Playing with light | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

There are a variety of triggers that give me the urge to pick up my camera when I'm with my family. Most often, it's a combination of inspiring light and some activity. For daily shooting, my favorite times to shoot are when the boys are snuggling or reading in bed with my husband.  This usually coincides with the pretty morning light that comes through our bedroom windows. Often that's the only time of day when there's not too much other things going on for me to grab the camera for at least a few shots.

Now that longer days are here, I've been reminded how much I also love shooting the afternoon light that comes through the windows at the front of our house.  It's mostly where our dog sleeps and the couch is covered in her hair, so we don't use it as often as we used to before we gave up trying to keep her off the couch.  But my son doesn't mind the dog hair and enjoys practicing his "tricks" jumping between the couch and the ottoman.

On this day, it was a perfect marriage of pretty light and a fun, quintessentially childhood, activity. I spent a happy half hour watching my son jump around. Shooting into the light can be difficult to expose for, so taking time to adjust your settings until you get the look you're going for is key. It's easy to lose your subject and other details in the bright light, but it's fun to play around with different exposures for a mix of haze, sun flare, and dramatic rim light. I shot around 80 images and got 8-9 good images where my son is in focus, the composition is favorable, and the light adds to the story.  Here are my favorites.

Want to learn how to document your own family's day-to-day?  Check out 4 Steps to Stop Time and Savor the Moment with Your Family.  It's a simple and fun plan for documenting your family's life with beautiful photographs.

Storytellers Circle - March | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

One of my favorite things about documentary family photography is the challenge of telling a story through pictures.  Ideally, the viewer should be able to look at the picture and understand what is taking place and/or be moved to some emotion.  I love cute pictures of my kids (just check out my Instagram feed!), but my favorite images, and I feel my best images, are the ones I have to work hard for.  A great picture is the result of multiple decisions made by the photographer about how to best show the scene they see and tell the story in a way that emotionally connects with the viewer.  This challenge is what keeps me pulling out my camera on an almost daily basis.

This post is part of the Storytellers blog circle, a group of documentary family photographers from all over the world, who come together monthly to post one image and explain the choices they made that take it from a simple snapshot to more profound storytelling. Continue the circle by checking out Andrea Moffatt's March image at Little Story Studio.

This image is one of my favorite recent ones, despite, and perhaps because of, there being no faces.  It was an unseasonably warm day in Northern Virginia and my husband, son, and I were taking the dog for a walk.  My son was full of energy and I'd taken advantage of many photo opportunities along the walk already.  When I saw the lines from the shadows of the fence created by the mid-afternoon sun, I knew I had to try to incorporate them into an image.  This frame is one of many that I took that day and while there were a few others that were successful in depicting the story in different ways, this was the one that resonated with me most because there is just enough of my son's legs at the corner of the frame to show his energy and love for climbing and my husband and I are present as shadows that are encouraging his exploration (and documenting it at the same time).

When I'm considering making an image, I have three key elements in mind: light, composition, and moment.

Light - Light was the simplest to factor in here.  Mid-afternoon sun isn't the most inspirational light, so I just had to make sure to expose for the highlights. I later brought up the shadows in Lightroom to give detail to those areas.

Composition - Composition was the most fun.  I loved the grid that the fence shadow created on the ground and after watching the shadows our bodies were casting, I knew they were strong enough to stand on their own (i.e. not need a body visible to make the action in the scene clear).  I played around with attempting to get my son's entire body in the image, but wasn't able do to that without compromising mine and my husband's shadows.  In composing, I also had the full frame in mind.  I often shoot based on rule-of-thirds, but sometimes it's fun to play around with placing the subjects in other places, like the corner here.

Moment - Once I found a composition that worked, I just had to be patient and wait for the movements to come together so that it was clear what my son was doing AND so that my husband and I were both visible and our shadows weren't just blobs, but clear human forms. This took some trial and error as sometimes one of us moved in a way that made our shadow run into the lines of the fence.  Waiting for the right moment is often the hardest part of making an image for me.

