June 18th, 2010
Last summer I had the opportunity to photograph some pretty cute kids! This year I was able to get their whole family, whole family as in brothers, grandparents, parents and cousins as well 
We went back to Morven Park in Leesburg (I love that place) and battled the gnats, but we had a great time!
I took a similar picture of Claire last year, I love how stoic she looks, quite the little model
These are the grandparents, I *loved* how affectionate they were with each other, too cute
Here’s the cousins!
And the whole family:
I asked Joshua to give Claire a little kiss, she was fine with it until she realized what he was actually doing 
What a lovely family you all are! I had so much fun with you guys and I can’t wait for next year!
Posted in Family Sessions, Kids | 1 Comment »
May 22nd, 2010
So if you don’t remember my friend Michelle, you can find her previous session here. This was our final one, as Baby P. is due next week (or really any day now, you never know with kiddos). This time around we got her husband, Luke, involved with us. We took a nice walk around the lake near their house and just enjoyed the perfect weather!
Seriously, they’re adorable together
I know it’s cliche to have the partner hold the basketball next to the pregnant one’s belly, but it must have been fate because we happened to come upon a basketball on our walk. So of course I made Luke be cheesy, he enjoyed it, I know he did.
And then there were the frogs. I was not a fan, but this one was kind of cute.
I love me some good ole’ sun flare!
Apparently this is how Luke kissed Michelle for their “wedding” kiss (awww…) so they like to recreate it any chance they get
There are one of these shots of Michelle every session I took. I love the series
Yay for the home stretch! You can come now Baby P., we’re all ready for you
Posted in Maternity, friends | Comments Off
April 13th, 2010
Easter was a lot more fun this year (in my opinion) with Bryce because she could participate, and she loved it! She had so much fun trying to find the eggs around the yard. We did two egg hunts this year, one at Wes’ cousins house and one at my grandmothers house. The one at the cousins house had eggs with treats inside (and of course I had forgotten my camera…), but the eggs at my grandma’s were empty. Sad. Bryce was disappointed to say the least when she found nothing in the eggs the second time around.
But the pictures sure are cute
This is just one of many bunny decorations to be found at my grandmothers:
She was a super-speedy egg finder!
We had to keep stealing eggs out of her basket because we ran out of eggs to hide and she kept wanting to find more!
Some eggs were hanging out on dad’s feet. I remember finding eggs in my grandpa’s shirt collar, he was sitting in the same chair that Wes was sitting in. I think they would have gotten along
That face kills me
My grandmother grows the prettiest daffodils!
All done with the egg hunt this year.
We are so lucky to have a professional chef in our family! My aunt made the best coconut cake. Complete with peeps on top!
Bryce is still looking for candy in the eggs..
One more of the cake for good measure
And some beautiful tulips to end
Posted in Family, Holidays, Random | 1 Comment »
April 10th, 2010
I have been photographing this awesome woman for a few months now. I took her first maternity photos when she was only 20ish weeks along, so she only had the tiniest of bellies (but it was super cute). Then I did another session about a month later, and now another month later. We’ve been doing a “series” of sorts, watching her grow along the way. What a fun journey!
She is so close to having this kid (due the end of May), and we are all so excited for her and her husband! They deserve nothing but the best and happiness for the rest of their lives. This child is going to be so incredibly loved
Here’s a few pictures of Michelle at 30ish weeks, such a wonderful glow!
I love how relaxed and serene she looks in this picture,
Cute, little belly-button starting to pop out
Michelle is planning on cloth diapering their new bambino, which makes me SO excited! I could talk your ear off about cloth-diapering. I absolutely love it, and it’s nothing like cloth-diapering used to be. It’s super easy and so much cuter on your baby, not to mention it’s a great way to go green. Did you know that it takes 500 years (that’s FIVE HUNDRED) for a disposable diaper to degrade? That’s just FYI. Michelle is holding a newborn cloth diaper that was just too cute to pass up a picture of!
Double the belly, double the fun!
Michelle, you are beautiful and I cannot wait for our last session! But even more, I can’t wait till we can meet your new, little, loved one!
