I still have a few families to catch up on for some blogging fun, and I wanted this week to feature this laid back Baltimore, MD family. I’ve had the pleasure of photographing them since the daughter was a year old and it’s been such a joy to watch her grow through my lens (and to then meet her little brother and see him grow!) The laughter and love between them is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

© lux amoris 2011

Now that the holidays are over, I can share some of the family sessions I’ve been working on! I didn’t want to spoil the Christmas Card surprise for the families that had me design their holiday cards this year.

I truly love being a family photographer in Harford County. We have some seriously gorgeous locations around here!

This beautiful family met up with me at one of my favorite fields at sunset to capture some portraits for their cards. We had a lot of fun laughing and cracking jokes at each other. The little boy is one of my favorite kids– he is so genuine and spunky and hilarious. And baby sister is so sweet and calm, one of the most photogenic little beauties I’ve ever seen.

© lux amoris 2011

I look forward to seeing this handsome guy every year. He has a great personality, which you will see below, he is one of the most well behaved kids I’ve had the pleasure of working with, and he’s pretty darn cute! We met down at one of my favorite Baltimore County fields right at sunset to make some beautiful portraits for their holiday cards.

Love this light! Isn’t he a total sweetheart?

He is always one of my best dressed clients each year.

The bond between a mother and son is so beautiful.

Look at the way they love each other!

Mr. GQ.

And a taste of his real personality shining through. I love the silly!

© lux amoris

A few weekends ago, I had the pleasure of working with this fabulous family from Hunt Valley, MD for their fall family portraits. Talk about having a blast– these kids were all smiles and giggles the entire time. Even when an acorn fell right out of the sky on the little guy’s head, he jumped right back in the game with a smile on his face. Mom and Dad, you are going to have a trio of heartbreakers on your hands.

Does it get any better than this? Laughing in the sun is a great way to start your family portraits.

Some girl time. I love Moms and Daughters– they share a special bond that you just don’t see anywhere else.

And of course, we can’t leave out the boys in a typical father-son roughhousing moment. Do they look alike or what?

I am always sure to get a few minutes with just Mom and Dad for a couples portrait. And it helps to have my 3 new assistants trying to get their parents to smile for the camera!

Aren’t these some gorgeous kids?

Sibling snuggles. I love seeing relationships in how the kids decide to cuddle up.

A headshot of each. These three were some of the best behaved kids, and with a great sense of humor. They had me laughing the whole time.

Each of these family portraits needs to stand alone. I can’t decide which of these three I like better. Snuggled and laughing…

…the family playing…

…or the family cuddled up and smiling together.

Which is your favorite?

© lux amoris 2011

I have been literally counting down the days until this family portrait session. A fellow Baltimore photographer’s family recently welcomed into their arms and hearts a beautiful little girl from China. I was jumping for joy at the chance to document their love together as a new family of five. And what love they share! Big brother and sister just adore their newest sibling and laugh and love and play together as if they’ve known each other their entire lives. It was truly a heartwarming evening, and I feel privileged to have been able to witness it.

They met me at my favorite field here in Bel Air, MD (may it rest in peace, as 3 days ago it was bulldozed to make way for a shopping center) and I sat back with a smile on my face and a camera in my hand to watch the magic unfold.

For family sessions, I prefer to sit back and give everyone a chance to just be themselves. Silly, serious, playful, cuddly… I want to document you being YOU for your family portraits. And these guys were experts at it! No sign of PCS (photographer’s child syndrome, which my children suffer from extreme cases…. as soon as that black box comes out, they either run and hide, or roll their eyes at me and make faces the entire time)– just perfect interactions, perfect laughter, perfect love.

I know this session was supposed to be dedicated to family images, as Mom is a talented photographer, but I couldn’t help myself and had to get at least one image of each beautiful kiddo.

And of COURSE I needed one of all three. I can’t get enough of these kids– talk about adorable. And well behaved. And photogenic. And loving.

Laughing, laughing, laughing. I love it!

Ok, that little boy TOTALLY cracks me up. He’s a character.

Mom and her daughters, loving on each other.

And the boys of the family- I love the interactions between father and son.

I think this is my favorite family image of the day. I love how the apples play off the red in their outfits.

and yes, I still love silhouettes. We had to climb Mt Everest to get here, it felt like, and I was caked in mud by the time we were done, but I would say it was worth it, wouldn’t you? This was total spur of the moment, of Dad and the girls, more of a test shot to check the light….and I fell in love.

