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Julia’s Blogfest bio picture

Welcome to Julia's Blogfest!

Hi!  Thanks for checking out my blog.  I am Julia -- mother to 2 boys, wife to a fabulous guy I have known since I was 15, daugther to a gorgeous 75 year old mom who grew up during WWII in the Philippines, and connoisseur of all things photography.  I am both a wedding and portrait photographer based out of Northern VA; my hometown.  I love both so I can't just give up one.  I also spend a fair amount of my time coordinating and volunteering for the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep foundation -- a charity that provides infant bereavement photography to families who unexpectedly lose a baby.  This blog is a compiliation of all that I shoot both professionally and personally so feel free to check back often, subscribe and/or leave comments so I know I'm not blogging in vain!  Also, feel free to look up my work by category using the Nav Bar above (click on Galleries) -- if you are looking for baby photographer, families or weddings, etc.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy what you see!

Welcome to the TUNDRA

Twitter’s trending word topics for the DC area during this massive HISTORIC, EPIC, monstrous, dangerous (I’m just using the words the media has used) include:  snowpocalypse, snowtoriousbig and snomageddon and my favorite, snOMG (as in oh my god).

Our family just ventured out for about an hour and it’s insane.  Many layers required — so as to NOT be able to walk or move arms easily.  Then it’s fine.  I had to borrow my husband’s long johns that, thankfully, shrunk in the wash last time so now they’re mine.  I was wearing an ugly, puffy, red, marshmallow-looking down LLBean jacket and some 1985 bright yellow snow pants I found last week (as I purged my closet for this impending move)…so I looked magazine-model-smokin’-hot ready!  But I was warm.  I measured 18″ in one spot but it was def more in other places as it topped my knees!  We def have snow drifts.

My boy is there — this is NOT out of focus (look at his teeth!) the wind was making the snow horizontal!!!!

Jack was making a single path to get to the street.  We are not bothering with shoveling the driveway.  Yet.

PURTY house.

The snow is nearly up to Harry’s thighs. 

February 6, 2010 - 3:32 pm ingrid - Haha, I love all the coined snowstorm phrases. I think all this snow is a hoot. I love it. =)

Headshots

I have been running a Professional Headshot promotion for Feburary and have actually had some amazing women come in already.  I wanted to share some of these images as well as  promote the great work these ladies do!  I absolutely LOVE getting to know all of them and look forward to doing more and profiling those folks and their businesses soon!

Carolyn Semedo is the founder and facilitator of The Enterprising Moms.  She is incredible at bringing together a community of women who are professionals, entrepreneurs and small business owners in all industries who are also mom’s trying to find that delicate balance of work + homelife.  She was interviewed for a Washington Post Magaine article that ran last week.  I did her headshots for that article.  Here’s a link to read it — all about the elusive “TIME” we all try to capture and/or maximize in our lives.

I met Carrie Sessine, also an enterprising mom, this year as our boys are both 1st graders at Ft. Hunt Elementary and best of buddies.  Carrie is an public relations consultant specializing building and executing programs for clients in health, wellness and consumer products. For more than a decade she has been helping clients find their voice and deliver messages that generate exposure and build their reputation.

Christine Clapp is yet another Enterprising Mom.  She is relaunching her website soon and wanted to update her headshot.  Her business is teaching effective communication and public speaking skills to young professionals.  A skill everyone needs as Public Speaking is one of the most stressful events people claim to experience!!!  Right up there with a move, a new job, or the death of a loved one!   Her website is SPOKEN WITH AUTHORITY.  She currently teaches workshops and offers coaching to enable professionals to overcome their fears of speaking publically.

Dr. Kim Jessie was one of my brides and is a regular portrait client as her family grows!  I feel so honored to be such a part of her life on a regular basis when it comes to photography!  Dr. Jessie is a child psychologist with a specialty in psychological testing and psychotherapy with children and families.  She’s been in private practice since 2000.  She received her PhD in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Memphis in 1998 and worked at the Lab School of Washington for 2 years before going into private practice.  Her office is in downtown Bethesda.

January 25, 2010 - 10:00 am aileen - i love these. what a wonderful way to meet new and inspiring women! gorgeous shots. they must be so pleased with this decision!!

January 29, 2010 - 5:37 pm Lizette - These are wonderful Julia! I'll be calling you soon.

So new | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

This was a great session.  The Roebuck family was given this newborn session as a baby shower gift from mom’s childhood friend.  How generous is that?  Little Master Roebuck was just over 2 weeks old in this session.  He was born during our massive December 22″ snowstorm!  Talk about a monumental entrance!

January 20, 2010 - 6:35 pm Delvina Wynn - These photos are absolutely beautiful. What a wonderful experssion of love.

January 21, 2010 - 6:21 pm Katie J - I love the one with the blurry lights in the background!

Moving Up — Gold Belts in Tae Kwon Do

So proud of my boys who graduated to their yellow belt level from white belt in mid-December.  Because of the snow and holidays, they just got it last night in class!

January 19, 2010 - 1:08 am Kerry - Congrats to the MacInnis boys! They have worked hard!

Promotion: Professionals Week/Headshots — $50 of each session to go to Haiti Relief

UPDATE:  Since posting this blog initially, the devastating Earthquake in Haiti has happened and prompted me to donate $50 from EACH session to FOOD for the POOR.  This charity has offices and a distribution center in Port au Prince and I will be specifying the $$ to go there.  I have raised $250 so far and am hoping to get more sessions booked in order to give more!  Thank you!

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I’m so excited to have some quiet time for the next couple of months!  Only a few on-location sessions (for the brave ones in the cold)  and a handful of newborn sessions. But one thing I am doing this year is offering some business headshots since it is my quiet season.  I have done several of these over the course of the past couple of years for a handful of requests I get.  It’s not something I want to do a lot of but I see a real need among business owners that have horrible headshots on their Facebook Fan pages or on their website or business cards.  I’d like to help change that for them as we often introduce ourselves online for business prospects and how we project ourselves really matters.

So if you are a new business or established one and need  a good headshot or an updated one, I am offering a SPECIAL in Feburary.  See info below and please help pass the word along!

January 26, 2010 - 2:12 pm Elise Simons - Wish I lived closer - I so need a current, professional head shot!!