Julia’s Blogfest

I am winding down here with the last of my fall portrait sessions — on-location, at least. I have a couple maternity sessions in December along with ‘Breakfast with Santa” at Harry’s preschool (my 6th and final year taking photos of 150+ kids with Santa!) and a birthday party. But for the most part, it feels good to be over the hump and what I’m most, most thankful for is that I never got sick and was able to keep the energy up and make it all happen. I don’t care how sick I get this winter, as long as it’s after Dec 20th when I think all my portrait viewing sessions and orders will be DONE and delivered! Then on to wedding albums that have taken a back seat this fall and Vegas in early February for WPPI (photography convention — the largest in the world!)!

I had another fabulous day with stunning rays of fall light peering thru the trees along the Potomac with the Lavanga family. This particular family attends Harrys preschool and despite being there for 6 years with only 100 families registered each year, I didn’t know this family so it was great to meet a new one (tho I think they have only been there a few). Another gorgeous family!

A few of my clients have ordered ‘storyboards’. A couple examples are below — they are usually 10×20 printed using 3-5 images in sequence from a session.

I have known the Jaso boys since they were 3 months and 2+ years respectively! They live behind my mom’s house and I met them shortly after I was laid off my corporate job at Discovery Channel in 2002. It was great timing b/c I really didn’t know any families with kids b/c I had been working. I was pregnant with Harry and Jackson was only 2 so I was happy to get to know another mom with small kids.

Lisa is a good friend and we have a lot of laughs when we are together. We have shared sob stories of lack of sleep when our boys were tiny and watched our two older ones play soccer together for nearly 4 years as well as well see them get their first communion this past spring. So it’s always a pleasure to do their photos b/c I feel like these boys are family to me. We had a great shoot at the historic Grist Mill in Alexandria. They recently got a [rescue] dog, Harley, and he’s GORGEOUS so he joined them for several pix. I have done a few shoots at Gril Mill this year since it reopened. It had a MAJOR renovation for the past 2 years and is one of my favorite spots if the light is right!

Another beautiful family. Another great fall day. Another great session.

I have been shooting the Condon’s for a few years now. Heather takes care of my oldest boy as she’s a fabulous PA (physician’s assistant in case you were wondering!) in an ENTs office. When we met several years ago she hired me as a photographer — her brother in law was one of my friends from HS and he had hired me to do their family portraits. Long story short, we got to talking about her work as a PA. What made the connection so powerful is that my oldest son has severe allergies — food and environmental. We had been thru 3 (count them, 3 in his short 4 1/2 years!) allergists plus one pediatric dermatologist for his eczema (another jerk). All annoyed me in one way or another and I was so discouraged — one insisted on medicating him every night with Benadryl when he was 18 months old, the other came up empty handed with remedies, the 3rd was just indifferent and rough and wanted to start him on weekly shots. God really came thru…he introduced us to Heather literally 2 weeks before Jackson was going to start getting weekly shots. Not that that doesn’t work but the inconvenience and the idea that a 5 year old would have to undergo that broke my heart. Her office has been doing ‘sublingual allergy drops‘ for years and is almost walking distance from where we live. Unfortunately, the FDA hasn’t approved this treatment and it doesn’t look like they will any time soon. Tho in Europe, they have been doing it SUCCESSFULLY for years and years. Typical. Consequently, we pay 100% of the cost out of pocket but it’s made HUGE quality of life improvements in Jackson and for us so we will continue. We are so so so grateful to have found Heather and to have found someone who can treat him with respect, kindness and with an amazingly effectively treatment. We do the drops at home, under the tongue each morning and only go to the office when he needs a refill. It’s a brilliant remedy and why the FDA ignores this as a viable option for allergic children and adults is mind bloggling! He is not free of allergies but his skin, his congestion, his incessant scratching and his IgE (immunoglobulin) levels are all HUGELY improved and will continue to improve over time. So that’s my soapbox for the day! Thanks Heather!

Here is Heather and her beautiful family.

This cracked me up of Logan b/c of her cute expression.  She was such a poser for me so I have so many great shots of her smiling.  This one was just funny b/c I think she was waiting for me while I was adjusting my camera or lens.

This gorgeous family has been a client for many years! I think even before I really advertised. I can’t recall how they found me initially but they did and I love them for being loyal! Their children are edible, and are always well behaved. I just totally enjoy seeing and shooting them. The funny thing about them is they never hire me to do a family portrait — it’s always their children, but each time I try to sneak in a couple shots of them with the kids. One of these days, I’ll do many more with mom and dad (hear me Debra?)!

We had a glorious fall day and went to Green Spring Gardens for their shoot. Fall has been especially nice in NOVA this year so I’ve been lucky with color and temps aside from a couple rainy Saturdays!

My family featured here has been so patient waiting for me to edit their photos! They came to me in late October when Baby G was 14 days old (I think, at most!). She was tiny indeed but didn’t sleep as much as I had hoped! Didn’t help that I poked and proded her for many of the poses. In any event I met Kristy through Kentlands Mansion in MD. She’s an Event Coordinator/Director there and I have participated in a couple bridal shows which are perfectly small and ideal for my type of business – as well as shot a couple weddings. I could NEVER do the HUGE Patriot Center type shows. Anyway, I wanted to offer her this session since we have chatted and emailed and all that for a couple years now and they have always been so kind to me. I was so happy to meet her husband, Eddie, too b/c we found out we both are MUTS! He and I are both mixed with Filipino blood and that cracked us up comparing family notes. I could see ‘something’ in him but I know I caught him off guard when I told him my mom hails from the land of plenty of rice! Right, Eddie? So on to Baby G — she is their first and look at her hair. Just love the richness of the dark hair. She is gorgeous and we all had so much fun hanging out for at least 2 hours. Shoot, feed, diaper change, shoot, feed, diaper….you get the drill!