It’s always an honor to watch a family grow over the years through my lens. I photographed this trio when their baby girl was just a couple of months old, and just like the last time, we had a blast together. We shot at two of my favorite Grapevine locations: Main Street and Rockledge Park. The Palace Arts Center made for a fun and colorful backdrop to begin our session, and just before sunset we moved to the rocky coastline of Rockledge to wander the cliffs and make some memories.
This vacation session in Turks and Caicos was magical! We spent an evening on the beach and swam around as the sun set over the clear blue water. The next morning we woke up early for a sunrise hike and found ourselves in a taxi in the pouring rain. Luckily, the weather let up just as we arrived at our destination, and we had a beautiful hike under cloudy skies with a refreshing drizzle of rain.
I love the portraits I was able to create for these two, vacation sessions are such a beautiful way to have your favorite memories preserved.
These laid-back, in-home family sessions are some of the most fun to photograph. It’s such a privilege to be invited into a client’s home to document the unique nuances of their family and those special moments that make up a childhood. This session was one for the books. From secret handshakes and daddy-daughter dances to imaginary under-the-sea excursions, these four allowed me to capture them as they truly are, forever freezing moments that their children will thumb through and cherish for a lifetime.
I knew from the moment I received their inquiry that I was going to have a great time photographing this family. They were looking for “a photographer that captures the in-between, genuine, non posed moments” and said “We see this in your work. We see your ability to capture life that jumps from the frame.” Their vision was perfectly aligned with what I strive to create: photographs that document the overwhelming love of family and fleeting smallness of a child.
Our session was at Rockledge Park on a particularly warm Fall evening. The cool, refreshing waves made for the perfect spot to splash around and document their love.
I met up with Mariah and her beautiful family on a dreary Spring morning at Grapevine’s Rockledge Park. It was misting when we arrived, but that didn’t stop these four from having a great time. I love the images that we created while they explored, searched for dinosaurs, and splashed their feet in the water on this muggy Texas morning.
Session Tip: If your photo session is going to be near water, plan to get in! Pack extra clothing and towels for the ride home, and have fun with it. Getting in the water makes for beautiful photos and a refreshing escape from the Texas heat.
I knew from the moment I got these two on the phone that this session was going to be a good time. We scheduled their maternity session on a holiday weekend at a popular park in Grapevine, and although the location was absolutely flooded with visitors (and literally flooded from all of this Texas rain), you’d never know it from looking at the images we were able to create.
Andrew seems to have a way of always keeping Taylor laughing, and the two of them were up for any adventure, from walking the trails in the nearly 100-degree heat to swimming in the lake at dusk. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to make magic with these two and I am so excited for them to meet their little one in September!
We photographed the first half of their session in the comfort of their home, the place they’ll always remember bringing their first child home to. For the remainder we ventured out to their land, documenting their love and creating photographs on the field that will one day surround their forever home. What a beautiful, humbling thing it is to create images of a new family that you know will be thumbed through and cherished decades from now by the tiny little human within those photographs.
I had so much fun creating these motherhood portraits for Yana and her daughter, Leah. Grapevine Lake is one of my favorite locations for exploring, laughing, and dipping toes in the water, and this sunny Spring evening did not disappoint.
I photographed this sweet family of four in their home when their newest daughter was just three-weeks old. From dancing in the living room to family snuggles and storytime, we captured some beautiful everyday moments. In-home sessions are a great choice for families with newborns for so many reasons, and in this blog post, I share what a few of my past clients had to say about their choice to book an in-home session.
I worked with Catherine & Tom on their engagement photos a few years back, and this year they invited me into their home to create family portraits with their 1 year-old son, Tommy. It is so incredible to have the opportunity to work with someone over the years and get to witness their growing and changing family. It’s such an honor to be trusted time and time again by my clients to preserve the moments that matter most to them.
Joanna and I planned her family session for the beach, but kept her home in mind as a backup location since we were planning her session for November. We lucked out with an incredibly beautiful Fall day (thanks, Southern weather!), and got to create some magic by the waves at Hunting Island Beach. I had so many favorites from this session that it was almost too hard to narrow down for this post. I love how we focused on the fierceness of motherhood, the love between husband and wife, and the fleeting moments of childhood.
