Why documentary family sessions are the best for getting beautiful photos with extended family.
Read MoreFresh 48 at the Hospital | Northern Virginia Newborn Photographer
Nothing compares to meeting your baby for the first time and getting to know him or her in those first hours. I could gush about this experience all day and love reminiscing about this time with both my boys. I still regret not having a photographer to document my eldest son's first days and I'm so glad to have planned ahead for my youngest. Having experienced this special time makes me that much more honored to photograph it for my client families, like this beautiful new mom at the Women and Infant Health Center at Virginia Hospital Center in Northern Virginia.
Whether you deliver at home or in the hospital, it's an incredible time to preserve with pictures or a film. The newborn phase goes by in a flash and it can be hard to appreciate the sweetness when you're adjusting to a new baby, especially your first. Getting the hang of feeding, changing, napping, and trying to eat, sleep, and bathe yourself can take over, so having someone else there to capture the bigger picture is a relief.
I love Fresh 48 hospital sessions like this one at Virginia Hospital Center. Seeing a new mom with her baby is a special experience and I appreciate documenting all those early details and sweet moments and thinking about how they will enjoy being able to see and share these first moments both now and years from now.
These images are part of a fusion session which included a Fresh 48 film of this newborn and his mom. I'll be seeing them again soon for an in-home session and can't wait to see how much he's changed.
Contact me to learn about custom multi-session and combination photo and film packages.
A Christmas Family Film | Washington, DC Family Photographer
The holiday season is such a magical (okay, and sometimes hectic) time, especially with small children. And decorating with a toddler can be hilarious, as I found with this sweet Washington, DC family. Their little guy loved taking the ornaments off the tree while decorating. (May he always love cleaning up so much!) Sweet, fun, everyday moments like this at home with his mom, dad and newborn sister peacefully sleeping nearby, made making this film so much fun. An added bonus was their Chinese crested pup who made a game out of chasing light reflections that my camera made on the wall.
I spent a beautiful December morning with them, as they enjoyed getting accustomed to their newest member who was just under two weeks old. Video is such a special way to capture children. They change so fast. A family film becomes like a little time capsule that you open and remember little things already forgotten, like the adorable way your son pronounces his little sisters name or those crazy cute newborn yawns. I love to imagine these little ones watching this film every holiday season and marveling with their parents at how much they've been.
I'm now booking a limited number of family film sessions in 2018. Contact me today to learn more about planning a film session for your family this year. Still images are included in every family film session, so stay tuned for some beautiful images from this session that I can't wait to share!
A casual birthday celebration | Washington, DC Family Photographer
Photographing a quiet morning with your family may seem like an unusual was to celebrate your child's first birthday. Birthday parties are awesome, but if you're looking to highlight what's unique about this special time in your family life, a casual day at home is the secret to success. That exactly what this Washington, DC family chose to do to mark their sweet son's first birthday.
Birthday parties can be stressful for parents and children alike. Extra people, missed naps, and mixed up routines can be a challenge no matter how carefully you plan. Parties are full of fun moments that make for great photos, but a normal day at home means sharing and capturing what you love best about your family in this fleeting time, from morning naps and breakfast together, to Skyping with Grandma and tickle attacks.
I loved this sweet family's routine of brushing their teeth together. This little guy may not always love brushing his teeth so much. It's fun to see the things parents do (often over and over again) to entertain little ones and make life happen (like how it sometimes takes two people to put on a toddler's pants). It's those little things that are so easy to look past in the moment and forget as children move on to the next milestone or crazy behavior.
I love photographing the chaos that big family celebrations bring, but there is something equally special about simply showing parents and children with each other. The love they share and the home they create together is what makes childhood memories and celebrating each year so sweet.
Contact me today to learn about planning a session that's perfect for the milestone you're celebrating.
A Fresh 48 Newborn Film | Northern Virginia Family Photographer
Last week, I shared this beautiful mama's maternity session on Capitol Hill. Today, I am so excited to share her baby's Fresh 48 film! This little boy arrived on a beautiful day in Northern Virginia and it was a joy to document a part of his first day. There is nothing like capturing a newborn. Everything is so fresh, sweet, and new. Even when they're squalling through frigid diaper changes!
Documenting this time on video is a such special way to remember those first moments. And it goes by so fast, especially when you're in that new parent haze. I find myself looking back on my sons’ newborn images and videos, thinking, “I can't believe he was ever so tiny.”
And, oh, the sounds. Those adorable squeaks and sighs! Video truly captures the essence unlike anything else!
Also, I just have to say, the staff at the Women and Infant Health Center at Virginia Hospital Center were so friendly and accommodating to work with.
Contact me today to learn more about documentary family films.
Capitol Hill Maternity Session | Washington DC Family Photographer
There's no denying that kids make documentary sessions fun. They're unpredictable, full of spirit, and often unaware of the camera, which makes for great photos. So what if you're still working on growing the kid? Is documentary-style a good choice for a maternity session?
Documentary sessions are wonderful for maternity sessions and especially for first-time moms, as I found with this awesome mama in Washington, DC. Together we planned a session that reflected and celebrated both her life and interests before baby and her love and excitement for her growing baby.
Living and working in DC area is a joy for her and I had a wonderful time capturing some beautiful pregnancy images at the Capitol Building on the National Mall.
After that, we captured her love for cooking during a cozy in-home session. Much of pregnancy, especially in the third trimester, is spent marveling at a wondrous belly and imagining the baby growing inside. Documenting that is a beautiful part of maternity images.
