This old photo of my mom and me was a Christmas gift from my niece and nephew, and is one of the most meaningful, emotional, and touching gifts I’ve ever received. After my mom died in 2009, one of the first things we all did was take the boxes of slides and movies, framed photos, and dozens of photo albums out of my mom’s house, which is where my niece discovered this photo. It’s not a perfect photo (notice my closed eyes!) but it was THE perfect gift.

It was taken 30 years ago during the winter of my senior year of high school, and until this past Christmas I had forgotten it even existed. It was a difficult time in our lives..my parents had separated at the end of my junior year, my mom moved to Virginia with my brother, and I stayed with my dad in Maryland so that I could finish my last year of high school. I saw my mom a couple times a month, but it just wasn’t the same as living with her every day. I missed my mom and I was angry at my dad most of the time, but the up-side of the situation was that I learned to appreciate my mom much more, and we grew closer than we’d ever been. This photo brought back so many memories of that time in my life, and is a reminder of the special relationship my mom and I shared.

One of the things my mom and I had in common was our love for photography. The camera hanging on my arm in the photo is the first “good camera” my mom handed down to me, which is now sitting on a shelf in my office right next to the framed print they gave me. The horses in the photo are our horse and her baby..also rather fitting. I can’t thank Rachael and Sam enough for this gift, and it’s evidence of how important and powerful photos are, especially when we look back at them years later.

My heart melts every time I have the opportunity to photograph a baby, especially during those precious first days of life. I was lucky enough to be able to photograph this sweet baby boy when he was only 9 days old..probably the youngest newborn I’ve photographed so far. He was so content and relaxed, letting me try out a few new props and my new natural light shooting area (aka my basement guest room). Thanks, little Cole, (and mom Erica too!) for letting me capture these special images.

With all the changes to my studio over the past year, the one thing that’s been on my “to do” list has been landscaping and updating my backyard to use as an outdoor studio space. Unfortunately there never seems to be enough time (or energy, finances, good weather, etc.) to accomplish everything on my landscaping “want list”.  But thanks to the previous homeowner, our backyard is bordered by a hedge that becomes magical every May with thousands upon thousands of tiny white flowers. So I was thrilled when the family I photographed last weekend decided to do their session in my backyard..perfect timing, since the hedges are at their peak! Of course, these beautiful children would have looked great in any setting, but it was great having the option of heading inside to the studio. Things could not have gone any better..the children were happy, relaxed, and super-cooperative, the weather was perfect, and my new bubble machine worked like a charm! Now if I can just find a way to make those hedges stay this way all year…

One of the questions I’m asked most often is “What should we wear for our family portrait?”.  My advice in a nutshell is usually as follows:

• Keep it simple and classic
• Coordinate with each other without matching exactly
• Pick a color scheme of 2-3 colors and stick to only those colors
• Neutrals with a pop of color are great; try to avoid super-bright colors
• Textures are your friend; busy patterns are not
• Pay attention to every detail..shoes, jewelry, hair accessories, etc.
• Wear what you feel makes you look your best and expresses your style without being too trendy

Well, if you’re anything like me, it’s much more helpful to see an example rather than just reading a list of do’s and don’ts, which is why I was so excited to find this awesome resource for illustrating some great wardrobe choices. The photos aren’t meant for you to run out and spend a fortune buying the exact pieces in each example, but are intended as a starting point and inspiration for putting together your own unique look for your family’s portraits.

Each month I’ll be sharing a new collection, so be sure to check in to see the latest updates.

As you can see, my blog is now my website, with everything you want to know and all the photos you want to see in one place..a blogsite! This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and so far I’m really happy with how it’s turning out. There is still quite a bit that I need to add, mostly photos, and some minor tweaking that still needs to be done to the layout, but I figured that having my site up and running again was much more important than having everything perfect.

I hope you’ll check back soon to see how things are coming along, and I’d love to hear what everyone thinks of the new look!