Cherry Blossoms 2015 Part 1| Nature Photographer

I absolutely love photographing the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in Washington DC. This year, peak dates were delayed due to the cold weather, so I was able to get there during that time (first weekend in April) to take some sunrise photos. I went again with my good friend Kathy; she and I had gone two years ago and photographed the trees at sunset, so we thought we'd mix it up this year and hit sunrise instead. This meant bundling up against the cold, finding a parking spot not too far from the Tidal Basin (which was easier than we thought it would be), and finding just the right spot to get started.

Rising Stars Interns | Dance Photographer

In January, I had the opportunity to photograph a large number of dancers at my children's dance school. Through a series of unforeseen circumstances, the photographer who had been hired to do the action photography on stage ended up leaving during the dress rehearsal, so I was asked to step in at the last minute. I wasn't fully prepared, but did have my favorite lenses on me, and so I think I was able to capture the dancers as requested! I don't really want to post the photos I took of the little ones here, so instead I will focus on the high school age Interns, who dance with the little kids on stage. In addition to helping out the young ones, they also do their own opening and closing number. These girls are beautiful dancers and very sweet with the little kids, so I was glad to have the opportunity to get to capture them dancing!

A birthday photo shoot | Leesburg VA Child Photographer

Last month my son turned 5. On that day, we actually scheduled our very own family photo shoot! This photographer has to get her own photos taken too, right? As much as I love photographing my little ones, I can't exactly be in those photos!

When we arrived for our shoot, the previous family was running a bit late, so we had some time to kill. In order to entertain my kids, and to get some shots of them while they were looking their best, I did my own quick photoshoot with them.

 

Miss A: Senior Portraits | Portrait Photographer

Last fall I did a senior portrait shoot of a colleague's daughter. She's absolutely lovely; a beautiful girl both inside and out! I had already posted her "sneak peek" album on Facebook, and so I wasn't in a huge hurry to get these photos up here on the blog...but since just this past week I attended her graduation party, and on Wednesday she officially graduated from high school, I thought I would finally put up a few of my favorites. Best of luck to this lovely lady as she heads off to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in the fall!

St. Louis Zoo | Animal Photographer

I absolutely adore taking photos of animals. So when I spent two days at the St. Louis Zoo for work, I could not pass up the opportunity to explore the zoo and capture the animals there. It was difficult to weed out my favorite animal photos here, and not post too many of the elephants, sea lions, and penguins (all of which I took many photos of!), but I did my best.

 I was so excited to find out that they have a red panda, as those are my absolute favorite zoo animals!

Bar Harbor, ME | Travel Photographer

In my previous post I highlighted my favorite photos from a day spent in Portland, ME. The next day I found myself 3.5 hours north on the tiny island of Bar Harbor. 

Portland, Maine | Travel Photographer

My last post (lighthouse on Cape Cod) was a hit, so I thought I would follow that up with more photos from lovely New England. Last summer while in Maine for work, I had the chance to photograph two different locations: the area around Portland, and then the island of Bar Harbor. Both of these locations were two of the most beautiful that I've had the chance to visit for work. I will start here with Portland, where I had a few hours to kill while waiting for a colleague. I headed to the water front and enjoyed walking around the town (including eating some delicious food!).

Cape Cod Lighthouse | Travel Photographer

At the end of March, I ventured out to the very cold Cape Cod with my family. We didn't really have a destination in mind (sometimes those kinds of trips end up being the best!); we just wanted to see somewhere we had never seen before. We ended up venturing down to Woods Hole, and thanks to Google maps I saw that the Nabsko lighthouse was just outside of town. We were the lone car headed out to the lighthouse, and I am so glad we did. Despite the chill, it was beautiful in the sun, with the ocean wind blowing at us!

Sheep | Animal Photographer

There's a spot on Route 15 north of Leesburg that I drive past fairly often. There's a beautiful farm, and hillside that is always covered in sheep and goats. I kept telling myself that I would stop and take photos there at some point, but over the past few years I keep failing to do so. Well, a couple of weeks ago I finally did, and despite the less than perfect lighting, and cloudy skies, I am happy with how these came out (including a little pop with editing in Lightroom)

Even with shooting from at least 20 yards away (using my 85mm lens), I still attracted a little bit of attention. I was hoping a couple would come closer to me, but unfortunately none did. It was still fun to observe and capture them from a distance!

Love is Good | Leesburg Child Photographer

During Valentine's week, the theme for the Weekly Photo Project was "Love is Good". I had a couple of ideas for photos, including setting something up similar with the kids to what I did last year. Ultimately, I decided to shoot my children with a few of the things they love the most: their "lovies". I did see this as an idea on some photography site (I can no longer remember which!), and I was so happy with how it came out. I instructed the kids on where to lie, and then captured moments as they presented. Love these faces!