Melt your heart in b & w

I know I already posted from this session but I could seriously just gobble these kids up.

The Big Shiny Christmas Package

Have you started thinking about Christmas cards? Yes, it's only August, but you know good and well that any day now Christmas trees are going to start popping up in the mall. (We only have 118 shopping days left- let the panic begin.)

Introducing the Big Shiny Christmas Package! (You know, cause the shiniest packages are the most fun to open.)

For $200, you'll get an awesome photo session, a personal online viewing gallery of your session images, a complimentary set of custom-designed 4x5.5 folded Christmas cards on high-quality paper, and an ordering credit of $75 to use toward an image CD, prints for grandma, or a beautiful canvas to hang over your fireplace.

And good news for my southern friends- I'll be in South Carolina in a few short weeks shooting family, kiddos, and baby sessions, just in time for you to consider your Christmas cards! I have slots available in Columbia, SC on the following dates:

Friday, October 30
Saturday, October 31
Monday, November 2

So whether you live in Maryland, South Carolina, or anywhere in between, here are your options:

Option 1: Schedule a Big Shiny Christmas Package session.

Option 2: Schedule a standard (and by standard I mean awesome) photo session ($100) with a complimentary online viewing gallery and the freedom to order whichever products you'd like: a high-resolution photo CD, a la carte prints, wall canvases, image books, and greeting cards.

Option 3: For clients who've recently had a session and don't need new shots just yet, order a pack of Christmas cards using images from your most recent session and receive 50% off a second pack of cards! (Cards are sold in packs of 25.) As a bonus, place your card order by November 1 and get a FREE upgrade to linen paper.

Option 4: Schedule a Big Shiny Christmas Package session (yup, I said it twice.)

I put a lot of work into designing cards for my clients, and since I am only one person with 24 hours in each day I'll only be accepting a limited number of Christmas orders. (I'll post some samples of this year's card designs in the coming weeks, cause they aren't displaying properly today.)

All sessions must be completed by November 14 to allow for timely delivery of products. If you'd like to schedule a session, e-mail me quick before slots fill up!

Babies are cute. Especially this one named Heath.

Before leaving South Carolina I got the chance to photograph two-month-old Heath. I've been photographing his big sister Emily for just over a year now and was so excited to meet Brennen and Paul's new little boy!

We started inside on this awesome red chair. How adorable is his little face??











Heath wasn't feeling his best, but I was amazed at how calm and happy he was once we went outside.








I always get the sweetest shots of Emily. (What can I say, the camera loves her... and vice versa.) But I'm just sharing one... this post is about her brother!














I'm so glad I got to meet the newest edition to the fam before I left. Thanks guys, can't wait till next time!

Back in action

My office is still a mountain of boxes and papers- it's become the place in the house where all the "stuff" with no home goes- but I have a small corner cleared out for my computer to live. My current options are to squeeze through the mess to my computer chair or grab my laptop and head to Panera, but either way I'm back to blogging, and I have lots to share!

A few weeks ago I had another big photo session with Kate and her hats. Besides being available in her Etsy shop, you can now get Kate's awesome hats at KD's Treehouse, a children's store in Columbia, SC! She launched an organic Tot-Toppers collection at the beginning of August and had a huge assortment to photograph before delivering the order to the store.

We had an adorable group of babies and toddlers for our model shoot. There are way too many tots and toppers for one post, but here are a few of my favorite shots. Check her site for more!








I know Kate can barely bring herself to knit these USC hats but I love them. And deep down I know she wishes she was a Gamecock instead of a Tiger.














We did a few quick headshots at the end for Kate. Meet the knitter behind the hats:





Thanks again to Kate and and all the models! Parents, if you didn't receive an e-mail with with a link to the model gallery shoot me or Kate an e-mail.

Being a duck

Turns out moving never goes as planned. Everyone warns you of that, but if you are organized like I am, you naively expect to be able to prepare for any disaster.

But when it comes down to it, the moving truck is one size too small, the goodbyes are harder than expected, the drive is three hours longer than planned, the GPS keeps saying you're in Wichita, the A/C in the house doesn't work, the cable company doesn't set up your internet properly, the friends that came to help are gone too soon, the shower organizer won't stay hanging and keeps crashing to the floor with your shampoo, and the dog won't stop barking at the children playing outside on the sidewalk.

It could be- it IS- really easy to get discouraged, but I prefer to be a duck. It's some of my favorite advice from a good friend. When ducks get pelted in a rainstorm, they don't let it penetrate their feathers- they let that water just roll right off their backs.

I mean none of those problems are really catastrophic- they are all fixable- but it's so easy to get caught up and make mountains out of molehills. Really there's not a whole lot to do except focus on the good, thank God for the way He has provided for us, and learn from all the challenges.

For now I will enjoy my morning trips to Panera until the internet is repaired. I'll take a deep breath and begin organizing a new home, throwing away clutter and and trying new decorating styles (without blowing our savings at the much-too-conveniently-located IKEA). I will bond with my furry little friend in our new routine of walking to the park several times daily for potty breaks (him not me). I'll have fun exploring a new city the best way possible- running and training for my next half-marathon. I'll appreciate the relatively mild temperatures and evening walks with Dylan and the Mr. Ri Ri. I'll be adventurous as I look for a new job. I'll make phone calls and send cards for all the birthdays I am missing back home (love you Wes and MaryO!) I'll catch up on my photo editing and some long-planned but yet-to-be-completed projects. I'll set out on a photo safari and see try to see Baltimore through artistic eyes.

And I'll try to contain my excitement as I count down to all of the visitors we have coming in September and October. Make sure to sign up soon, slots are filling quickly. : )

Just one...

...shot from my final session in Columbia. Meet two-month old Heath, brother of curly-haired Emily.



I've got a few sessions waiting to be blogged, including this one, some precious cousins, and more Tot-Toppers models. Blogging will be sporadic (at best) over the next week or so as we move and set up life in Baltimore.

I promise to return with catch-up postings as well as pictures of my new city!

It's a love/hate relationship

Love: My new iPhone

Hate: Experience so far with AT&T

Too bad you can't have one without the other.

It has only been five days since I signed a contract with AT&T and I am about to pull out all my hair. And really, of all times to stress me out (with four phone calls for help, seven customer service agents, nine different stories and still no solutions to my problems), the week that I am moving is not the time to do it.

So I choose to focus on the amazingness that is my new toy. I haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet, but it certainly seems to be more fun that one purse should be able to contain. (Pardon the sketchy picture.)





Anybody have recommendations for favorite downloads from the App Store?

True blue boys

I don't know what it is these days, but there are boys everywhere. I feel like the vast majority of my shoots are boys and all my pregnant friends are having boys. Where are all the little girls? Is there something in the water?

Anyway, if you want the definition of 100%, rough-and-tumble, bug-finding, ball-playing, happy, healthy, through-and-through boys, look no further.





Poor Tonya has had to reschedule literally every session we've ever done, because without fail one of her boys ends up with a black eye or a scraped face. But what can you do- boys will be boys! We finally got everyone in one piece and headed out to Riverfront Park in downtown Columbia.

I love how caring Zackary is with his little brother Seth. These boys have the perfect amount of sweetness mixed in.











I can't believe how much this guy has grown since I first photographed him just over a year ago


























I've loved watching these guys grow so much in the past year. I'm going to miss your family Tonya- can't wait to see you over the holidays!