The clouds were rolling in fairly quickly as you can see, but we had just enough time to get a few family silhouettes before beginning the trek back down the hill.

It was a magical evening. I feel lucky to have been a part of it.

© lux amoris 2011

Three times a charm, they say, and this was certainly the case with this beautiful Ellicott City family. We had a heat advisory reschedule, a severe thunderstorm reschedule and we were THIS close to scheduling the session during the hurricane. The stars finally aligned recently and we were able to have our Love Story session.

We started out with some snuggles and reading one of her favorite books to give this delightful little girl some time to warm up. Curious George is awesome!

Then we moved on to some of her favorite things– her dolls. She just cracked me up! I love working with children because they are so natural, so real, for the camera. From fits of giggles to her own private language (and some good ol’ toy tossing and rolling around in the grass), she not only kept me on my toes but had me laughing the whole time. I wish I could bottle up some of that energy and keep it for myself!

You can’t leave out Mom and Dad! When was the last time you had a portrait taken of just you and your spouse? Your wedding? Don’t be shy!

Rolling in the grass with Daddy! So much fun!

A rare quiet moment with Mommy and with Daddy. It melts my heart.

Daddy-Daughter laughter! I think wrestling around with Daddy is a universal thing. Daddies are made for fun.

Snuggles and laughter with Mommy, also a universally happy thing.

And all three. Can’t you just feel the love?

The delightful, spunky, silly, beautiful, smart queen of the castle. Look at that mischievous twinkle in her eyes– she just radiates fun.

More family cuddles and love.

And finally– rolling in the grass. My favorite!

I truly think we laughed the whole time. There was never a dull moment with this little girl. She reminds me SO much of my own daughter, I just loved working with her.

And now for the BEST part!

Many people ask me what the main difference is between the signature Your Story session and the luxury Love Story session. There are a lot of little differences that I would be happy to go over in detail with you if you are interested, but here is the big one… all Love Story sessions include a videographer who will be quietly documenting your memories. I’ll take that video and combine it with your portraits to create this:

What do you think? What better way to preserve your memories than a beautiful slideshow fusion of video and still photographs, to really document your Love Story.

© lux amoris 2011

I recently blogged this session from my Mother’s Day event. Well, their little man has made his big arrival and I was very excited to head to their house for a very non-traditional session. He was older than my typical newborn, so we didn’t do the curled up, posed and sleeping shots as he wasn’t too interested in sleeping all that much, and instead focussed on interaction shots with the family.

He was a bit sleepy when I arrived, and cat napped periodically throughout the session. And check out those toes! I swear, baby feet are the best.

The handsome prince.

Cuddled in the glider. Such a proud big sister! There’s no place better in the whole wide world than in mommy’s arms/lap.

Daddy playing a lullaby to his little one. So sweet. Then big sister came along to play a song to the baby, too.

A sweet family portrait with their guitar. I love musical families.

Everybody snuggle! A glimpse into the loving chaos of two under two.

Somebody loves her new brother. She was a very attentive and loving big sister!

And a few of the Big Man, himself. He was big into sticking out his tongue, and it cracks me up!

This baby boy was a riot to photograph. He was extremely expressive, ranging from little bursts of those cute random-baby-smiles to looking Very Serious and Concerned. He mostly seemed to hover around Grumpy Old Man, which I love seeing on little babies. Adorable!

© lux amoris 2011

I was contacted recently by a local photographer for some one-on-one mentoring, specifically about shooting silhouettes. Now, it’s no secret that I am borderline obsessed with shooting sunset silhouettes (say that three times fast!), so I thought it would be fun to work with someone else on them.

A little location scouting in Harford County, MD led us to a sweet little spot tucked away in Bel Air. You can shoot a silhouette in the most surprising of places, as long as you can get low enough to lose the clutter on the horizon. I should have taken a pull back shot to demonstrate– I think next time I will.

Starting this month, I am offering private photography mentoring. Rates will be published shortly on the main webpage, but for now feel free to contact me for more information. Topics of instruction can cover general business including pricing, portfolio reviews and critique, a pick-your-brains session where you can fire any sort of questions at me over coffee, or a full day of shooting/editing/business talk. These meetings can occur over coffee for the local folks, or via skype for those non-local to the Baltimore metropolitan area.

