Portraits in the Park

It's a little last minute, but a few of you asked if I'd be offering this event again this year...



The end of April is one of the prettiest times of the year as the flowering trees will be in bloom, and the leaves on the trees will be starting to bud. And as hard as it it to believe as we sit shivering in today's rainy 47° weather, last year's sessions were gorgeous and mild with girls dressed in sundresses and boys in polos and shorts. (Psst: These make great First Holy Communion sessions, too!)

As always, appointments will be limited. Due to the nature and length of these sessions, there may be some restrictions with my travel, type of session, number of people photographed, etc. Please inquire for details.

Huddling for warmth

I was a bit nervous leaving my house this morning. I had about an hour drive to West Chester, and despite the forecast predicting a nice spring day in the 50s, as I grabbed my keys, camera and coffee to go, and flung my coat over my arm, I opened my door and a blast of cold air hit me in the face. Turning on my car, a mere 32° displayed on my car's temperature gauge. Yikes. Not good.

Thankfully, it did warm up a bit by the time we actually started the session (not that it was exactly toasty outside), but hey, a little cold sometimes makes for a perfect picture as a family huddles trying to get warm.

Vintage inspired

According to a photographer friend of mine who works in Virginia, if I lived a mere 3 hours south, I'd probably be photographing little girls in smocking and bows and boys in John-Johns everyday. But here in Pennsylvania, it's rare that parents break out the Strasburg Children or the like for photo sessions. Because I remember wearing a smocked dress for every special occasion and everytime my picture was professionally taken--trust me, I was shocked my mom didn't insist upon buying me a smocked wedding dress--I just couldn't help but give Miss C's photo from this morning a little vintage treatment to fondly remember my youth.

Collecting sticks--and smiles

Three year olds--well, she's almost four--are the funniest little people. Really, they're one of my favorite age groups to work with. Besides the fact that their language skills are blossoming and their personalities as the people they'll grow up to be are blooming, they are just filled with cutest little idiosyncracies that I always find out about, oh, about 15 minutes into the session.

Hers? It's collecting things. Doesn't matter what, I don't think, but during our session it was these gigantic sticks. Huge. I mean, bigger than me. All which she adeptly dragged into a nice pile, while allowing me to collect smiles on my camera.

Stars and stripes and wagons

I love the charm of small, historic towns, and I was so excited when this one year old cutie's mom agreed to do her session in Lititz. There were just so many neat little pockets to discover downtown--I could have photographed him for hours, but, well, one year olds usually only have tolerance for the lady behind the camera's terrible singing for so long. That's OK: My husband's the same way. ;)

Blessed

I truly have a special place in my heart for girls celebrating their First Holy Communions. I'm not Catholic, and my mom and grandmother loved dressing me in classic smocked dresses (with two crinolin slips!) during my childhood very much to my dismay, but as much as I wasn't a girly-girl growing up, I must admit that I eyed up those communion gowns--which were everywhere in the predominately Catholic Scranton--with such envy every spring. "Mom, can't I get one?" I'd plead. "Please? Why can't we just go to a Catholic church?"

I know it took a leap of faith for her mom to hire me after years of working with another photographer, so she really has no clue how much I want her to desperately love these.

Blessings, Miss O. You're beautiful. :)

So I get this call today from Parenting magazine

Saying that I had won their 2008 photo contest in the "baby" category with this submission of my son, Isaac. Isn't that cool? The photo below will appear in the August issue.

Yay! I have a published photo in a national magazine!

Baby, it's (getting warmer) outside...

Oh, it's been SO nice getting outside again for sessions, and being able to feel my fingers working my camera after ten minutes. This is my fourth time photographing this little guy, and as I drove by the hospital on the way to their home, I kept thinking about how this time last year, his mom was spending her time there on complete bedrest, sacrificing so much to deliver him as close to his due date as possible. It seemed appropriate to take them back there to where the beginning of her steadfast devotion to him began.

Soaking up sweetness

There's just something magical about photographing one year olds. Although they're usually terrible at making eye contact with the camera, it never seems to matter much as their innocence, expressions, and the way they look at the world in wonderment and discovery makes them such a delight to capture in images. She is just one of my most favorite clients ever--so full of discovery and joy--and I not only love photographing her, but I've also loved watching her personality and her sweetness just blossom (and her hair grow longer! :) the older she gets.