Sweet Helen

That is little Helen above, when I photographed her over a year ago.  It is such a delight for me to get the chance to photograph my little newborns once they are mobile and talking!  Helen isn’t so little anymore and this lady has got some serious personality!  Helen’s mom and I started planning another photo session last fall when they found out they might be moving back to their native Texas (lucky for us, the Soheili’s get to stay around DC for a while).  We wanted to incorporate the monuments but it took us a few seasons to get there.  We finally settled on the spring, what could be more iconic than the monuments during the cherry blossom season?  On the day of our shoot it was still quite chilly and I had convinced the Soheilis to start pretty early to avoid the droves of tourists.  Poor little Helen was teething.  Now I will say that even when not feeling her best, her sweet personality still turned on the charm.  During my editing though, I decided we should give Helen another chance to ham it up to the camera, and I am glad the Soheilis went along because it definitely paid off.  We planned a followup session that was a little quieter.  This time, Helen was true to form.  With the aid of a few balloons, her treasured bunny, and a little LMFAO, we got her dancing and giggling.  Thanks Soheili’s for being a super fabulous family, you are a total joy to work with, even when teething!

Ronay, Dimmick, & Tingler

It is family picture time…LET’S HAVE A PARTY!!!!!  This is the motto I am now going to recommend all my clients go with.  The day I did this photo session was just one of those days!  It started off alright and then went downhill from there.  I got stuck in terrible traffic in Leesburg, got lost on my way to Waterford (I was driving a rental with no GPS, bad combo for the directionally challenged!), and the girl in the balloon store appeared to be set in slow mode!  By the time I was finally headed in the right direction, I was running late.  I spend most of my personal life late but when it comes to work, I am always on time.  So I was flapping by the time I got to the barn where we were doing the shoot.  Any worries or anxiety completely disappeared when I saw the Ronay, Dimmick, and Tingler families.  They were already at the location dressed in bright colours and they were tailgating…awesome!  I knew we were going to have fun, and we did.  Photographing this many people takes a bit of time and lots of rearranging to get it right.  But everyone was relaxed and patient, especially when it came to getting names right.  Even Bluemoon, the dog, cooperated.  So to Chris & Pat, Mandy, JK & Jenn, Brooks, Clay & Lindsey, Emerson, Lucas, Courtney, Mike & Betsy, and Bluemoon- thanks for being so much fun.

Arlo, Hudson, & Fiona

I have fallen well and truly behind on my posts over the last few months!  Let me begin my catchup with a poem by Eugene Field and three tiny people who were each a dream to photograph.

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe—
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
The old moon asked the three.
“We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!”
Said Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea—
“Now cast your nets wherever you wish—
Never afeard are we”;
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam—
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home;
‘T was all so pretty a sail it seemed
As if it could not be,
And some folks thought ‘t was a dream they ‘d dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea—
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little head,
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one’s trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

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Arlo


Hudson

As always, thanks to Jesse, Ryan, Cara, Nick, Laura, and Craig for being such wonderful parents to work with.

Tatum

What a precious delivery, tiny Tatum was born on Christmas Eve.  I thought of twinkly lights and wintry whites when planning her newborn pictures.  Must have been on the right brainwave as we had our first snowfall of the winter on the day of her session.  It was only a matter of time before I had a newborn session that didn’t go to plan. This little lady wasn’t up for sleeping and had a slightly different idea of how the session would go. I really appreciate mom Sara for hanging in there and being such a star.  She finally got Tatum settled and we got those images we were after!  It was worth the effort and super pleased my DIY wall of lights worked.  Congratulations John and Sara on your new addition.

The Spetts

 

A little change of scenery for me on this one, a new location in the gorgeous state of California.  I met the Spetts at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu for their family pictures.  It is a great spot tucked away in the Santa Monica Mountains.  It was just my luck that the week I was there the Virginia cold had followed me.  Where was that California 70 degree weather?  But that didn’t stop Ella and Lyla from launching a full on exploration of the place.  As soon as I arrived they gave me the tour.  Clearly, I need to ramp up my cardio routine, these girls were non-stop.  I loved their inquisitive, energetic nature and these girls had no shortage of moves.  They could give Naomi Campbell a run for her money on the catwalk.  There is nothing like having a sister close in age to pal around with.  We did a whistle stop photo-tour of Calamigos before the sun went down and we all froze (yes, froze in California).  Then I got a rare treat, a shoot followed by dinner with my clients.  Amé and Andrew happen to be friends as well so we enjoyed a post-session dinner and catch-up sat by toasty fire pits.  Thanks to Amé, Andrew, Ella and Lyla for some much needed humour and a great time.  And a thanks to my husband for filling in as my California assistant (it’s a diffuser, not a deflector thingy. I will kindly suggest you don’t quit your day job!)

Mr & Mrs Moore

The Bride and Groom

Well finally… I am posting some of the final images from Kathryn and Eric’s beautiful wedding in Old Town Alexandria.  I really appreciated doing their engagement pictures before their big day.  It meant when it came time for their actual wedding they were already comfortable with the lens pointing their way.  Kathryn and Eric were so relaxed.  The minute I walked into Kathryn’s hotel room I felt the positive excitement in the air.  Once again, Kathryn’s beauty and confidence filled that room.  The bride and groom took a leap in letting me convince them to meet before their ceremony with just the two of them, my assistant, and myself.  When Kathryn arrived at the historic Carlyle House Eric was there waiting.  When he spotted his bride for the first time, it could have been just the four of us or a crowd of a thousand.  It didn’t matter.  These two only had eyes for each other.  What a wonderful moment they let me be part of.  That honest adoration they had for each other was evident the whole day.  After a few pictures around Old Town Alexandria we headed to the George Washington Masonic Memorial with a few ‘traffic stops’ along the way.  I always love the public’s congratulatory shouts and honks.  The ceremony took place in the North Lodge Room followed by a rocking reception in the Grand Masonic Hall.  Their family and friends couldn’t wait to start shaking it. The dancing started right after the first course and didn’t end until the guests were swept out the door for a sparkler farewell.  Kathryn and Eric surrounded themselves with guests who were just as warm and fun as they are and it made for a fantastic party!  To Mr. & Mrs. Moore- I wish you many years of wedded bliss.  Congratulations and thanks for letting me be part of your day!

