lifestyle + documentary photography
I met little Stella on a sunny February morning and she couldn't have been more sweet. She just adored her mommy and daddy and we had a relaxed session capturing life at three months old! She loved flying in the air, looking in the mirror, and playing on her play mat. We also made sure to capture her colorful and fun nursery!
Anyone who has spent more than one hour with a newborn knows, it's not peaceful and sleepy all the time; they sure do have their moments. My style walks the line between lifestyle and documentary. As much as I love to capture beautiful shots of a newborn sleeping in their crib and cuddly, family shots on a bed... I love the truly, real-life moments - like the ones of you walking up and down endless flights of steps because that is what comforts your baby. That is the kind of love that years from now, you and your baby will want to look back at. This family of three recently built their dream home and it was especially meaningful for them to have the session at home as opposed to a studio. For most of the session, we worked in one room that was bright and airy and another room that had deep shadows. I love how their gallery had images with a combination of light… it really helped captured all the various emotions that go with having a newborn at home. It also helped to create some beautiful, high contrast black and white images. I usually shoot for black and white intentionally and I knew the deep shadows would create some beautiful conversions. This sweet family was amazing to work with and their daughter was as beautiful as the come <3
As much as I love doing tree farm mini sessions, it doesn't come close to as much fun I have at a storytelling session :) During this family lifestyle session with the S family, I documented them cutting down their Christmas tree! We started the moment they hopped out of their car and ended with them packing the tree to go home. We captured some lifestyle portraits along the way too. This year, I will be offering two packages for Documentary Sessions: a half day "storytelling" session and a full "day in the life" session. If you are interested in finding out more about these packages, feel free to send me an email or submit a question on my contact form :)
This was the second time I had the opportunity to work with the M family and both times we did extended family pictures. It's so fun to include grandparents in the session and I love that we can still have a more casual lifestyle session. This year, we decided to walk around Phoenixville and we ended up at Steel City to warm up at the end. If you haven't ever stopped by there - it's worth checking out! We had a great time being goofy while still giving lots of hugs <3 Thank you for choosing me to capture these memories, M family!
Our goal for this lifestyle/documentary session was to capture life at one! Making it through the first year is something to celebrate - both for the baby and for the parents! This sweet family wanted to remember what life was like with two one year olds running around because these ordinary, often simple moments are the ones that make life extraordinary. I arrived and the twins were waking up from nap and we captured everything from bath time to dinner time. I always like to include pets in my sessions... after all, they are family, too <3
I absolutely loved this documentary family session. We spent the morning walking around the borough of West Chester. The Q family lived in West Chester when they met and it was fun to share some of their favorite spots with their soon to be one year old! The brick sidewalks and beautiful town were a perfect backdrop for this session and I loved how it had a more urban feel. At the end of our session, we stopped by D'Ascenzo's Gelato for N's first taste of gelato. I think she loved it :)
I loved doing a few Mommy and Me sessions this spring so that moms could get in the picture. It's easy to take pictures of your kids, but sometimes life is so busy that you have to make a point to get in the photos with your kids. We had a fun time at this quick morning session and lucked out with some beautiful trees.
I recently joined a "This is Us" blog circle and I'm excited to share bits and pieces of our family life here on this blog. I fell in love with photography soon after my first daughter was born. I loved watching my family grow and capturing the little "stories" and milestones along the way. Lately, I've been getting so caught up in everything that needs to get done each day, that I've been picking up my camera less and less. I sometimes forget that this is where my passion lies.
On the Thursday after Easter, Leah remembered that we never actually dyed Easter eggs. We had a kit and lots of eggs, so during Sophie's nap, we had some fun. Now, clearly, this is not all of "us." In fact, it's just one of "us." :) But it's a start! It was fun to do a little documentary photography session in my own home and I'm hoping this project inspires me to start capturing more pictures of all of us... doing the things we love to do together.
Up next is Elaina B. Photography. I am always inspired by her photography. I love her rich tones and the way her lighting always draws you right to the subject. I hope you enjoy Elaina's posts as much as I do :)
The photographs that are close to my heart are ones that happen between posed portraits. These ordinary moments are the ones that make life extraordinary.
I’d love to hear from you if you are in the Chester County or Main Line area and looking for a lifestyle newborn, child, or family photographer. I would be honored to capture these fleeting moments for you and your family.
At the end of last fall, I did a secret "cousins" session. We wanted to surprise their grandparents so I didn't post any of the images from that session yet. These three were so cute together! It was fun to explore the warm conservatory and splash in the water a bit. It was also really fun to make the big kids laugh for a change :)
We had torrential rains off and on this day, but it was nice and dry in the Longwood Gardens Conservatory! I absolutely loved working with the H family on this extended family session. We did some posed portraits and captured some natural moments in between. It had been a while since they had visited Longwood Gardens so we enjoyed checking out the various gardens in addition to the holiday displays.
Now that Christmas is over and cards are out, I wanted to share some more of my favorite pictures from the Tree Farm Mini Sessions that I held at the end of November. I had SO much fun doing these and hope to start doing them annually. Here is part one and I'll share part two tomorrow!
I had so much fun working with this family at the end of the fall season. It was a windy day and pretty cold in the shade. These kids were troopers though and we even found some leaves to play in at the end!
I met up with the M family a few weeks ago at their family farm. We took a few extended family group shots (which we are keeping as a surprise!) and then had fun exploring and taking some more family photos along the way. We really lucked out with a perfect evening and fun kids!
We lucked out with some gorgeous fall colors for this family session. I really think it may have been the peak for fall foliage and we picked a great location to capture it. T is absolutely in love with his little sister and gives some of the best hugs around... and M was such a good sport about receiving all those big brother hugs. She was also quite a fan of all the leaves ;) I loved working with the K family!
You would never guess it, but as I drove over to this session, it was pouring rain!! Earlier that day it had even snowed/hailed. We waited it out and ended up with a gorgeous evening! I can't wait to share this gallery with this sweet mom and her adorable family.
I love Longwood Gardens in the fall and it's one of my favorite spots to shoot at with young toddlers. There is a lot to see and plenty of paths to explore. We had a beautiful fall morning a few weeks ago and little A was probably the fastest nearly one-year-old that I ever had the pleasure of chasing around!
I always have the best time working with this family! A and E really keep me on my toes and keep the energy flowing. I always think that leads to the best pictures though... and it definitely lets their personalities shine through. After rescheduling for rain, we couldn't have picked a more beautiful night. It worked out perfectly. I'm so happy I get to capture these girls as they grow!