I had the privilege of flying to South Carolina to photograph Cynthia and Caleb’s family just after they welcomed their daughter into the world. Our session took place in their home, where I spent the morning photographing the two of them as they loved on their darling babes, Oliver and Sophie. In-home sessions have such a special way to them, knowing that years down the road they’ll look back and see not only the connections they share, but the home where they made memories during this season of life.
One of my favorite aspects about the end of the year is the time for reflection, and this year I wanted to share some of that reflection and celebration with you! This collection of photographs portrays just some of my favorite moments from the past twelve months. Narrowing this collection down was no simple task as I had the pleasure of working with so many incredible couples and families this year. These are the belly laughs, dances in the rain, tearful moments, and newborn snuggles that stood out the most to me this year.
This motherhood session was one for the books. The golden Fall sunset was what dreams are made of and John was the sweetest, happiest kid. I think he had the most fun out of all of us, he was thrilled to get to cuddle and love on his mom throughout our session (can’t you tell!?). I was so excited to get these images on the computer and edited after our session, but not as excited as I was to see them the way they were meant to be seen, in PRINT. Displayed on heavy-weight archival matte paper, these made for some seriously beautiful pieces of art.
Last month I had the opportunity to photograph my sweet friend, Katie, thanks to her awesome husband who secretly reached out to me to plan this session as a surprise for her. I’ve always been inspired by Katie as a mother, but getting to witness her and her children from behind my lens for the first time was just so special.
These two beautiful humans decided to take an evening to celebrate their love and document who they were in this chapter of their lives as a couple. Honestly, photographing married people like this is hands down, one of my FAVORITE kinds of sessions. No big occasion, no milestone date, just two people fiercely in love, putting immense value in investing in their legacy and taking the time to slow down and just pour into each other. Don’t get me wrong, anniversary sessions, vacation sessions, family sessions, I adore them all, but there’s just something so special about photographing two lovers “just because.”
Nearly ten years ago, Gianna and Joe met at a job they shared working together at a golf course. She said he was easy to talk to and super down-to-Earth right from the start. He said she was more beautiful than anyone he’d ever met in his life. On a Friday night almost three years ago, they drove to Cape May to visit the Christmas Village at Congress Hall, and Joe proposed to Gianna right outside in front of the Christmas Tree.
Their wedding day was laid back, relaxed, and oh-so beautiful - it was such an honor and a privilege to bear witness.
This shoot came together relatively last minute, and from the first click or my shutter to the last, it lasted less than eighteen minutes - but DANG, did we make magic. Check out the story of how this “test the dress” shoot came to happen and of course, look at how gorgeous Sarah and her babe are!
Is waking up at the crack of dawn and getting your family photo-ready for a sunrise session worth it? Why, yes. Yes it is. Especially when that family photo session is happening in Port Royal, South Carolina. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a disappointing sunrise in this state. These four wanted golden light and a morning sky and I was happy to oblige.
Just after I sent their gallery out I got a call from Grace, she said she’d been sitting there at her computer crying over the photos and an email just wouldn’t suffice, a call was the only way to express her gratitude for how I had captured them - I may have melted into an actual puddle as she went on about how happy she was to have these photos to look back on for the rest of their lives.
Like blog posts with adorable babies, cute pups, contagious smiles, Lowcountry beaches and just all around sweet families? Cool, you’ll like this one!
This is the reason I do this, those words right there, “you captured her as I thought only I saw her.” Capturing for someone something they didn’t think possible to be captured. It’s what it’s all about. I preserve the way love feels, document it in a way that brings it flooding back to you when you look at your images decades from now, I photograph the emotion.
This in-home family session has all the best moments, from cookie baking to dinosaur story book reading, jumping on beds, and dance parties in the living room.
I had such a great time with these four (okay, five)! Also in this post: one of my favorite tips to rock your own in-home family photo session. Let me know what you think!
