September 7, 2023

Hillsborough Family Photographer

This session was so fun for me! Olivia and Aurora were celebrating two major milestones in their lives – Olivia graduating law school and Aurora graduating 5th grade – and I was there to commemorate this time in their family with Yahtzee, oil painting, roller skating around the living room, and hanging out with their dog Dinky. We also talked about Stephen King a lot (one of my favorite pastimes), as well as this family’s time spent living in Pittsburgh, which is my hometown. I realized later that I forgot to talk to them about Fern Gully, which they had mentioned on their contact form and is, by far, my favorite childhood movie and still my favorite animated movie – next time! I have a lot in common with these folks and it was a ton of fun hanging out with them. Olivia and Greg have been together since they were 16, so 21 years in October, which is exactly how long Geoff and I have been together (I was also 16 when we met)! They are great parents to Aurora, who is an artistic, creative, lively spirit who loves painting with her mom, talking about Stephen King with her dad, and doing flips on her aerial hammock in the living room when she’s not roller skating around it. And they’re also great parents to Dinky, a beloved 14 year-old angel of a lab mix who could not be sweeter or gentler. It was a ton of fun spending the morning with these guys out in their own little slice of Fern Gully in the woods.

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August 25, 2023

Madison+Tyler+River // Family Photographer in Durham, NC

I’ve known Madison and Tyler for many years through Janice at Big Dog Little Bed and have photographed Tyler a few times for his videographer work there. But this was my first time photographing Madison and Tyler not only has a couple, but as parents to their sweet little boy River. River is SO CUTE and also VERY COOPERATIVE AS A BABY MODEL and also LOVES TO SHOVE SWEET POTATOES IN HIS FACE. He’s fun. He smiles a ton. We taught him how to play a tambourine. He did some swing dancing. He hung out on a backyard hammock. River’s living his best baby life over there. And who can forget Margie the Dog? I painted a portrait of Margie once for my Familiar Dolls side business along with her brother Vernon, and while Vernon is unfortunately no longer with us, Margie is thrilled to have River around. She is an incredibly sweet pup who loves attention and cuddles and insisted that I take at least 5 minutes out of my working schedule to sit with her on the couch (I did). Really she insisted on more than 5 minutes but I had to work and she’s still not over it. We had such a good time together in their beaaaautiful home (that yard!). And now that Geoff’s joined Tyler’s baseball team, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to make up for lost Margie time.

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July 21, 2023

Courtney+Michelle+Maya // Family Photographer in Durham

This session was so much fun. I’ve been waiting to meet sweet Maya for a while now and she did not disappoint in her adorableness. This baby is so cute. SO CUTE. One of her favorite things is intentionally falling down on her parents’ bed repeatedly, and also looking at herself in the mirror while sitting in the dog’s bed. She is just fantastic and so are her moms, who I missed so much and was so glad to reunite with! We read books and swung in hammocks and ate bananas and gave cheese to pups and rode in wagons while singing songs about riding in wagons. It was a truly hot day, so we made two brief ventures outside before we all said “nah” and stayed indoors instead. Maya kept us all smiling and laughing despite the heat and our sadness of how Succession is over. I’m so glad I got to photograph this beautiful family in their gorgeous home at this stage in their lives! Plus I learned a new song about wagons.

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