What would make this image more successful? Part of improving the skill of making storytelling images is noticing what could be better.  In this case, I wish my form and the fact that I'm taking a picture (as you can see in my husband's form) were more apparent.  I also feel that the visual weight of the evergreen trees take the eye away from my son's legs in the corner.  If I were to re-edit, I might play around with the brightness and saturation in the trees to make them less noticeable.

I look forward to sharing more of my process behind making storytelling images next month!

Want to learn how to document your own family's day-to-day?  Check out 4 Steps to Stop Time and Savor the Moment with Your Family.  It's a simple and fun plan for documenting your family's life with beautiful photographs.

One Second Every Day - A 365 Video Project Guide | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

Video is quickly becoming the the next greatest thing when it comes to documenting family life. Today's post is a special essay from Whitney Rowland, a fellow documentary photographer in Northern Virginia. When I met her around this time last year, she enthusiastically told me about her One Second Every Day (1SE) project, where she committed to documenting one second of her life for 365 days. When I saw the resulting compilation of her project later, I knew I'd ask her to share her experience and tips for others interested in preserving their everyday in a new way. A way that conveys the beautiful simplicity in life and elevates the mundane into meaningful. 

First, a bit about Whitney, in her own words:

I’m a Northern Virginia dweller who satisfies my wanderlust by eating delicious foreign foods whenever possible. I’m a teacher, yogi wannabe, and fan of stand-up comedy. I sometimes get fancy and use a Canon DSLR or Fuji mirrorless to photograph my life but most of the time you can find me playing with my iPhone and sharing bits and pieces on Instagram. 

And now, all about 1SE.

Hello readers! I am excited to be Nicole’s guest blogger today– especially because I am going to share with you all something I feel really passionate about: DOCUMENTING THE EVERYDAY! Oh, and wait… not just documenting but how to make preserving memories EASY. I mean, really really easy.

Sometimes it can feel like we spend just as much time documenting our life as we do actually living it. Between filters, cropping, and uploading our photos – it can become a chore. Most of us lead full and hectic lives that don’t leave a lot of room for capturing the everyday.

After my failed attempt at a 365 project (where I challenged myself to take a single photo every day for an entire year) I realized I needed a better way to document. Before owning an iPhone, I seemed to only capture photos of trips and holidays but I wanted more than a highlight reel - I craved an accurate representation of my life as a whole.

I wish I could look back and see times in my life such as my first year of marriage: hanging out together in our high rise apartment’s laundry room waiting for clothes to dry, ordering take out from our favorite Thai restaurant, celebrating weekends with our friends at bars in DC – the seemingly trivial parts of our life that were actually what the majority of our days were filled with. I’ve learned that no matter what phase, you will never get that time of your life back. Every day is significant and all moments matter. Each year is filled with changes and growth and it all happens so fast!

In 2016, I decided to start a new 365 project. I read an article about an app called One Second Everyday and it sounded like a fun project that would be little work on my end. I would be taking a video every day – which sounded much easier than a photo! No time wasted trying to make an interesting composition, capturing a perfect moment, or editing. I was also intrigued by the idea of showing movement.

The app looks like a calendar and lets you pull up your videos for each day. You choose which video you want, drag your finger to pick a single second, and just drop it in the calendar to save it to your project. The app keeps track of the date and organizes it – making it think-free. You just have to remember to grab a video each day – and the app even has a reminder feature to help with that too!

The project takes minor dedication… seriously, you brush your teeth more often in a day than you need to whip out your phone and grab a video (and let’s be honest: you are using your phone more than twice a day anyway! Oh, and feel free to film yourself brushing your teeth if you forgot a video that day).

My tips for a successful 365 project:

1. Start taking videos now. I started mine on January 1st but that doesn’t mean you need to! It is ALWAYS a good time to start documenting! If you absolutely need a distinct beginning and end to quell your OCD tendencies, try doing monthly projects that summarize a single month or make a project that starts on a special day such as your birthday or anniversary. But seriously. Just start now. You will not regret it!