To see more from Kathryn and Eric’s day click the image below.

SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/esthergray/Desktop/moore.doc

Venue: George Washington Masonic Memorial

Catering:  Catering by Uptown

Flowers: Sue Chamberlain Flowers

Ceremony Music and DJ: Musical DJs/PM Productions

Hair: Frizzles Salon

Makeup: Alina Karamov

Bridal Salon: White Swan Bridal

Invitations: Invite Me

Baby Brooke turns 1!

Let’s start the weekend with the Bovans!  I photographed Mike and Adrienne getting married, their pregnancy, and beautiful Brooke as a newborn.  So I definitely felt like part of the family as I found myself, a year later (has it already been a year???), taking their family pictures.   The Bovans met me at Slaughter Pen Farm, my favourite location in Fredericksburg.  When I got there I was disappointed to see the golden soybean fields had been ploughed.  But as always, Slaughter Pen doesn’t disappoint, no matter what the landscape.  There was a wintery calm to the open space and lovely muted colours.  My clients know my personality type well and when Adrienne turned up she had a vintage desk and fan for me.  I will say it again, my clients are awesome!  Adrienne’s dad restores antiques and she also brought with her a tiny Shaker style chair he had refurbished for Brooke.  How wonderful that we got to use it in the pictures.  Tiny newborn Brooke has turned into a beautiful, tiny lady with quite a funny personality.  She seems to rather enjoy fast motion so we gave Mike a little extra rugby training and made him run sprints to keep her entertained.  Turns out, not all babies are fans of my assistant and I singing.  She had a hilarious expression for our rendition of Elmo’s song!  We couldn’t help ourselves, we kept singing so we could see it a few more times.

As we finished our session with Brooke’s birthday shots we got wonderful light from the setting sun.  She wasn’t that keen on her cake so we took the opportunity to help her out!  Wegman’s makes one delicious coconut cake! Happy first birthday baby Brooke!  Thanks to Mike and Adrienne for having a great sense of humour and being a lot of fun to work with.  What’s the next big event?

On a side note, I finally got an opportunity to use a handmade bonnet and dress I found on Etsy.  These ladies were super helpful.  If you have a moment, check out their Etsy shops-

http://www.etsy.com/shop/norabeesbonnets?ref=seller_info

http://www.etsy.com/shop/threeyellowstarfish

Justin, Jamie, and Josie

Little, delightful Josie!  She’s got one captivating personality.  She is inquisitive, bold, has her mom’s quick witted sense of humor, and is super smart.  I was definitely looking forward to my second time photographing her.  Jamie and I worried that by the time their session was due,  all the leaves would have fallen off the trees.  It was that icky time of year when one side of the street is still covered in oranges and reds and on the other, one gust of wind has blown the last of the leaves away leaving it gray and dreary.  But we lucked out.  When we arrived, Oxon Hill Farm still had lots of colour.  We had the whole place to ourselves, for good reason. It was FREEZING!  I wasn’t sure how long little Josie was going to tolerate the cold.  But Justin, Jamie, and Josie all championed through.  I will say a special thanks here to Justin enduring while us ladies wittered on about stilettos and skinny jeans in 30 degree weather!    We finished family pictures and Josie’s individuals with just one set-up left to try.  We wanted to get Josie in Jamie’s wedding dress.  Josie was at the end of her tether at this point (I don’t blame her, it was so cold) but we thought we give it a quick attempt.  Further melt down ensued.  But Jamie and I both agreed the temper tantrum in a wedding dress was probably a little truer to life.  Plus it made for better pictures.  When it is blown up life-size on Josie’s wedding day, she will love us even more for it! Wink wink!  We got her in the car, warmed her up and let her blare some music.  It wasn’t long before she was passed out.  Sweet little Josie, next time we promise it will be warmer!

The Browns

This was one of my favourite photo sessions.  As I drove away from this one I couldn’t help but remind myself that I get to work with some pretty wonderful people. That definitely describes Jessie and Ryan.  After doing a freezing photo shoot in the morning, my assistant and I geared up for our afternoon shoot. I was looking forward to doing a maternity shoot as there is a bit less pressure than is involved with fast-moving children who get easily bored with being photographed.  I get to move at a slower pace and focus on setting up each shot.  By the time we arrived at the Battlefield, the sun had warmed everything up and it was a perfect day.  When we met them in the parking lot, Jessie gave me a hug.  I knew immediately I was going to like them.  It was obvious throughout, how excited they were about becoming parents and how much they adore each other, rather endearing to witness.  They were up for everything I suggested, totally carefree and easy going.  I particularly enjoyed the debate of which university their future child would support.  The question of whether baby Brown will be a Hokie or a Cavalier will probably stay undecided for another 18 years.  Until then I am sure Jessie and Ryan will battle it out between themselves.  Thanks to the Browns for being so fantastic and making some gorgeous pictures! I look forward to photographing baby Brown very soon.