July 18, 2023

Raleigh Cat Photographer

Did I just tag this post as Raleigh Cat Photographer? I certainly did. I only get about one cat-centric shoot per year which is super disappointing so I need to try and up my numbers. I’m so glad that Amanda and David didn’t let me down in this regard. I photographed them a few years back in downtown Raleigh but their cats were not present, so this was our attempt to rectify the catless situation. Amanda and David are also expecting (!!) so having a shoot with their cats was a lovely way to commemorate their pre-baby family with the kitties. Gillian is the short-haired tabby, and Genevieve is the long-haired beige-orange cat. Despite Gillian often looking grumpy, she was absolutely THRILLED to be the center of attention and followed me around to meow at me and ask me constantly to get her toys down off the bookshelf. She only looked grumpy when she’d be picked up because that was the only moment when she wasn’t receiving treats or killing a toy wand. Genevieve, however, is afraid of strangers, so she wasn’t thrilled with my presence, but did start to think of me as a walking treat dispenser and eventually her attitude turned from “hiding constantly under the shelf” to “I will come to within 4 feet of you and wait for you to toss a treat in my direction.” It was progress. They are both extremely sweet girls and exceptionally cute. Amanda and David are also sweet and exceptionally cute, and I had the best time reuniting with them to talk about submersibles and camera gear and bird apps. I know their baby will be a cat-lover and I’m very excited for all of them.

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July 13, 2023

Sasha+Brandon+Cooper+Everly+Isla // NC Family Photographer

There’s nothing better than roaming around your backyard at dusk in the summer as kid. When you don’t have school the next day, every night is the weekend. And if you’re lucky, you have lightning bugs, s’mores, lemonade, two dogs, enormous trees, a giant river, and some friends who join you for a game of Ghost in the Graveyard. I could not have been happier to capture such an evening up in Roanoke Rapids with this beautiful family! It was the perfect night and I went home happily smelling of campfires and deet. I went up to photograph Sasha and Brandon, who have the most beautiful property overlooking a huge and beautiful river where Brandon likes to fish. Sometimes he’s joined by Cooper, who alternates between fishing and swinging in a hammock and goofing around with his younger sister Everly. Cooper and Everly are super great kids. They were a total joy to photograph – both camera hams, both friendly and fun, both SO sweet to me and welcoming. Everly loves doing cartwheels and running around. Both older kids love taking care of Isla, the youngest, who follows both of them like a hawk (well, maybe a little bit slower than a hawk because she likes to wear her older brother’s Crocs and then kind of carefully teeter through the yard). All three kids love hanging out at the river enjoying s’mores and time with their parents and dogs. While we didn’t catch any fish, we did catch some lightning bugs and some great memories on camera (okay that was kind of cheesy but it was a fun night).

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July 7, 2023

Amber+Nick+Evie+Quinn // Raleigh Family Photography

It was so fun reuniting with Amber and Nick! Last time I photographed them, Amber was pregnant with Quinn, and now Quinn is an active and spunky child who really just wanted to play hide and seek instead of taking photos but who begrudgingly permitted photos anyway. She is a highly entertaining force who enjoys art, microscopes, animals, and baking. After taking a nap at school when she was younger, Quinn developed the habit of waking up at 4am, so Amber would supply Quinn with a variety of baking ingredients to occupy her. No recipe, just a bunch of different things that you could hypothetically make a cookie or a pancake with. Quinn would mix a bunch of things together to her satisfaction, and Amber and Nick then developed the tradition of actually baking whatever it was she put together and eating it (or attempting to eat it, depending on the ingredient combination I suppose). I think this is absolutely delightful. So now Quinn loves to bake. She’s still experimenting. Nick says that most of her experiments end in a crepe-like quality, so I suggested adding Nutella to the ingredient line-up, which was a stunning success according to Quinn, Amber, and Nick. Evie, the older sister, however, did not try it, which I think is potentially a safe route to take depending on experiments you’ve eaten in the past.

Evie is a total delight. She’s in high school between her freshman and sophomore year, and typically that age of people is not thought of as delightful, but Evie really is. She is kind and considerate and smart and enjoys Nirvana and the Ramones and taking Japanese. She loves her dogs and plays instruments and enjoys playing with Quinn. She’s a super good kid and I had a great time getting to know her. She has a picture of Dolly Parton holding a kitten in her room and I think that’s the best. She called Nick’s taste in music “Dad Rock” and now I realize that the term “Dad Rock” is used to describe music I listened to in high school instead of what my dad listened to in high school, and that was a startling realization on my end. Moon and Theo the Dogs also joined us – Moon is a quiet elder doggo and Theo is fluffy chaos energy and I love them both. It was so great photographing these guys all together in this moment. They are a creative and amazing family.

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