About an hour before we were scheduled to start, I stepped onto the beach to find a soft breeze, blue sky and sunlight shining on my shoulders - perfection. Our session was scheduled to start at 6:30, and at 6:27 I got a text from Sarah that read "Are you okay? Are you in your car?" ...That's odd. I thought, of course I'm okay, it's absolute perfection out here! And then it came. At 6:30 on the dot…
“As is true to the reason I went with you in the first place, you captured the real, raw moments of our relationship. I absolutely love them and I can’t help but notice how happy I look in nearly every one - not a fake smile for the camera, but a real one. Those unposed moments are what make our relationship so special to me, and that’s why I…”
I recently had the honor of photographing Zach’s surprise proposal to Jude and, spoiler-alert, he said YES! Zach chose to pop the question by the Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia, a meaningful place where he and Jude had spent their first date. We had unseasonably beautiful weather for a winter evening and after the big moment, I got to create some beautiful engagement photos for the newly-engaged couple. Congratulations you two!
This black dress was given to Megan by her mother, who wore is while she was pregnant with Megan. Photographing Megan in this dress, carrying her own daughter was so special.
This was my second time photographing Courtney and Steve and this time to they were celebrate their wedding anniversary! We shot in Center City Philly and tried to create a set of images that told a romantic and timeless love story - head to the comments to share your thoughts on it!
Sunset sessions in South Carolina are some of my favorites, so I was beyond excited when Meghan reached out to book a mother-daughter session on Hunting Island Beach. It turned out to be a pretty chilly Fall evening, especially by the ocean, but we explored and played enough to warm up quickly and create some magic. This mother-daughter session is one of my favorites, take a look!
Amanda is one of Philadelphia's best wedding photographers, and someone I call a friend. She’s one of those people whose joyful demeanor spreads like wildfire wherever she goes, and as you can see, she and Rich together have a pretty amazing energy. At the end of our session Amanda and Rich unexpectedly…
This session with Kate and her family in Ocean City is one of my favorites. Her family is so full of love and is growing - she told me after we shot that she was pregnant with her second little one at the time of our session! We spent an evening on the beach in Ocean City and created photographs I think they’ll treasure for a lifetime. Plus, how romantic are the photos of mom and dad at the end?!?
Valley Forge in the winter is a DREAM. The brown fields and golden sunsets made for such a gorgeous backdrop for my session with Emil, Matt, and their daughter. Their love is one I can’t put into words (but I did put into photographs), click through to see this beautiful family and read a bit about stopping to appreciate the love in your life.
“In truth, I pray that my daughter sees me, and the world sees us, the way Morgan does. In a snapshot of an hour, I know that if documentation of love is ever called for, I want it to be seen in just this light. Morgan's sense of adventure was remarkably aligned with mine and came as an always welcome reminder to drink the wild air.” See what else Katherine had to say about her mother-daughter session in Megunticook Lake.
Our last morning in Maine was an epic one. It was just before dusk as I tiptoed across the old wooden floors toward the kitchen to heat the tea kettle. When I swung open the screen door a cold, salty breeze wrapped itself around my shoulders, painting a layer of goosebumps all the way to my ankles. It was my favorite kind of morning, the kind…
It doesn't have to be a special occasion to document your love, engagement photography may be the most common time for couples to experience a photo session but the many beautiful moments that happen after the wedding are well worth documenting. Click through to see more of this “just because” session with Courtney & Steve at Valley Forge Historical Park.
A cozy Sunday morning session celebrating Joe and Gianna's engagement. You don't always need a gorgeous scenic location for engagement photos, their adorable home just outside of Philadelphia was the perfect spot document their love.
These two have been married for more than thirty years and I was so honored to have the opportunity to photograph them at one of my favorite spots in Camden, Laite Beach. These may be some of my favorite photos EVER, check them out!
I had the wonderful opportunity to document an in-home session for this beautiful family in Dallas as they celebrated the arrival of their first son.
Stepping into their home, I was immediately greeted by a warm and loving atmosphere. Our time together unfolded naturally, capturing those genuine, unscripted moments that make in-home sessions so special. From showering their new baby brother with kisses and adoring looks to playfully jumping on beds and tickle attacks. One of their favorite daily routines is storytime with Dad, and I had the privilege of capturing that too.