A few things you should know.

January 27, 2009 | Filed Under wandering around town | Leave a Comment 

1. The Christmas tree is finally in a box!  (It happened this past weekend.)

2. I finally uploaded my portfolio website - check out the link on the navigation bar above!

3. One of my photos is for sale on Wall Blank this week!

It’s this one.  Go get some affordable art for your walls!

A few more shots from the trip are below.  I love the bright lights and colors of a big city!

It still feels like the most wonderful time of the year!

January 15, 2009 | Filed Under wandering around town | Leave a Comment 

Or, at least, when I look back over my holiday photos, it does.

(Okay, and also because I still haven’t taken down my Christmas tree.  I threw out the box!  Why did I do that?)

I’ve started a delightful habit in the past year of renting lenses for special events.  Last summer, for a trip to Yosemite, I rented a wide-angle lens because I knew I’d want to capture the hugeness of my surroundings.  This past December I rented a tilt-shift lens to play with while I knew I’d be visiting a few fun places with people who are used to seeing me with a camera stuck to my nose.

People like my parents.

Hi Mom!  Hi Dad!  Thanks for coming to visit me this Christmas!  You can thank me later for not posting a shot of you sticking out your tongues!

We spent the Saturday after Christmas in Staunton, Virginia, mostly so that I could eat at the Depot Grille and then take in a show at the Blackfriars Playhouse, but after we ate lunch and bought our tickets, we had a full seven hours to burn!

After checking out the main streets and wandering through the alleys between, we set out toward the historic neighborhoods (seen in the distance of the photo below).  I didn’t take many pictures of the houses - though we were tempted to sell everything and move into many of them - but we climbed up the streets until we had a better view of the town.

When I spotted a giant green church in the distance, we had to walk toward it - mostly to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating!  I wasn’t, unless you are as well, because it is definitely green in these photos, right?

Behind the church was the campus of Mary Baldwin College, which I can’t wait to visit again in the spring.  Though, without the tilt-shift lens, I don’t know if it’ll be nearly as magical.  Just look at the height of those columns!  I don’t remember them being that huge in real life.

(goodbye, tiny versions of my parents!  goodbye, tilt-shift magic!)

Bryce - 5 months old!

January 8, 2009 | Filed Under baby portraits, family portraits | 3 Comments 

In the beginning of December, I drove up to Northern Virginia to take some baby and family portraits for a fellow photographer.  It was my second time to hang out with Wes and Amanda, but my first time to smoosh their baby’s cheeks.

And this little girl definitely has cheeks you want to smoosh!

Since I’m still working out the tone for this photoblog, and I have no idea what or how much to say, I’m simply going to list the things I love about this family and these photos.

For instance, I love shooting into the sun and creating these dramatic flares.

I love that Bryce didn’t mind when I looked up her nose.

I love how cheerful Bryce is, and that she would grab her feet every time she laughed.

I love those big blue eyes, and that I was able to get them to look at me.

I love capturing kids doing the things they normally do, and not expecting them to always be sitting still and smiling at the camera.

I love those cheeks, and I want to smoosh them again!

I LOVE the faces babies make!  They are often my favorites from a session.

I love getting close and capturing the tiny details.

I love the way Wes and Amanda look at their baby girl - they were overcome with delight!

I love being able to share all of this with you!