2. Pick a way to hold your phone while filming and stick with it. I choose horizontal because that is how our eyes see the world and it’s the way TV and computer screens are positioned. It also shows more environment in your footage. You can pick what you want - just don’t mix vertical and horizontal or else your video will look a little wonky.

3. Mash your clips and watch your progress every so often. It will keep you motivated! I remember watching my January video and it gave me the enthusiasm to continue with the project!

4. Don’t be shy about pulling out your phone. Just grab some video and get over it. Maybe someone will wonder why you are taking a video of your husband picking out paint at Home Depot but who cares.

5. Go easy on yourself. You missed a day? So what. I missed a bunch of days in my 2016 and have probably missed even more in 2017. Try to get as many videos as you can and it will be awesome.

6. Update your calendar every few weeks. You could do this every day if you want. I definitely don’t. In fact, I like to go a week or two because then I can make sure I have a good variety and not too many of the same thing.

7. Try new perspectives. In a single video, you can try a variety of angles and then pick the one you like the best. Play around and have some different viewpoints across your videos – especially if you find yourself filming in the same places or the same things often. If your videos for a week are strictly of your 2 year old at the playground, try putting the phone on the ground and getting a view of from under the swing as you push him or just his feet as they come down the slide.

8. Delete what you don’t need or want. Once you select your chosen second for the app, you can safely dispose of the video from your camera roll. Unless it’s a really meaningful video, don’t let it clutter your phone and take up precious space!

A lot of 1SE users have talked about the benefit of self-reflection with this project and that was something I didn’t expect when I started. Not only are you keeping memories alive, you have the opportunity to reflect on what you have experienced. I am physically able to see the things in life that mean the most to me and how they shape me as a person. Also, it’s just plain fun to watch and share with those you love. I can’t wait to show my son what our life looked like the year we found out he would make us a family!

I hope that you are inspired to use 1SE!

2016. The year I turned 30. The year Andrew and I made big life decisions. The year I had great adventures, played with tons of kids, laughed a lot with my friends, and loved my family: one amazing second at a time.

I hope you found Whitney's words as inspiring as I did.  Share your tips for 365 projects in the comments.  And if you're in need of additional 365 inspiration, check out my photo-a-day 365 tutorial.  

Fun Places to Visit with Kids in Northern Virginia | Documentary Family Photographer

I would be stretching the truth if I said that I didn't consider photo opportunities at least a little when planning outings with my family.  There are times when I don't bring my camera (though I almost always wish I had!), but most days I have it with me just in case.  There are so many wonderful family places to go in Northern Virginia and, as I sit here greatly anticipating the return of warm weather, I thought I'd share some of our family's favorites. 

Udvar-Hazy Center National Air & Space Museum | Chantilly, Virginia

This place is amazing and though I love the Air & Space Museum in D.C., the Udvar-Hazy Center is so much better.  Admission is free, though there is a $15 parking fee (and no other parking options that I'm aware of).  This place is expansive, which is great for energetic children and there is just so much to look at - from the Space Shuttle Discovery to historic aircraft like an SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde, and the Enola Gay. There's also an Observation Tower and an IMAX theater. You can easily spend an entire day here.  It's great for super hot, cold, or bad weather days.

Jones Point Park - Old Town Alexandria

Jones Point Park is located right at the edge of Old Town Alexandria.  There's usually plenty of parking, though it can get busy on the weekends.  We love it because there's so much to do and so much free space, which is great for energetic kids (notice a theme here?).  There are two playground areas - a large one for all ages and a smaller one on the other side of the bridge with some great climbing structures for older or more adventurous kids.

There are some great views of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and the river, as well as a couple of fishing piers.  There's also a lighthouse a short walk from there and some pretty garden plots back towards the entrance.

It's a perfect place for a picnic or a great tack-on to a trip to Old Town. 

