elsewhere 

Each summer, Dorothea Dix Park is home to a beautiful sunflower field that is the perfect backdrop for family photos! There are rows of flowers to explore, the perfect amount of space for a family to have fun while taking photos, and even a cool swingset and hammocks to enjoy afterward.

It was such a joy to meet Dawn, Brian, and their girls Julia & Emeline for a fall photo session back in 2020, and then I had the extra special honor of doing an in-home photo session with Dawn & the girls to capture some fun & natural mommy-daughter photos the following summer. Today you get to see both!

Spoiler alert – I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the last session I had with this sweet family as a family of three… Since we took these photos last fall, they have welcomed a baby boy & we’ve done maternity and newborn photos for them as part of the New Life Collection! I’m eager to share those photos with you all too, but it just didn’t feel right to skip over these photos and go straight to their maternity photos. Ada is too cute in these and I’ve got to share!

They ordered a gallery image and prints with their order, so they see these photos every day in their entry way, in their living room, on a nightstand… And let me say, they always decorate their home with different kinds of beautiful artwork, but not typically large personal photos of family. After saying they probably wouldn’t get a gallery image, they got a gallery image. AND, her parents now have their first large family photo in their home too! <3

“I’m excited to introduce you to Charlotte, Aaron, & their beautiful baby Dominic! Dom turned 1 year old in January (fun fact – he and my son are exactly 5 months apart!), and I was so honored to help celebrate him with a fun photo session. I think this session also goes to show that you can indeed have outdoor photo sessions in the winter in North Carolina – and with beautiful evening light at that! (Morning light works too, if your kiddos’ naptimes conflict with evening times like mine!)”

“Jessica & Ben are two of my longest clients & friends. They were the first ones to call me their ‘family photographer’ as I’ve captured all their major life moments from engagement & wedding, to maternity & newborn for their first son, to the New Life Collection with their second son. As soon as they said ‘our family photographer,’ I knew I wanted more of that! Recently I’ve fallen even more in love with maternity, newborn, & family photos, and I’m so excited to be pursuing that in a more focused way as I freeze these special moments in time for more young families!”

“I just wrapped up the New Life Collection with Jen & Niels and am so excited to share Bryce’s 1 year session! If you’re new around here – I met Jen & Niels when I captured their courthouse wedding November 2019, and we began the New Life Collection after that with maternity, newborn, and 6-month photos! I just delivered their album & some photo art gifts for their parents, and AH, what a beautiful way to showcase Bryce’s growth from belly to birthday!”

“Kate and I know each other from college at JMU, and I had the pleasure of taking Kate & Lucas’ engagement photos one cold, snowy day in Harrisonburg and then photographing their wedding in Virginia Beach back in 2014! Check those photos out on my previous blog, if you’d like. Talk about a throwback! More recently it’s been really fun keeping in touch with her over social media while we both raise little babies! …”

“Life in the time of COVID is tough to navigate sometimes, and there’s an added layer to it when you have active kids who need to move. Susanna, Bryan, and their sons David & Sam have been doing a lot of exploring by creeks & forests during the pandemic – what a great way to spend time together and get out of the house! …”

“Alicia & Edward like to celebrate milestone birthdays in extra special ways, and their daughter Abigail just turned 5 years old at the end of June! We met up at a park, recreated some photos from her first birthday photoshoot, and did some exploring. You might recognize this wonderful family from their family photos last spring and their Christmas cookie lifestyle photo session! They’re building their wall of gallery images quite nicely – see more at the end of the post! …”