always be one of my favorite locations and I am LOVING this mommy and me session. There is no better place than the creek for a little boy to get his feet muddy and splash and hang out with his mama!
This session didn’t go without its weather challenges though! Forecast showed scattered storms most of the day/early evening but did have a pocket of sun peeking back out around golden hour. We moved our session a teeny bit early, enjoyed watching the crazy storm roll in, and sure enough cleared off for the perfect golden glow as we arrived.
I loved everything about these 2 and our session!! Capturing their relationship is so special and am so glad the weather cooperated for us to capture these. There is still time to grab a creek session this summer if you are loving these images as much as me! Contact me for details! And take a look at my favorites!!
VALENTINE FAMILY | EXTENDED FAMILY SESSION | WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA
I have SO many people inquiring about extended family sessions lately and it makes my heart so happy! Extended family sessions can be so overwhelming for clients to plan and I totally get it! There is A LOT that goes into it. Coordinating multiple families schedules, nap time for kiddos, travel, outfits, and then there is the actual shoot itself. It is a lot and I know that. Which is why it is SO important to me that my families show up ready for an adventure! Because no matter what something unplanned is going to pop up and that is what makes our session together memorable and unique!! So let me be here to help make this time together special for your family!! From your first inquiry to delivery of photos I will be there to help you with anything you may need!
Here is a fantastic group that I had a BLAST with!! I’ve worked with the Valentine family for many years now, so when Alex called me about her in-laws anniversary I knew this session would be so meaningful to everyone! We had to navigate the crazy summer weather but Virginia’s weather pulled it together for us. And we had a gorgeous day. I always start with the big group first so the little ones are fresh! I know that every kiddo has their threshold (especially when its hot) and the most important photo is the FULL group.
From there I always break down into smaller groupings, trying to make sure we get the groupings with the kiddos first. During that I will watch to see if and when the kids need a break and focus on other groupings. We explore, capture a few photos, let the kids do their thing, capture some more, then we refocus for a another big group shot mid session. From there I like to pull each individual family for their own little special time together. Because I know getting your family together for photos is hard and I want to make sure you get that yearly photo in addition to the big group. Breaking up the session allows for the kids to take a breather, get some water, have a quick snack and then be recharged for their solo time.
For this amazing session, I def pushed this family LOL!! They were familiar with my eagerness to be adventurous so after all key photos were taken we actually went to a second location to grab one last big family water shot! When we got to our spot it was WINDY and cloudy, a totally different vibe than the first portion of our session which made it awesome. Everyone got their toes wet and in a span of maybe 6 minutes we got some great photos for the entire group. We were able to celebrate family visiting from out of town, an anniversary, and a graduation. It was honestly the best time and the photos turned out amazing.
If you have questions about an extended family session with my I’d love to chat!! Shoot me an email and we can make this happen for your family!
Beach Minis | Family Photographer | Woodbridge Virginia
Last year I began offering beach minis and it instantly became one of my favorite mini marathons to photograph. I absolutely love shooting on the river and really enjoy every family that comes to see me. This year I had 6 families all of which I have had the pleasure of knowing either personally or from past sessions. It couldn’t have been a more successful night of great photographs and amazing memories. We had a super hot day, but was pleasant in the shade. The only disadvantage of summer minis is the park is usually PACKED, but that did not stop every single one of these groups from being incredible to work with. We found our little nook along the water and just worked around all of the people haha! The best part Is when my clients receive their images and cannot believe how isolated our location looked because they remember the audience we had during their session :). I love being able to create using the energy from the chaotic beach and make it look like we are the only ones there!
Beach sessions are some of my favorites and I look forward to capturing them every year!! I love that we can use the same location and still manage to make each family’s portraits look a little bit different! Whether you are the first session or the last of the day we always manage to take advantage of the gorgeous location and light and make some magic!
Minis are also a great way to snag some special mommy and me portraits, or just photos of your kids! They are not limited to only family sessions. Minis are meant to be fun and simple and celebrate this season on your life! If you are interested in mini sessions do not hesitate to reach out!
Baby Jackson | Newborn Photography Session | Stafford, Virginia
I absolutely adore this family!! They came to see me when sweet little Jackson was just a few days shy of turning one month! If the pandemic has taught me anything, it's that photographing newborns a little older than the 2-3 week range is still possible and equally as amazing!! This little guy was a dream and slept like a champ for his session! We were able to photograph SO much from family, parent, sibling, to his adorable solo shots! We also made sure to celebrate his big sister who is watching over him from heaven.
One of the joys of photographing newborns passed that 2-3 week mark is that they are really starting to fill out, and their faces are evolving from that fresh newborn to a sweet little chubby baby. I mean this kiddo has the cutest little lips and even gave me a little smirk!! At the end of the session he was up and ready to party and I loved being able to grab some open eye photos.
This family was truly a delight to work with and I am so happy we got to celebrate such a wonderful memory for them! Here are some of my favorites!
GENERATION SESSION | FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER | MANASSAS, VIRGINIA
I have really enjoyed photographing and getting to know this gorgeous family the last few years. So when Maria wanted a generation photo shoot I was ALL about it. I have started shooting more of these sessions and the more I do them the more special and important they become to me. There really is nothing more priceless than photos of our families and capturing these moments together. I loved being able to celebrate the relationship and incredible bond between these 4 gorgeous women. We had the most AMAZING sunset and everything about the location was perfection. It was really tough to narrow down the photos for the blog so here is a photo overload :)! My favorites:
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:
PIKE FAMILY | FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER | MANASSAS, VIRGINIA
Here is another one of my favorite families!! I LOVE seeing them every year and watching their girls grow! I met Maria at my college roommates wedding and our friendship was instant the second I saw her again at their first session with me. She is one of those amazing people who just make you feel like you are family and welcomes you with open arms! I so miss these connections with my clients/friends and just reminding myself life will return to normal one day soon! I had SO much fun for their fall session celebrating their families love and soaking up all that golden light. Since spring is quickly passing I am focusing my energies on things being normal enough to shoot again this fall!!! And looking forward to many more sessions with these 4!! Here are some of my favs <3