Rocky Run Park - Arlington, Virginia

We happily discovered Rocky Run last year.  It is a climbing kid's dream, but there are also great areas for smaller kids too, including toddler swings and climbing structures, as well as a sand pit. There are also basketball courts and a soccer field.  But the massive climbing structure is the highlight for us.

We're usually able to find street parking here, though this park definitely gets busy on the weekends.  There are lots of places nearby to grab breakfast or lunch, including the Whole Foods (which has easy parking) hot bar.

Mason Neck State Park - Lorton, Virginia

Mason Neck is great for short family hikes.  Our favorite is the Bay View trail which goes right along the Potomac River, with some beach access, and also winds its way through some marsh areas, with some great bird viewing.  Mason Neck is dog-friendly, so we love bringing our lab for a hike too.

There are several other trails, lots of picnic areas, and a playground too.  There's a small entrance fee to the park, though there is one trail that is accessible (with parking) outside the park.

Are you in Northern Virginia or nearby?  Are there any places you would add to this list?

Want to learn how to document your own family's day-to-day?  Check out 4 Steps to Stop Time and Savor the Moment with Your Family.  It's a simple and fun plan for documenting your family's life with beautiful photographs.

Around Our Clocks: 5PM | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

One thing certain about parenthood, and life in general, I guess, is that the only thing that stays constant is change. It's bittersweet, especially with kids. Watching them grow is so amazing and rewarding. It's like it happens in slow motion and fast forward at the same time.

And just when you think you have a piece of the puzzle figured out, they've moved on to the next stage.  I've found this especially true with little routines and habits. My son will fall into a pattern, doing the same thing for days or weeks, until one day he doesn't anymore. 

One of my favorite routines lately is him riding his scooter in our driveway as soon as we get home from school.  He'll hop out of the car and onto his scooter, making a few trips up and down the driveway before we go inside to make dinner. He's usually good about putting his helmet on and almost always asks me to watch him.  I usually put his brother down in his car seat to watch. Sometimes he'll stop riding to get the mail out of the box (which he still needs help to do) out to give his brother a hug. He's not so good about putting the scooter away and instead leaves it right in the way to be run over the next morning.  Thankfully, we've avoided this so far.  I know this little ritual will evolve or be replaced soon enough. 

Sometimes, I don't even notice the change immediately and it'll hit me months later when I see pictures like these and think, "Oh, remember when..."  And then I'm thankful for having preserved it and a piece of his story. 

This post is part of the Around Our Clocks documentary blog circle. This month we documented the 5pm hour. Continue the circle by visiting  Sincerus Photography, Fine Art Documentary Photographers, KC 

Want to learn how to document your own family's day-to-day?  Check out 4 Steps to Stop Time and Savor the Moment with Your Family.  It's a simple and fun plan for documenting your family's life with beautiful photographs.

February 365 Project Faves | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

February was a full month.  So full that I still have three days of it left to edit. :-) We returned from vacation and I've yet to really catch up, although I've made some peace with it.  It's hard not to be mellow about life when the weather in Northern Virginia has felt more like early summer than winter.  It's kind of felt like winning the lottery - or what I imagine winning the lottery might feel like.  You just don't question the good fortune.  :-) The cold isn't quite gone for good, but we've tasted enough hints of spring to keep me going for a few more weeks.

We spent as much time as we could outside enjoying the warmth and made it out to Mason Neck State Park in Lorton, Virginia.  The park has a trail right along the Potomac River and is one of our favorite places to visit in this area.  I'll share more about it in a post to come about great places to visit in the D.C. and Northern Virginia area.

Until then, I hope you'll enjoy seeing these favorites of mine from February. 

Check out my free guide 4 Steps to Stop Time and Savor the Moment with Your Family.  It's a simple and fun plan for documenting your family's life with beautiful photographs.

