personal :: spring 2019

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In the fall, our family moved from the city to what I like to call psuedo-country. We found an old farm house on a little acre of land that abuts the woods but is still under 20 minutes from the city and made our best offer. Now we call it home. The change has been drastic in some ways, but also a homecoming and a relief! We’re so happy to be here in this sweet spot where our kids can run wild and free and nature can be a balm to heal and replenish us.

I’ve been taking many photos since we moved, and I thought I’d share some of them in this space so you can see how I also celebrate the sacred ordinary of my own life, just as I’m always trying to encourage others to hire me to do with them, and teaching others to do on their own.

My Light + Life Workshop is back by popular demand and there are a few spots left. Join me for a casual and friendly retreat-like day to learn how to use your DSLR camera for all that it’s worth (yup, you’ll learn how to shoot in manual mode so you can have better technical results) AND how to tell a meaningful story with your images. Food and drinks are included, and so is a practice shoot followed by gentle critique.

And now back to the part where you can see MY family in its raw, unscripted form. I love these people and this life so much…

fresh 48 :: gwen marian

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When I photograph a home birth it often involves slipping into a home in the dark of night and leaving again before dawn when the older siblings awaken. And in those cases, having me come back the next day in the daylight to photograph the entire family together after rest and freshening have happened for the mama and daddy. So that’s what we did here (you can find their birth story blogged over at Sister Birth).

This family is so sweet, and I love the enthusiasm coming from each of the older siblings over their new baby sister.

Additionally, this family opted to have some extended family present during the Fresh48, so we were sure to get them into some shots as well. Both baby’s great-grandmother and Auntie are pictured here…

family photojournalism :: the kuchan family 2019

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I love this family’s funk and fashion. They’re so delightful, with creativity and nurture pouring out of them. I always feel right at home amongst them, and their steady life is grounding and peaceful. These are some of the reasons why I’m so glad they have another child. Thought I’ve known them since their Meris was a tiny baby, it was so sweet to meet Alaster and document some of what their life has been like now that he is in it.

Don’t miss the opportunity to make images like these of your own unique and wonderful family. Each family has it’s own flavor and culture and EVERY one is wondrous.

family photojournalism :: the s-t family in california

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Sometimes life offers you an opportunity to head to sunny CA in the thick of a dreary MI winter. And if it does, of course you say yes. Yes to photographing the sweetest family whom last you saw and photographed when their son was yet in utero and they lived in NYC. Yes to spending a weekend in their in-law suite and enjoying a snippet of spring-like weather all by yourself — a break from mothering and running a household and wearing winter gear.

So here it is: the results of the long in-home session with this amazing family. They’re loving, smart, intentional, resilient and deep-soul people. And they are raising this darling son with such grace and so many beautiful opportunities.

So even if you aren’t in MI, there IS a chance I’d come to shoot your family or event wherever the heck you are! I usually do considerably reduced sessions if you cover my airfare and a place to stay for a couple of nights. I love the chance to travel and see how families live all over the country and then to help them tell their stories.

family photojournalism :: the dickert family

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Saturdays are for slow starts, waking slowly to the light peeking through the crack between the curtains and across the family bed. They’re for stumbling downstairs in pajama pants to get the first cup of coffee, then playing on the floor. They’re for cuddling and conversation, and certainly no agendas.

And all of this is unfolding for one of the last times for this family in this home, for just after I left their house from shooting this session, they got to work on staging and listing it for sale. They’re saying goodbye to the home to which Miller came from the hospital so that they can pursue another, wilder and greater future home.

These sessions meant to mark the end of a season in a beloved home are amongst my favorite. This is the perfect excuse for an in-home documentary photo shoot.

Scroll through these normal Saturday morning moments and let them inspire you to see the beauty in your own family’s ordinary weekend rhythms. Then, after the main section of photos there’s a sweet little “staged” moment of another typical event in this family’s life, which is simply adorable.

Goodbye, sweet house.

……………..

Bailey and George also really wanted to reenact another treasured ordinary event that has to do with when George leaves for work, which he didn’t actually have to do during our session time, so we “staged” it. See, George works for the army, and each morning when he gets up and puts on his boots on the stairs by the front door, Miller crawls over and up, insisting on being held by his daddy as he laces them up.

Even if it doesn’t fit the story flow from the photos above, it was too sweet not to share…