May 1, 2025

Durham Small Business Photography

My dear videographer friends at Big Dog Little Bed have expanded and are welcoming Andrea, their Creative Producer, to their team! I’ve photographed BDLB many times and we always have so much fun, but it was really wonderful seeing the energy between Janice and Andrea for the first time. They’re both encouraging and inspiring one another, and they’re truly excited and passionate about their work telling the stories of others. I was tasked with getting new headshots of everyone, documenting their process and story discovery (with help from Lauren and Jeni, our client models), and photographing their new studio setup. All of this included Bernie and Layla Bean, the BDLB dogs! Bernie, the resident Big Dog (or bigger dog in this case since she’s kind of medium-sized) is super into me right now and I’m enjoying basking in her fandom. Layla’s the resident dog skeptic who is much more like a cat. She likes me too, but really just prefers trying to keep her toys away from Bernie. It’s always fun to photograph the pups but even more fun to reconnect with this amazing local small business of which I’m a superfan. :)

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April 21, 2025

Jen + Jon // Raleigh Family Photographer

These are our BUDS. Always happy to photograph them as clients but more happy to photograph them as some of our best friends. Last year we did an on-location shoot but this year we went back to their house because SamSam, their dog, felt left out and missed me too much. I don’t know what to say about these folks that I haven’t said before but it bears repeating that I love them and I’m grateful to have friends who are family down here. We watch a lot of bad movies and occasionally some good movies and we celebrate holidays and birthdays and go through good things and bad things together and sometimes I take their pictures. Their oldest son and I are buddies – we hang out at Geoff and Jon’s softball games together where he tells me important things like “I went to Target today” and asks the hard hitting questions such as “How far is your house from here?” and about 50 other questions that start with “why” in an hour’s time. Their youngest son, who has been slightly more wary of me, is now big smiles and I’m pleased to report that he voluntarily ran up and pushed me during this session while giggling and running away, which is his first voluntary interaction with me. Soon we’ll be best buds too. However, their first and oldest child, dog SamSam, will always make sure that I’m her best friend first and foremost and will bowl over all children and people in the process (I’m going to pretend she’d do this even if I didn’t give her treats).

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January 6, 2025

Casey + Cole // Durham Couple Portraits

This was my first time meeting and photographing Casey and Cole and they were simply wonderful! Casey and I had been in communication for a while for other reasons and it was great to finally meet in person and attach a face to a name. She and Cole have been together since the 8th grade and now they’re married and living with their two hilarious dogs, Bean and Garbonzo. Bean is the black and white older sister and Garbonzo is the brown younger brother who enjoys pestering his sister as much as possible in the best way. They love each other and their parents very much and are always together (and with their little ghost squeaky toy). They were great at posing for photos (the dogs and the humans) and I loved capturing some photos of them at home doing what they all do best – reading, playing music and board games, taking a walk, and cuddling on the couch. Eventually we bid the pups farewell and took off to American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham for some photos of just Casey and Cole. It was bitterly cold this day and they were absolute champs despite a lot of shivering. It was so fun getting to know them despite the frigid temps, and I love the pictures we came away with!

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