How to Make a Wood Block Photo Display | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

I've had these blocks planned for months and thought I'd give some to family with prints as Christmas gifts, but I didn't get around to making them in time.  It turns out, they didn't take much time at all. And now, I have them ready in time for Mother's Day gifts (if I remember to mail them). :-)

Here's what you need:

• square wood blocks cut to size for your print (see note below)
• wood conditioner
• wood stain in your color of choice
• paint brushes
• rubber gloves
• old rags/cloths
• sand paper
• clips
• hot glue or super glue
• saw tooth picture hangers
• mineral spirits (or paint thinner for cleanup)

A note on the wood blocks. We had them cut at Home Depot.  I knew I wanted to use them for my 5x5 prints, so I asked (actually my husband was the one who went on the Home Depot run, so I had him ask!) for 6x6 blocks cut to be cut from a plank.  We ended up with 12 and a few of those were a bit oddly sized. 

Here's what to do:

1. First sand any rough edges on the wood and wipe away any dust. I went over all edges and corners with a sanding pad.  This isn't entirely necessary depending on how smooth the edges are on your blocks and whether you want a bit of an "aged" look.  I did, so I sanded all around.

2. Put on your rubber gloves to protect your hands and make sure you're in a well-ventilated area or outside (I wouldn't do the staining process inside because of the fumes.)

Use a paint brush to apply wood conditioner to the plaque. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, then wipe off any excess with a clean, dry cloth. In my case, I took the dog for a walk and by the time I got back there was no need for wiping.

3. Next, the staining. But first a note: It's useful to do a bit of testing on an extra piece of wood to determine how long to leave the stain on and how many coats you need to apply to get your desired color.  It lengthens the process, especially if you wait for the test piece to dry, but it's worth it to ensure your end result has the color you want.  I went with only one coat on these blocks, but any imperfections in the wood are fairly apparent, so if that's a concern for you, you might choose to go with a darker stain or more coats.

Apply a coat of stain with paint brush. I used one coat of Minwax Ebony and let rest for about 15-20 minutes.  Then, wipe away excess with cloth and let dry. (Mine rested for several days before I was able to get back to them.)

4. Apply wax coat. I wanted something a bit different than the sheen of varnish to finish the wood (see my vacation photo display tutorial). I loved the idea of a matte finish to work with the matte square prints, so I went with a finishing wax.

I scooped some of the wax into a double-folded cheesecloth and went over the blocks until they were coated.  After a couple of hours (though I think they were probably dry in about half an hour), I wiped down the wood with a clean cloth (okay, it was an old sock).  

5.  Next, attach the saw tooth picture hangers.

6.  Measure and attach the picture clips to the other side of the board.  I tried hot glue first, but the clips popped off too easily when I inserted the print, possibly from the wax finish, so super glue ended up a better option for me.

7.  Add your prints and display happily!  I'm looking forward to sharing these for gifts!

Did you enjoy this tutorial?  Check out my free guide 4 Steps to Stop Time and Savor the Moment with Your Family.  It's a simple and fun plan for documenting your family's life with beautiful photographs.

A Family Film: Before Three Became Four | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

This week I'm sharing a long overdue family film that highlights a fun outing at the Udvar-Hazy Center (or the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum in Northern Virginia) just before we had our youngest son last August. In fact, I took these images and video just hours before I went into labor (this outing quite possibly finally put me in labor as I was a week overdue at that point!), so it's extra special for me. I knew this day was likely to be the last time we'd venture out as a family of three. This might seem overly sentimental if you have one child (or none), but I was surprised by how emotional it was to anticipate the transition of adding another member to our family. I mean, we'd been through it once, and what could be more impactful than going from no baby to baby? But it's funny the things you worry about as a parent. Thankfully, it all turned out fine. ;-)

I've been wanting to incorporate films into my documentary family photography approach and set a goal for myself this year to create and share here at least one a month. I missed sharing in January, but done is better than perfect. :-)  Anyway, we had a great time marveling at the planes, watching an IMAX film, and eating Oreo McFlurries. If you haven't been out to the Udvar-Hazy Center, it's worth a visit. Thanks for having a look! 

