This morning I met up with a friend, and we headed to the Nannygoat Alley vintage & estate sale in Gladwyne. From the street, it looked like a small, mid-century house. But inside, it was huge! And it was packed with antique and vintage treasures.

One of the kids’ bedrooms upstairs held this adorable little tea set, and I just couldn’t resist! I have visions of photographing a little girl who’s hosting an outdoor tea party with a few of her favorite stuffed animals and dolls. In fact, I couldn’t even wait for the little girl—I set everything up as soon as I got home, and took a few photos!

I laid out a red cloth for some Valentine’s Day pop, and covered it with my own vintage tablecloth that my grandma crocheted years ago. Shhh . . . don’t tell my husband that I used his shortbread cookies as props. They went right back into the package when I was finished with them!

If you’re into vintage items and antiques, check out the sale this weekend—you can find the details at the Nannygoat site linked above. And if you have a tea-loving little girl, give me a call. Let’s set up a portrait session for the spring!

I was so excited to hear from this family! I’ve known them since they were expecting the first time, and I photographed little H when he was a newborn. Now he’s “all grown up” and about to become a big brother!

We did some shots of Mom (C) and Dad (A) by themselves while we waited for H to wake up from his nap and join us. As you can see in the first image below, he knows all about what’s in Mom’s belly! Of course, I took a few photos of him by himself too. And for the final image, we recreated one of the photos from the family’s first maternity session—the image on the left is from 2009, and the one on the right, of course, is from this session. The painting above the couch was done by a friend of the couple, and the woman in the red dress playing the piano is C. She’s a professional pianist, and I’ve been listening to her station on Pandora recently—how cool is that?!

A and C, I’m looking forward to seeing you again and meeting baby #2 very soon!

Oh my goodness! Little Miss L is the tiniest newborn I’ve worked with to date. She weighed just 4 lbs. 7 oz. at birth, and when I met her she was six days old.

I was excited to meet her, of course, but I was also looking forward to spending some time with her family. I’ve known her mom since she was expecting L’s big sister, and I also did E’s newborn session in 2009.

E was excited to show me her new camera, and she took advantage of my backdrop to shoot some photos of her doll. She also got into some portraits herself, and I couldn’t resist including the pout you see below. But don’t worry—we got some photos of her smiling, too.

L was the perfect model, and I thought it was so sweet that she often slept with her hands near her face . . . just like E did in her newborn photos. Don’t miss the little hint of a smile on her face in the bottom left photo!

C and B, thanks so much for inviting me to work with you again. It’s always fun to see how my little clients grow, and both of your girls are adorable.

Many of you may not know that I’m vice-president of the Chester County Camera Club. It’s a great group—each month we have one program meeting with a speaker on some aspect of photography, and we have a second meeting that’s a competition. Each competition has a theme, and last night’s theme was Portrait. I thought, “Hey, I can do that!”

I submitted four images—one into each category—and much to my surprise, I won four ribbons! Each of the three “human” subjects received a first place ribbon, and B the golden retriever was awarded second place.

If you’d like to learn more about the camera club, check out our website (linked above). Our members do really great work, and you can see their images in the Photo Gallery area of the site. We also have a Facebook page. Head on over and “like” us!

My last session of 2011 was a lot of fun. C wanted to do some portraits of herself, her husband J, and their dog B. So we got together at an old barn in their neighborhood that gave us lots of possibilities for beautiful backgrounds.

Sometimes it can be a bit challenging to photograph a dog, but B was great! Even when a neighborhood cat decided she wanted to observe the proceedings. As I shot, she came closer and closer to us—she wanted to check out my camera bag and everyone’s jackets. Then she just sat there, no matter how hard we tried to chase her away or scare her off (I felt bad about it, too!). If you notice that B is looking a little “intense” in these photos, now you know why!

C and J, I really enjoyed working with you and B. Your proofs are almost ready, and I’ll be in touch soon!

I recently met Q, and I truly think he’s one of the most beautiful newborns I’ve ever seen. Just look at his perfect pink skin and all that hair! He was alert and calm for a lot of our session, but he also snoozed a bit so we could get some photos of him sleeping. He loved being swaddled, and he snuggled in with Dad for a few shots too.

M and M, it was so great working with you and sweet Q. Your gallery is almost ready!

I had a wonderful time with little C, his parents, and his big “sister” J recently. C wasn’t quite sure what to think about all the commotion with the camera, and there were times when he looked at his parents and me like we had six heads (he seemed a little perplexed about the three of us standing there singing “The Wheels on the Bus” to him over and over)! But we captured some beautiful photos of his sweet little face.

In the first image below, I think it looks like C is thinking, “I have these people wrapped around my little finger.” And he does!

C and G, it was really great to meet you all! Your proofing gallery will be ready soon. Thanks so much!

I’ve known this family since we moved into the house next door to theirs nearly 12 years ago. So of course, I’ve known little J since the day he was born! It’s been a while since we worked together—here are a few images of him from about four years ago. We often talk about doing a family session, and I’m so glad we finally did one!

We went to one of my favorite Chester County locations, and with the fall color it was the perfect backdrop for this session. J is at a great age—I love that we captured his gap-tooth smile before the jumble of permanent teeth make their appearance.

S family, it was really fun spending some time with you! Seems like we don’t do that nearly often enough anymore, and now that the weather’s getting colder . . . well, let’s just say I hope we get to see you again before spring!

One week after A’s senior portrait session, I returned to work with the whole family! B was home from college for the weekend, and we totally lucked out with the weather. Our session was in the morning and it was breezy and a bit chilly, but no worries, S family —I edited out all of the goosebumps!

I’m running out the door to a session, but I just couldn’t wait to post a few sneak peek photos for this beautiful senior! We took advantage of the recent warm weather and the lovely scenery near her home. A was a great sport—I had some ideas that I’m sure she thought were crazy, but she went with it and it was worth it in the end! I hope she thinks so too!

I’m working with her and the rest of her family again tomorrow—we’re doing a family session too. Looking forward to it!