Posted in Maternity, friends | Comments Off
April 1st, 2010
I never thought I would love cloth diapers like I do, but man.. I’m addicted now! Happy 9th birthday Kellys Closet!
Go here to enter their giveaway for some free cloth diapers:
http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/2010/04/networking-nine-giveaway-in-celebration.html
Bryce in gDiapers, just one of MANY CD options
Posted in Bryce, Random | Comments Off
March 31st, 2010
When we moved in to our new place we found that there was a tree in our neighbors backyard that hung into ours quite a bit. That was fine, whatever. When late March arrived and buds started to grow on the tree, I started to get a little excited. And then, last night, the buds basically exploded into perfect, little, white cherry blossoms.
What a fun and pretty sight out of my kitchen window
Posted in Nature | Comments Off
February 25th, 2010
This is a long picture post! I had forgotten that I hadn’t posted about it yet, they were married the first weekend in January, and it’s almost March, that’s how far behind I am on this, oops!
I had a really good time at this wedding, albeit the FREEZING COLD WEATHER! There went all our plans to take pictures outside! It was really just too cold and windy, but thankfully the inside of the church was nice and cozy, full of excitement Deborah had such a quiet joy, it was so fun to watch her and be with her while she prepared to get ready to marry her future husband. Ken was almost bubbling over with energy when I first saw him! So despite the frigid temperatures outside, it was such a lovely January wedding!
Here’s a few details:
Deborah getting her hair worked on:
Putting on the dress! Yay!
A quick smooch from mom
I don’t know why, but I love this one of the flower girl, “Come on, guys!!”
I love the glances that the fathers give their daughters as they are walking down the aisle. Deborah is clearly not paying attention to her father, but to her groom. And Dad didn’t take his eyes off his daughter until the reception was over.
First kisses are so fun
Love this one, complete adoration,
Yay! Marriage!
Some quiet time for the bride and groom,
Another favorite of mine The reception was at Maggiano’s in Tysons Corner, one of my favorite restaurants. And let me tell you, the food did not disappoint! And the dessert… mmm….
Because their wedding was so close to Christmas, there were still Christmas trees and lights everywhere! So of course I had to add a little bokeh for their collection
The flower girls were SO CUTE!
First dance -
I like their faces in this one, they seem to have finally relaxed
Yeah, cake!
The faces of the little girls kill me, “please, please, come to me!”
The bride and her girls. Ya gotta have some jump shots!
Thanks, Ken and Deborah for allowing me to be a part of your day! I had so much fun getting to know you and watch you enter into this new phase of your life!
Posted in Wedding | Comments Off
February 20th, 2010
She’s finally here! Baby Eva, you have been long awaited in the Payne family that is full of boys Eva is actually Dave and Lauren’s first, but everyone (myself included) thought that Lauren was going to have a boy. Needless to say, Eva was a surprise! And what a cute little surprise she is, take a look for yourself:
oh the baby yawns, they get me every time!
This kid seriously had the best faces! She is definitely her father’s child,
This scale used to be the scale that they weighed Dave’s sister on, I love family stuff that’s handed down like that:
Again with the faces
Dave and Lauren are big missions people and have travelled all over the world. On their last trip to Africa, they picked up a few baskets and Dave thought we should try Eva out in one of them. Let me say, before you see this next picture, that Eva is 10 days old when I took these pictures. Ten. The child had a stronger neck than most 2 month olds that I’ve met! Her head was up for most of the pictures, and she was awake almost the whole session! Dave and Lauren certainly have their work cut out for them!
She was hungry at this point It takes a lot of energy to keep your head up for that long!
Along with baby yawns, baby feet also get me, I mean just look at the cute little piggies
The diaper bag is courtesy of Lauren’s mom, so we had to put it to good use
Thought we’d end with the baby feet ’cause I love them so much!
Dave and Lauren, congratulations to you both! I can’t wait to see baby Eva grow and what she will become. I have no doubt that you two will be the best of parents and that Eva will grow up in a house full of love. Can’t wait to do some family pictures with you all!
Posted in Photoshoots, baby, friends | Comments Off