© lux amoris

I’m taking a little break in my regular blogging schedule to put the spotlight on an older set of sessions that never made it to the blog on my old website.

Back in May, I held the Third Annual Mother’s Day Mini Session event! A few of the sessions made it to the blog, but not all of them, and I want to finish featuring my beautiful families.

I wanted to go simple for this mini session event. A couch in a beautiful field of tall grass, focusing on the love between mother and child. (I did specify, however, that Dads were more than welcome to participate in this event!)

This little girl was about to be a big sister! (Next week we will meet Baby Brother here on the blog). Mom was just glowing– don’t you love when you meet women who just radiate when they are pregnant? Some people have all the luck– you have the folks like me, who just look like beached whales and somehow we end up pregnant in the face and butt and thighs as well, and then you have women like this. Pregnancy just agrees with her, don’t you think? Beautiful.

A loving happy family– doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

That top image of Mom and kids in the grass has got to be one of my all-time favorites. And check out those outfits– she REALLY knows how to dress a family for portraits, doesn’t she? The color palette coordinates, everyone is an individual, but they blend so well. Love it. Thumbs up, Mom!

Sisters. There’s nothing like a bond between 2 sisters, is there? Totally adorable.

This family is one of my favorite repeat clients. I’ve been photographing them for a little over 2 years now and each time they come by I am always impressed by his sweet nature. He listens SO well, and it’s clear that he adores his mama. And check the details– do you see the ring and bracelet Mom is wearing? He made the bracelet for her and picked out the ring for the portrait session. Doesn’t that just melt your heart? I love it.

Ending on one of my favorites- the silhouette. I love sunset silhouettes. Love!

It was SO difficult to narrow down which images to share here! Beautiful families, beautiful expressions, beautiful clothes, beautiful field. All in all, a perfect day up here in Harford County, MD!

© lux amoris 2011

This amazing Bel Air, MD family was one of my New Year contest winners, and they joined me at my Mother’s Day event in Harford County recently! (the rain date, as the original mother’s day event was experiencing those fun monsoon-type rainstorms) They were real pros, laughing and playing as if I wasn’t there during their portrait session..

The elder daughter is so perfectly photogenic that I wanted to photograph her all day. Not only was she perfect at taking direction, but she had the most beautiful eyes. The younger daughter was the perfect toddler. All over the place and full of fun. When she laughed, she laughed with her whole body. (that is my favorite kind of laughter!). And the boy? He was a RIOT. He kept making the silliest of faces to see if I would catch him, and was an amazing help at getting his little sister to giggle.

I hope that when my children grow to be a bit older, that they act anything like these kids. Sweet, great manners, and really good to each other.

Check out those happy faces! The bottom image is my 2nd favorite from the session. My favorite is still to come, posted a bit further down…

More family lovins, and taking a stroll. Well. Jog. But hey– parents got a great workout and the kids laughed hysterically the whole time.

As they were joining the Mother’s Day event, I thought it important to include a shot of mom with her babies. Most moms do whatever they can to shy away from the camera. It’s natural, I know you can’t help it. I do the SAME thing. There’s always some excuse. My makeup isn’t done. My hair is a mess. I hate this outfit. Well…. I’ve got to tell you, you have to get OVER it! When your child looks back on the photos, they aren’t going to be sitting there picking your appearance apart the way you do. They will look at the photo and see how much they were/are loved. I know this, because that’s how I feel about my own mother’s photos. I’ve always loved looking through her old photos, and the ones that are most important to me are like that. The two of us hugging, playing, running, laughing. Loving. I may not have any memories of the particular day the photo was taken, but seeing us together makes me remember the LOVE we had back then, the special bond between a mother and her child.

And Dads, you aren’t exempt. Dads have a different, but just as special, bond with their kids. In fact, that inspires me– I think we need to have a Daddy portrait event. Why should Moms get all the fun? (I promise you, Dads out there: it will be FUN. I won’t make you sit uncomfortably, faking a smile. Just you playing with your kids. Roughhousing. Tickling. Laughing. Loving.

My favorite image of their session. I made this into a 20×30 sample canvas and can I say that it looks AMAZING? If you came to see me at the Toddler Fair saturday, then you saw it at the front of my booth. AMAZING!

© lux amoris