Ready or not, summer is starting up in just a couple weeks! Between trips to the zoo, swimming at the pool, backyard barbecues, and family get-aways, you’re going to be taking LOTS of photos of your kids over the next few months!
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Read MoreThe mornings, here, have their own bit of chaos between breakfast and getting out the door for school, but it's still our evenings that are the most hectic. The whole dinner, bath, bedtime routine is jam-packed with activity over a very short period of time, and everyone - no matter how great the day was - is exhausted.
But it's also such a beautiful time of day. It's a time for connecting around the dinner table. It's a time for listening with our eyes and hearts, as well as our ears. It's a time for stories and cuddles and kisses.
Read MoreThis past month has been incredibly busy, but I've loved having the 52 Project to force me to continue to shoot for myself.
Read MoreAlmost daily, a new fort took shape, with couch cushions and pillows for the walls, and afghans and blankets for the roof. Stuffed animals were used as anchors and flying buttresses.
By afternoon, though, the walls were crumbling, and the roof was caved in. (Why our dog thought it was the perfect spot for a nap – repeatedly - is beyond me.)
Read MoreI'm continuing to try new things with my 52 Week Project.
Read MoreA week after I met Baby O, I headed to his home to photograph his newborn days. This sweet boy is so loved by his parents and "big brother." I'm so thrilled he'll be able to look back at these photos one day and see that love so clearly, and that his parents will have these memories to hold and go back to year after year as he grows.
Read MoreOne of the awesome things about lifestyle and documentary-style maternity sessions is how they capture a slice of real life in context. I'm so excited that Jen and Anders (and their future family) will have photos that show a little bit of what a lazy Saturday afternoon at home was like during this pregnancy. Years from now, they'll be able to look back at these and remember the details of their life at this exact moment in time, and they'll see how they brought their baby boy into a home filled with laughter and love.
Read MoreMy personal project "A Year in the Life" continues.
Read MoreDiana and I met a few days before the shoot to talk about the things her family loves to do and plan her family’s session. One of the things that really stuck out to me was her children’s love for creative play. We decided on an art session, with time at the beginning for the children to warm up to me and the camera.
Read MoreThe best questions often come from children, don’t they?
Their honest curiosity gives them the ability to phrase things in a way that adult never would, and we’re so surprised by their bluntness, we’re encouraged to think about things in a new way.
A couple of weeks ago, I got one of those great questions from a client’s son. Right in the middle of painting a star, he turned to me and asked, “So, why do you like taking photos?”
Read MoreOne of my very favorite things about photographing families is witnessing the love in each and every home I visit. Sometimes it's in the way a child lights up when she's talking with her mom. Sometimes it's the way brothers play shoulder to shoulder. And sometimes you feel it the minute you walk in the door.
This was one of those homes.
Read MoreI'm so excited to join the A Year in the Life 52 week Challenge for documentary photographers! Last year was one of huge growth for me, and I can't wait to see how my technical skills continue to improve and how my artistic voice will continue to emerge.
Read MoreA week after Baby C was born, I headed to his house to capture some of the sweet details of his first days. It was a quiet day at home with his mama, and a perfect one for documenting cuddles, feedings, and the most adorable baby yawns ever! And I just cannot get over that hair! This sweet boy is so, so cute!!
Read MoreWhen most of us hear the words “Documentary Family Photography,” we aren’t quite sure what it means. I mean, we know what documentaries are. And every day, we see film footage or photographs on our favorite websites, documenting current news stories, travel, and culture.
But how in the world can you document families?
Read MoreMany of you know that in-home, documentary sessions are where my heart lies. I truly believe that the little moments are the most important moments, and that looking back at photographs of real memories bring us back in time in a way posed photos just can't.
Before Christmas, Kristen and Nathan took a big leap of faith and invited me to photograph them in their home in Albuquerque. This was their family's first experience with a documentary session, so I asked K to write a little bit about her experience.
Read MoreI have a confession.
When I look at myself in photos, I see that my nose is too long.
That my eyes are too close together, and that they always have dark circles under them, no matter how much sleep I get.
I see how I STILL struggle with acne and scars well into my 30s.
And that my belly always sticks out a little from 3 full-term pregnancies (or maybe from the amount of burritos I eat. Who knows, really.)
Read MoreIf you're not ordering your cards and prints through a professional photographer this year, deciding where to print your gifts can be overwhelming. What's more, not all print labs are created equal, and rushing out to Walmart or uploading to Shutterfly is likely to leave you disappointed. This is because most of these "quick" labs don't calibrate their printing machines for color or image quality and they use lower quality paper, so the print won't look as good as the image file you sent them.
Read MoreMy grandfather was the photographer in our family. He shot with a Canon - a T70 with a 35-105mm 3.5 lens (for my fellow photo geeks). It was huge and heavy, with a patterned strap that reminded me of snakeskin.
But what I remember him using most, was his Polaroid. He loved its instant developing film – partly, I’m sure, because he loved watching my sister and me laugh joyously at the miracle of their development. He would bring it - and about a hundred extra film packs, it seemed - every visit.
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