And stay tuned, next month I have a guest post planned from a fellow documentary family photographer in Northern Virginia who is going to share how to document a year by filming one second a day. If you're not familiar with this type of 365 project, you're in for a treat!

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What is Documentary Family Photography? | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

There's a lot of jargon to sort through when it comes to finding the right photographer for your family. Studio. Portraits. Posed. Unposed. Lifestyle. Candid. Natural. Authentic. Documentary. What does it all even mean? And does it matter? Not really, in my opinion. At least the words don't matter much. What really matters is that you find a photographer whose images make you think, "I want to see my family in those photographs." 

For me, this happens when I see real moments captured in a beautiful way. I want to experience an emotional connection with the pictures. Whether that's the unbridled joy of childhood or the all-encompassing love of motherhood, I want to feel something when I see an image.  I get this emotional connection and experience from documentary style photography.

I first experienced documentary style photography when searching for our wedding photographer in New Mexico. As soon as I saw the images from Kitty and Craig Fritz of Twin Lens Images, I knew I'd found something timeless and evocative. I knew I would look back on their photographs years from now and see not just the smiling faces of my husband and myself and our family, but a glimpse of who we were in that moment in time. These were photos I'd want my children and grandchildren to see decades from now and feel they could relate to.  These images hang in my hallway and living room and are in a digital frame in our kitchen that my son loves to watch. I often glance at an image and catch myself right back there on our wedding day, joyous in the love and support of family and friends, laughing at my husband having a blast dancing with the kids, or smiling to myself remembering the quiet moments waiting with my dad before the ceremony. 

These were unscripted, beautiful, and real moments and are so very treasured.  And when I later started taking pictures of our family for myself, this is the ideal I strove to achieve. Because memories of our days, even big ones like wedding days, are eventually paved over with new memories. And that's the beauty of photography, especially documentary photography.  We can preserve those moments and memories in time. 

I believe that every day matters. Not just wedding days, birth days, and birthdays. And not just every day, but the everyday. Our everyday matters. All the little things we do that make up our lives. To invoke the oft quoted Annie Dillard, "How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives." 

It's easy to get caught up in the monotony of parenthood, which makes documenting it all the more important. Kids change so quickly. And so do we as adults and parents (though not so quickly ;-) ). What we're doing in the day to day is part of who we are and who we'll become. Documenting these moments in photographs is like journaling with images instead of words.

So while the jargon isn't necessarily important, celebrating what really matters is. I see value in honoring the love and connection of family.  This is what I look for in making pictures and what brings the greatest joy when I share images like these with the families I work with.

Learn more about documentary family photography and get tips for documenting your family by signing up for my newsletter below.

AROUND OUR CLOCKS: 12PM | NORTHERN VIRGINIA FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

Winter in Northern Virginia has seen our family building a lot of blanket forts indoors. I'd like to think I have a bit of skill in this area since I spent a lot of time using blankets and sheets to make little hideaways growing up, but I suspect most kids do. :-) I have fond memories of my mom teaching me how to build blanket forts when I was a kid. And I remember making them in my basement with my best friend using hair scrunchies (remember those?) and rubber bands to secure the corners of sheets around door knobs or chair backs (not a successful tactic, as I recall!). But mostly I remember them as a quiet, cozy place to curl up and read.

My son isn't quite at the independent reading stage yet, but I'm glad to have caught him quietly at play recently under one of his blanket forts (although he calls them "tents"). We tend to spend more time building them (and making them bigger and bigger, using every blanket and throw we have!) than actually playing in them, but I imagine that'll change as he gets older. 

I wish I had pictures of myself making them as a kid with my mom or best friend. I'll have to get creative and try to capture some moments with my son that include my husband and myself before winter is over, but for now I'll treasure the ones I have.

Do you build blanket forts with your children? I'd love to hear your tips for making them awesome. 

This post is part of a collaborative documentary photography blog circle called Around Our Clocks. We're documenting a day in our life over the course of one year.  Continue the circle by visiting Stephanie Bryan Photography, Raleigh, NC Lifestyle Photographer.