Most of all, I love thinking that someday this baby boy will look back on these images and see not only how loved and anticipated he was but also how beautiful and interesting his mom was, even before she became his mom.
Stay tuned for more of this beautiful mama. I'll be sharing her fresh 48 newborn session soon!
Visit my session information page to learn more about documentary maternity or newborn sessions or contact me today to begin planning your custom multi-session package to document the arrival of your little one.
A mother daughter family film | Northern Virginia Family Photographer
When you have multiple children, it can be challenging to carve out one-on-one time to spend with each child. Time spent with the whole family is special, but it's also special and so rewarding to spend a little time with each child individually. It's amazing the little details and nuances you can miss during the hubbub of daily family life. One-on-one time, with fewer distractions, highlights those aspects of their personality that are changing so fast and are so fun to watch as a parent.
It was such a joy to spend a morning with this mama of three in Northern Virginia, capturing some special time with her youngest child and only daughter. As a mother of two boys, it was especially sweet for me to document these mother-daughter rituals like putting on make-up and hair bows and nursing snuggles in bed after a morning of fun.
Film is a special way to preserve a glimpse of family life at any moment in time. And any time is a great time to capture those details that make childhood and parenting special. It's amazing how much change you can see, even when watching a film just a few short months later. From their voice and the cute way they say certain words to the scurry of little feet so excited about life - they're on to the next thing before we know it. And it's so easy to forget!
Learn more about family film sessions here or contact me to chat about a unique session for your family.
The secret to a relaxed newborn session with two children | Northern Virginia Family Photographer
What's the secret to a stress-free newborn photography session at home with an older sibling? It's the secret to just about everything in life that involves children. Just take it easy. The moment you plan something is the moment one kid or the other will decide to do something completely out of the ordinary to throw you a curveball. It's Murphy's Law. The bane of parents' existence, but it can make for a great session.
Children can easily sense when we're stressed. Even newborns. If often will make them more clingy (and whiny). So if you're worried about everything going perfectly, that's a surefire way to ensure it will not. I'll go even further and say perfect isn't what you want anyway. Life with kids is messy and chaotic. Documenting it as it is, sweet and difficult moments alike, is where the goodness lies. That's where the moments we capture together will be ones you and your children look back on and remember, “that's how our life was.” And it was awesome.
I shared images from my in home maternity session with this Northern Virginia family just a few weeks ago. It was a joy to witness a bit of their journey to becoming a family of four.
The early days of life with a newborn can be a bit of a blur. Between lack of sleep and and seemingly endless routine of feeding and diaper changes and naps, the days may seem slow but they add up so quickly. Before you know it weeks and months have gone by. So it's especially sweet for me to document those very first days, freezing moments that may otherwise be forgotten in the early days parenting haze.
Those days are extra sweet with an older sibling, though they're perhaps a little more chaotic. Nursing sessions are likely less quiet and relaxed and there's an almost constant need to enforce boundaries as a toddler learns the concept of gentle. On top of being exhausted, you've still got to come up with endless ways of entertaining an older sibling and helping them understand their new role as an older brother or sister.
It's a time of adjustment to a new family dynamic. There are new roles and expectations and some falling back into old rhythms. There's a lot of remembering what life was like the first time around and noting what's new the second time. It is hard and sweet. And so special to photograph. But I'm probably biased. :-)
Interested in an in-home newborn session? Contact me today to learn more about a documentary session for your family.
Documenting Change - In-home Newborn Session | Northern Virginia Family Photographer
Those first days and weeks at home with a new baby are especially sweet. They may also be a blur due to lack of sleep, so documenting them can be helpful in that regard. ;-) A new baby is a big change for parents, even if they've done it before. For older siblings it can be the most momentous change they've experienced in their whole life. This little guy had been home about two weeks when I visited his family in Northern Virginia.
Though every family is different, there are some fairly common experiences that come with parenthood and childhood. One of them is the transition from three to four.
When I was pregnant with my younger son, even though my older son was very affectionate with my belly and interested in the baby that was growing inside, I still worried that bringing a new baby into our family might traumatize him somehow. It probably did on some level, but he seems okay anyway. ;-)
Children's responses to a new family member vary, but they are amazing at adjusting to change and it's amazing to watch them interact with their new sibling. The bond siblings share is different than their bond with parents and it's one, as parents, we hope will be forged in childhood and last a lifetime.
During a newborn session it might seem that the primary focus would always be on the baby, but I try to feature each family member and capture a glimpse of their role in the new family dynamic. Older children are learning to navigate life with a little less input from parents, new babies are simply adjusting to life outside the womb, and parents are on a moving spectrum of totally rocking it and just holding on for dear life. :-)
It's a mix of lots of love and a bit of chaos. And documenting those early interactions and moments of adjustment make looking back on this time a little easier and that much sweeter.
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 guide to documenting your family's life with beautiful photographs.
A birth film | Northern Virginia Family Photographer
I love documenting births, though I don't get to photograph them often. Being welcomed into a family's sacred space to be a part of their experience meeting a new member of their family is an incredibly special experience. I shared images from this birth in Northern Virginia in a previous post, but my primary focus during this birth was video. This film is the result and it makes me cry every time I watch it. So much love and support surrounds this mama as she brings her baby into the world and documenting her family's story was an amazingly rewarding experience. <3
Want to learn how to document your family's everyday? Check out 4 Steps to Stop Time and Savor the Moment with Your Family. It's a simple and fun guide to documenting your family's life with beautiful photographs.