Like many schools, the preschool my girls went to has Picture Day. A couple of years ago I offered my services in hopes of giving parents fun, “real” pix of their kids instead of stiff, awkward ones. See some of my faves below.

My 7 y.o asked me the other day if I could “pleeeze take her school photos” because she so hates how they pose her with her arms behind her back leaning against a tree every year. I’m taking this as a good opportunity for assertiveness training and we’re thinking of clever and polite ways to ask if she could stand the way she wants not the way they pose her!

Sneaking out in between rain squalls last Sunday afternoon, I took these Capitol Hill sisters to a local landmark, the Folger Shakespeare Library for photos. They immediately made the pavers on the wall into hopscotch and were just beautiful free spirits playing together while I snapped away. Sometimes photographing kids without the parents’ watchful eyes opens up the possibilities!

You may notice the cast….instead of rescheduling the portrait session their Mama just embraced the moment in her daughter’s active life [not the first cast]. We discussed how authentic the cast would make the images of her 9 y.o. dynamo.

And I just love their stripes, polka dots and yellow cast all together!

i’ve been photographing this sweet boy every year since he was three and this year we managed some fun family photos too. can you tell how i love the mama pix? often my faves, with babies or 7 y.o. kids. this was all part of a neighborhood walk in the golden glow at day’s end.

the light is always better at one end of the day or the other so that’s when i schedule my portrait sessions. little ones are usually a bit more spry and agreeable in the early morning while elementary school age and up are perfect candidates for late afternoon and early evening sessions.

well, i’ve been so busy with kids and work that i’ve neglected my blog a bit. time for some catching up. i had a great time with my pocket digital point and shoot while traveling this summer. here are a few fun ones of my kids in Maine.

forgive my postcard sunset shot - but it was sublime, truly! i love the soft focus.

“Baby Firetruck” arrived last week! It was a delight to photograph him in the same yard where I took pix of his big brother as a newborn three years ago. Here Jonah is only a week old - still new but so old and wise too. I was tearing up behind the camera during the series of the boys together - truly!

Do you know how you talk about an idea with someone a few times and hope that it might really come to fruition? Well, it did for me recently - very exciting!

The grandmother of the sisters I photographed recently [see post below from June 10th] invited me to her home in Maine to document their life there. I love Maine and feel a real connection to it: I used to live there, was married there and visit once or twice a year. Plus that intense northern light is magical year round.

Doing environmental portraits, more a day in the life type of thing, has long been a dream of mine. I feel so fortunate for this wonderful opportunity to work with a family I know in a beautiful place, creating a visual narrative of their summer rituals and rhythms there together.

The first time I photographed Anne and Tom was when they were pregnant with their first baby in 2005. We’ve had many portrait sessions together as their baby’s grown in years since and I was thrilled to photograph them again when expecting baby #2.

I have a nice tradition with this family, and a couple of other clients, of shooting film with my old box camera. The quality is delicious - see last pic.

Pregnancy sessions vary so much. When it’s a first pregnancy the session is really about the couple and the belly. When a child is involved I like to focus on the “original family,” as they are now, because the family dynamic really does change once another baby comes along. But the belly shots might just involve little hands this round!

Sweet tidbit: Big brother called the baby Firetruck as he talked to him in his mama’s belly!

June has brought busy summer days shooting and time with my own girls in between camps. There’s been little time to post but am now trying to catch up.

Here are some shots from a session with long time clients from NYC. This was our second one at their grandma’s home in Alexandria - what a fab front porch for photos, eh?

The last time I photographed these two the youngest was a teeny baby. It was amazing to see how her eyes followed her big sister everywhere! Bubbles, loveys and Nana’s dog made everything fun and easy.

Look at this darling babe. Honestly, she has the sweetest two-year old big brother I’ve seen. He held his baby sister so patiently and made my job a whole lot easier. In the ever-expanding annals of “it’s a small world,” their mom and I realized that we had both worked in the same art studio in L.A. in 2000-2001. Crazy…

What a beautiful place Brookside Gardens is! Many thanks to my clients for recommending it. Here are a few shots from our visit there together - we explored so many fun little paths but as you can see the bridge was where it was at.