With springtime comes new life, and the arrival of beautiful Sadie Beth. She has completed the P family! What a lucky girl to be surrounded by such love, including two big brothers who were so noticeably proud of their family’s new addition.
Welcome to the world, Sadie!
It’s always a joy watching this family grow from year to year. Their kids are energetic and fun, which makes for great candid shots. When kiddos aren’t into sitting still, I simply make movement a part of their session. A family doesn’t have to be sitting or standing perfectly still to get a great photo, in fact, a lot of times movement makes the photos look more natural and interesting. So families with little ones - don’t ever fret when your children are running around and exploring the setting around them. We can make it work!
This little peanut is celebrating her half birthday just in time for Christmas! Her mommy and daddy wanted to include the holiday in her session, since the milestone coincides with the most wonderful time of the year. It was a cold and gloomy day, and our original plan to shoot at the Cranberry Schoolhouse wasn’t quite as appealing, so we ducked inside to take a few tummy pictures around the Christmas tree at the municipal center. We still got our outdoor pictures, but Baby Nelle was much more comfortable inside, and the festive background worked out perfectly!
Little Miss Lexi was positively glowing for her First Birthday Session in Cranberry Woods. This sweet fashionista started the session with some family shots, and then changed into her flower crown for a few on her own. Although she was feeling most comfortable in Mommy’s arms, we still got some great smiley shots. What is more beautiful than a child loving on their parents? That smile certainly says it all.
It was a pleasure to meet the F Family, and capture some new images for the walls of their new home - including their new addition, Wally! After many weather delays, we finally had a beautiful summer evening to do their session.
It was a pleasure to meet the C family for their family mini session, with a special feature on mom’s baby bump. They are such a lovely family, and big-brother-to-be Sam was so photogenic and well-behaved, that his excitement for his baby sibling showed right through his sweet smile.
The family doesn’t know what they’re having, so I’m extra excited to hear from them to schedule their newborn session. Blue or pink…what do you think!?
There are so many little gifts that nature gives us in each season. During the late summer, I am absolutely in love with the flower fields in our area. The grass is high, and many of the plants (like this patch of some kind of milkweed) are starting to shed their seeds. The days are still long and warm, and the sun is still casting gold on all of the magical, floating pods that drift like angel feathers in the summer breeze. It is poetry in a picture, and I am so glad the Q kids decided to play in these milkweeds!
Candid shots are always my favorite, and the Q family gave me some gorgeous ones, along with perfect poses, as well.
It was so fun working with Adrian and his family over the past year as I’ve documented his first year of life. We had an absolutely dreamy golden sunset in the forest to capture his First Birthday pictures. His family wanted this setting to reflect their love of the outdoors, as they often hike together bringing Adrian along, and his birthday theme of “Wild One”. He was a champ, and so well behaved the entire time. His sweet little babbles and coos were melting my heart.
Happy 1st Birthday, Adrian!
After pushing their 6 month photos back two months due to quarantine, I was so excited to finally photograph the adorable Luca and Laken for their Six Month (but really almost Eight Month) session. It was so fun to see how they have grown since their newborn session this past fall. They were so sweet, smiley, and playful. I was happy to see that they weren’t afraid of me in my mask!
They hung in there for the entire session in good spirits. Can’t wait to see this duo again for their First Birthday!
The P Family had lots of gorgeous shots during their session. Sweet little Millie was such a doll - I love her outfit! It was a pleasure meeting them for a magical sunset session in Cranberry Woods!
The C Family got one of the last warm days of the Fall for their family portraits. The sun was shining, and the leaves were still vibrantly falling from the trees. It was a beautiful background for a beautiful family. Their boys are so adorable!
I’m always happy to take photographs for my family. Two years ago I took portraits for my cousin Lauren’s First Communion, and this year, I was happy to do so for her brother, my cousin Justin. We started out at the studio with a few standard indoor portraits, and then moved to the North Catholic Prayer Garden and grotto for a few more. Justin looked handsome as can be with those blue eyes and “Capra dimples.” It was fun to spend the afternoon with them!
This little darling is my niece, and I am her proud aunt/fairy godmother! Carmen has a personality that lights up any room. She is just as beautiful on the inside, as she is on the outside. She is smart, sassy, strong, and caring, and we’re so happy she’s in our family.
Her session was so much fun, as she needed next to no direction. She immediately started posing. This girl knows how to work a camera.
Happy 3rd Birthday, Carm-o!
