I can think of no better art for your kitchen…and when I think of a fun activity to do with children… baking immediately comes to mind. Thank you to my beautiful cousin and her awesome, gorgeous children for allowing me to play in the kitchen today!

My 33-year old friend Sarah was just diagnosed with Cancer shortly after giving birth to her second daughter in September. I had the pleasure of photographing her oldest’s daughter’s 1st birthday last year, Sarah’s maternity session this year, and most recently, her newborn and family session, not realizing that during the session, the pain that she had been experiencing was not of the after effects of childbirth, but that of Cancer. I do not understand why God does what he does sometimes, but I like to think that in times of distress, there might be hidden beauty and of course, hope.

For that reason, I suggested to Sarah that maybe she might want me to tag along and document how courageous she has been, and especially during the understanding that she’d have to lose her long hair soon. You see Sarah is not taking this lightly… she is what I refer to affectionately refer to as kicking some cancer ass. She loved the picture idea, and ran with it, and I am so thrilled to be able to show her young children one day just how brave their mom was during this difficult time.

It is truly my honor to call Sarah my friend. I hope her bravery is inspiring to you as it is to me. You can also check out her journey here: www.tableforsixplease.com.

Sarah chopped off her hair for Locks of Love and sported this cute bob for the last two weeks.



Sarah decided that she’d like to rock a mowhawk for a bit, you know… because when presented the opportunity to have a mowhawk, one should fully embrace her inner bad self!


Always the loyal Redskins fan.

She then got some more hair cut off… and did it with a smile.



Our friend from high school mailed Sarah this Pulp Fiction wig… a little bit of Sabina’s styling, and Uma Thurmon eat your heart out.



When I think of Sarah, this is how I think of her: energetic and so full of life.


You go girl. Many, many people are behind you every step of the way.

One more family-related post before I start this year with a ton of great sessions coming up! I can hardly wait to get started!

Over the Christmas holiday, my brother and his beautiful fiancee came to visit and I took the opportunity to take some engagement photos of them while they were here. Engagement photos usually aren’t my thing BUT I enjoyed these very much.

Thank you 2011 and to all of the awesome families I met this year and all of the families who let me continue to watch their children grow up!

This is the time I reflect on the year, make changes to my business, see what works and what didn’t…I am amazed at how much my business has grown to exponential levels since 2008. Each year, I turn down clients because of the sheer volume and what I’m able to manage at any given time. This is not a terrible problem to have! I do, however, overbook sometimes because I love my repeat clients and it is very hard to say no! This can be a problem in completing galleries and orders on time. In order to do better in 2012, I have made the hard decision to eliminate mini sessions because they are rarely mini in the number of proofs I present (remember, the majority of my time is spent editing!)

I’m also focusing more and more on a lifestyle nature in photographing your family. I LOVE a natural feel to my photographs and after almost 5 years of being in business, I have found that while families may request a particular prop, what they really love most, are the natural, no props and unposed photographs in their galleries. I feel like this is my niche, where my heart is, what I’m good at and where I want to keep going. There are a TON of new photographers in the area, they’re doing all the props and cliche poses. I want to be different and give you something that maybe no one else can: I want you to be able see your family like you’ve never seen each other together before.

And finally, I vow to just keep a tighter reign on my schedule. My New Year’s Resolution is to laugh with my daughter more instead of being stressed out over schedule issues, editing and such before she starts school full time in the Fall. I started this business in 2008 because I was inspired by her. I always try to keep that in mind. She is growing up and I don’t want to miss a moment! Speaking of which, she just turned 5 on Christmas Eve… always the model for me. We made it to five years with no feeding tube, no daily medications, no oxygen supplements, and… none of the other things that “could’ve happened”.

Thank you to my Christmas Eve miracle for always putting my life back into perspective. And thank YOU for supporting me along this incredible photographic journey! It has truly been my therapy and I am forever grateful.

Happy New Year!

I was soooo busy this Fall that I neglected updating the blog with recent sessions. I post previews to my Facebook fangpage regularly and keep that up-to-date because I know clients love to share their sneak peeks with friends! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I took a couple of weeks off and will be jumping back in with a full schedule until Spring in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, here is a little bit of what I did in November and December! LOTS of repeat clients!!! <3

Everytime I photograph my daughter, I am inspired all over again. She truly is my inspiration, in life and in photography.

Well folks, this is what I want to photograph from now on: pure, raw emotion. This session sealed the deal for me. Props that are sentimental to YOU (like mom’s high heeled shoes and a special necklace passed down from a generation). Maybe you feel like you’re working too much and want to recapture that bond you know exists between your child and you or maybe you just decide you love your child so much you can’t describe it so you want me to help you put it into words.

That’s what its all about me for me.