Birthday Boy | Fredericksburg Baby & Child Photographer

I'm finally getting around to posting these pictures of my adorable nephew from a couple of weeks ago. Today is his 1st Birthday and I couldn't be more amazed at how fast he is growing up. He wasn't yet walking at the time these were taken 3 weeks ago but he is walking full speed ahead now just in time for his main entrance at his party tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from our day, well hour at Chatham Manor. It was over 100 degrees with the heat index but Philip was a good sport. After that we headed to Camille's for Philip's snack and cold refreshments. I love this little man and I am so glad to be a part of his life. Happy 1st Birthday Philip!

Getting There | Fredericksburg Virginia Lifestyle Photographer

I always knew that in order to be my happiest in life I would need to be doing something in the creative field. As a tiny child I dabbled in anything and everything artistic. At the age of 4 I was re-purposing my Barbie's clothing to make new fabulous items for her to wear. I've taken on painting, drawing, interior decorating, fashion and jewelry design, and dancing amongst some of my hobbies. But it wasn't until this past year when we purchased our first digital SLR camera that my creative passions seemed to be completely released. I'd always loved taking pictures and looking through our shoe boxes full of family photos. I'm a very sentimental person and have a tendency to want to hold onto silly things in an attempt to capture a piece of that moment forever. (And I have shoe boxes full of receipts, love notes, and movie stubs to prove it.) But being able to record all of the precious moments in my life and of those around me has proven to be a much less cluttered way of collecting memories and putting my creative brain to good use. I love every aspect of taking pictures. Every picture snapped is an opportunity to manifest an entirely new vision never before seen. Not to mention that I get to meet awesome new clients and photographers.

So as of today I feel like I am finally falling into my niche. I love what I'm doing and I love feeling so alive doing it! And best of all I get to share these experiences with the love of my life and my best friend along the way. He inspires me and encourages me to be the best me that I can be. (I know its corny, but its true. I love you Michael!)

Here's a picture I took the other day that just makes me feel happy.

Water Play | Fredericksburg Virginia Baby Photographer

16 months ago I could never have imagined how much love I was going to feel for this little man. One look at him through the hospital nursery window and my heart melted into a puddle of mushy-gushy. His name is Julian and he is Michael's nephew. He is the sweetest, most trusting, and easy going baby you'll ever meet and I adore him as if he were my own. The other day we decided to fill up his new pool and let him splash out some of his energy before nap time. The end result: a sleepy baby and some melt my heart photos. I just wish I could keep him at this age forever!





I love his little belly! Might as well flaut it while it's still cute.






That poor octopus didn't even see it coming.

Josh & Amanda's Wedding | Second Shooting for Natalie Franke Photography

I was thrilled to have the privilege to second shoot Amanda and Josh's wedding with the amazingly talented Natalie Franke of Natalie Franke Photography. Michael was along with us capturing the video of their wedding and snapping some shots in between. The ceremony and reception were held at The Grachur Club in Pasedena, MD alongside the Magothy River and couldn't have been a more gorgeous spot to have a beach themed wedding. Josh and Amanda are a beautiful couple and I wish them the happiest of days to come!

I had a rough time narrowing down the images for this post but here are a few of my favorites from the day. And thanks again to Natalie Franke for letting us tag along and quickly becoming an amazing new friend!


The groom's grandfather was an absolute riot. I'm not sure what he was telling Josh here, but I'm sure it was funny.


What a handsome group they are! They seemed completely relaxed and full of laughs before the ceremony. This was one of the fewer serious moments between the three of them.








The bride left no detail undone. And me being the detail queen I just had to post a bunch of my favorites. I especially loved her bouquet and the starfish details everywhere.












I snapped this just as I came around the corner and it is one of my favorites of the day. I love the moments that happen between a couple when they don't know the photographer is around.

Field Inspiration | Fredericksburg Virginia Lifestyle Photographer

We were so excited when the gorgeous Diana asked us to take pictures of her and even more delighted that she knew exactly what she wanted. A white dress, hay bails and a barn...what more could a photographer ask for? I could feel my heart skip a beat from her requests.
We arrived bright an early just to check out the area and fell in love with this particular location. Diana was down for anything we asked of her and wasn't afraid of a little wet hay. I think she was way more at ease in that field than I was...she even gave me a pair of her boots to wear and take home as a souvenier from our session. (Lesson learned: Wear Boots in fields not flip-flops & bring cold refreshments and towels for the wet ground and client. lol) We can only hope to have more amazing clients like Diana in the future! So thanks Diana for being such an inspiration and making our job so fulfilling!


She climbed right on top of that hay bail like a pro. I'm sure I could have done it, but it definitely wouldn't have looked so graceful.

Hello! Are you there Natalie?

So I'm racking my brain trying to figure out how pull more clients out of the woodwork and I completely miss the opportunity handed to me. What a bonehead! I'm standing here at work and the perfect couple comes in asking about teeth whitening. (For those of you that don't know, I whiten teeth during the day to keep the bread on the table and pay for my expensive photography pursuit.)

So anyway, the woman proceeds to tell her boyfriend that she would love them to have their teeth done for their wedding. And I say...Oh congratulations and continue talking about the teeth whitening process to them. Could I be any more dense? I just gave myself a pep talk on needing to take the leap by asking people if I can take their pictures and I completely bombed. I didn't even think about asking them until they stepped out of the store. Then what was I supposed to do? Run through the mall with my white lab coat on and business card in hand screaming, can I take your pictures??? Ugh....lesson learned. Always be on the look out for prospective opportunities. And who knows...If I see them again today I just might turn into that crazy lady with the business card. What's the worst that could happen? I might get a weird look or some new clients!

Why am I such a chicken?

I have been giving myself a lot of crap lately for not being further in my photography career. Asking myself: why don't you have more paying clients? why don't you have a 5d mII? And when will I book my first "real" wedding? All that hassling myself just to conclude that maybe I don't have what it takes to make it in this business.

And then I snap out of it. Of course I'm good enough! Why am I being so hard on myself in the first place? I have only had a camera in my anxious little hands for 7 months and it is completely not fair to expect so much already. Sigh...but I do. I am an over achiever and I want to be the best at everything I do. So how can I push my business along at a healthy rate and not get so down on myself about what I haven't achieved by now?

At this point I need to be more willing to jump out on a limb and ask people if I can take their pictures. I know enough people, so why can't I bring myself to ask them? I mean, I wouldn't even charge them! It's a sweet deal for both of us...so what's holding me back? My fear of rejection, of embarrassment, incompetence, or am I just being lazy? It's probably a combination.

But I have to do it! I just have to.

The pic above is one of our freebie clients...it's just harder to be turned down when the clients can't say no.