This little sweetheart is my niece Reece! She was born just a little over two months after her cousin (my son) Dominic, and together they are the sweetest, smiliest, most chill babies ever! They have both taken on that second child mentality of going with the flow because, well, they have no choice with their busy older siblings. It was so fun to be pregnant alongside my sister, and to watch our babies go through their first year together. Now they are both 1, and heading toward many more milestones. The best part is they will reach them side by side. Reece will be celebrating her 1st b-day with a “Bee Day” party this weekend!
I can’t wait to watch you continue to grow, Sweetheart! Aunt C loves you!
This Mother’s Day, I was honored to assist a friend in creating a beautiful gift for her sweet Omi. Oma or Omi means grandmother in German, and my friend credits her caring grandmother with raising her to be the woman she is today - and I can say as her friend, she is a phenomenal mommy, so her Omi should be very proud.
For this session, my friend and her children wore authentic German clothing from her Omi’s hometown of Berlin. These are outfits they wear every year when their family attends Oktoberfest activities here in the states. The most special part of all? My friend actually wore the outfits her children are wearing when she was little! For Mother’s Day, she was able to print these pictures and present them to Omi side-by-side with photos of herself in the outfits as a child. How special and unforgettable.
I LOVE family history, so if you have a family heirloom or location that you’d like to capture in photos, please reach out to me. I’d love to help you create these timeless memories!
So right before the hustle and bustle of Christmas, my baby turned six months. Half a year already! Such a great time to get pictures while they’re old enough to smile and pose, but not old enough to get away from the camera!
People always say that I must have such amazing pictures of my own children since I’m a photographer. Well the truth is, just like any mom…I often forget to take pictures of their milestones. So with the busyness of Christmas upon us, I realized that I hadn’t planned anything cute or creative for Dominic’s six month photos - something that should be documented! My quick fix was a simple, white onesie, the furry blanket I use for all his monthly pictures, and the backdrop of…well…our play room. What you can’t see in the pictures are toys scattered everywhere.
It was actually a good exercise to use only natural window light and play with my cameras manual settings.
Thought I’d finally get around to sharing these since he’ll be turning seven months in just a few days. haha!
What a view - both the background and the family! I always love capturing the S Family as they just radiate love and kindness. Even though baby girl wasn’t feeling her best, she still managed to give me some smiles. At first we fought to have her give up her little kangaroo for the pictures, but then we realized that, as her mommy puts it, its just part of the story. That is so true! My goal when I photograph any family is to capture this sentence of your story; one that you’ll fondly look back on for years to come.
When researching local photographers, Alastor’s mom said she was drawn to my woodsy logo and business name before even clicking on my website. Alastor’s parents love to hike and camp, so it’s only natural that his first birthday theme is “One Happy Camper". So cute - just like he is!
Happy 1st Birthday, Little Guy!
These two are just adorable!
The last time I saw them, they were newborns, and it was a few days after Christmas. Now here they are - 9 months and MOVING! They were so much fun to try to capture. Both were trying out their own means of transportation; Cameron crawling on all fours and Natalie army crawling with one arm tucked underneath. SO sweet! Both gave me super big, happy smiles!
We welcomed our second son, Dominic Joseph, on June 11th, 2018 at 11:18 pm. Just like his big brother Vinny, once he decided to arrive, he came quickly! At around 4 pm I noticed my contractions were getting close together, and felt differently than the practice contractions I had been experiencing for months. After timing them and realizing they were anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes apart, I called my husband to come home from work so we could go to the hospital and at least get examined.
Once there, we were told I was 4 cm dilated, 90% effaced, and NOT going home. Within a few hours, I went from 4 to 7 to 10, and three pushes later, Dominic was born! He weighed 6 lbs., 11 oz. and was 18.5 inches long - coordinating perfectly with his birth date of 6.11.18 and birth time of 11:18.
To my pleasant surprise, big brother Vinny was so excited to have his baby brother come home. He has been excitedly talking a mile a minute for the past 2 weeks since Dominic's arrival, and my sleepy baby doesn't even flinch. He must have gotten used to all the noise and chaos while he was in the womb.
I finally got around to doing a newborn session for Dominic, while also being his mommy, food source, and keeping my 3 and a half-year-old at bay. Needless to say, the session took multiple attempts over 2 days, and I broke a sweat. Newborn sessions are always the most challenging sessions I do, but especially when I'm wearing both mommy and photographer hats. Thanks to my husband for acting as my "assistant" through the process.
I am enjoying taking the summer to myself to adjust to our family of four, but of course, can't wait to get back to photography in September! Please feel free to contact me over the summer to schedule your fall session!
