A professional photographer sharing sessions and life in Northern Virginia
He loved this drum!
Thanks Checko’s for letting me come into your home and photograph your beautiful family.
From REAL SIMPLE’s website…
Note To Self
Get Professional Photos of Your Children
I’ve never forgotten an invaluable piece of advice that I heard from an older friend right after my first child was born. She told me, “One of my greatest regrets about my children’s childhoods was that I didn’t have more professional pictures taken.”“You didn’t take many pictures?” I asked.
“I took tons of pictures,” she said, “but the fact is, professional photographs are so much better than even the best snapshots.”
I absolutely agree—professional photos are better. And keeping her advice in mind, ever since my daughters were born, I’ve been zealous about getting their photos taken professionally at least once a year.
While it’s a lot of fun (and also a pain) to take pictures myself, it’s terrific to have some pictures that are truly excellent. These photos don’t take the place of the on-the-spot pictures that I take myself—I still take scads of photos at birthday parties, first days of school, on the slide, with a popsicle—but these pictures memorialize my children’s childhoods in a different way.
Plus they make great family gifts. I can never figure out a good present for the grandparents and great-grandparents, but they always love to get a really great photograph—especially the relatives who don’t often get a chance to see the girls in person.
Also, research shows that one way to boost your happiness is to reflect on happy times, and looking at photographs helps keep memories more vivid.
It’s a splurge, of course. Professional photos aren’t cheap.
However, I figure that the money I spend on these photographs will strengthen family bonds, enhance happy memories, and capture the fleeting moments of childhood. They give me more pleasure than practically any other purchases that I make. That strikes me as pretty good happiness bang for the buck.
A friend’s family had another great photography tradition. For her whole life, at every milestone, her parents took a picture of her and her brother sitting exactly the same way on their front stoop. It’s fascinating to see them change through the years. Along the same lines, the artist Nicholas Nixon took a photograph of his wife and her three sisters once a year for 33 years. The collection of these photographs, The Brown Sisters, is riveting.
Getting professional photos take is a great example of the tiresome fact that happiness takes thought and effort. These photographs are easy to arrange; in the scheme of things, not terribly expensive; contribute greatly to our family happiness—and yet it probably never would have occurred to me to do it if my friend hadn’t suggested it.
Rubin, Gretchen. REAL SIMPLE.
http://simplystated.realsimple.com/life/2008/03/unforgettable-a.html
You know the kind of days when you just want to cry and not do anything?
That was yesterday. It was a hard day.
I have many many things to be thankful for and there was no reason for my selfishness. I actually received a card from a high school friend and it hurt. Just plain hurt. I guess I deserved it, but it was a slap in my face. I owned up to my mistakes but I guess it didn’t really matter that much. On top of the crappy day I was having, then getting the letter was just icing on the cake. I have a hard time keeping girl friends. Not sure what it is. Out of the 4 ladies who were in our wedding, I barely speak to 2 of them. I know that after college many times you lose touch, but it just hurts. I feel I’m a good friend, but maybe I’m not. Thankfully I have my husband. He’s the person I lean on and know that I can cry on his shoulder any day. Yesterday he was there for me. He asked me about dinner and that’s when I lost it. I think its carried over to today as well. I hope tomorrow will be better. I hate feeling this down and out about life.
I’m reading Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light for a book club that meets this Sunday. Its a very intense book and it has made me realize how selfish we as Americans are. Can you imagine giving up everything and working with the poorest of the poor? Mother Teresa was pained by all of this, but she continued to do what God asked of her. That, in my opinion, is more than so many of us could ever do in our lifetime. I wish I was that dedicated. I could go and go about my thoughts from this book.
I know I’m rambling on and on about nothing. I know this week will get better – I have three sessions which I’m really excited about. Can’t wait to share them with you all.
My awesome parents!!!
My mom’s old sewing machine plus some goodies (needles, seam ripper, etc.). I’m excited to learn to sew.
My new iPhone!!! I am so pumped to have this thing. It has 16 GBs on it so I’ll be rockin’ it for years. Thanks Mom & Dad!
My hubby got me an external hard drive and this gorgeous Tracy Joy bag. Its chocolate brown and I think it fits my personality. I’ll be using this on location when doing sessions for my other lens, cards, etc.
On top of all these great things, I got a whole new wardrobe too!!! I am so pumped about this. I finally got new jeans – first time in almost 4 years!!
They dance together – how sweet is that!
I love them! Thank you so very much for taking our pictures. You were so very wonderful with our children and us. We had a great time outside in the park. It was a gorgeous day and it helped that you made it very easy for them to smile. Thanks again!
~Brooks Reid