May 8, 2019

At Six Years

Ohhh, dear friends, you all know sweet Vivi! In case you are new here, below are my chronicles of Vivi’s life:
Vivi at two
Vivi at three
Vivi at four
Vivi at five
She is, without a doubt, the absolute sweetest girl and I adore her. She’s in school now (what?!) and also has entire conversations with me about all sorts of things (what?!). I realize that’s just normal behavior for a six year old, but I still can’t believe I’ve been photographing her for this long to have seen her change so much. She’ll likely be taller than me either next year or the year after. AND, and this year, while I’m still not technically posing her, she has started posing herself and telling me what to do: “Take a close-up of me here,” and “Maybe you should get a picture of that plaque on the bench?” were my most frequent instructions this year. She’s also a lot more safety-conscious… no longer running blindly toward dangerous situations, but instead standing quietly by bodies of water and being slightly concerned about falling in like the rest of us. But, some things have not changed: I’m still sprinting after her quite frequently, and she still loves and talks about Geoff (he’s retired so he wasn’t present at her session, she still remembered him!). She’s also still wearing the BEST cat shoes (similar to her cat boots from year four), and I’m still doing GIFs with her (she chose a running-in-place GIF this year, also similar to year four). Vivi – I am so glad that you are my subject each year and that I’m helping to capture you growing up (insert crying emoji here).

Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC
Children’s Portrait Photographer in Durham, NC

say nice things

May 6, 2019

Clare+Dan+Harper+Lyla // Durham Family Photographer

Doing at-home lifestyle family documentation is normally a very fun thing to do, but it becomes even more fun when the family is British and have fun accents, and when their 3-year-old daughter makes you tea. Clare and Dan live in a phenomenal old neighborhood in Durham that reminds me a bit of my old ‘hood in Pittsburgh. And their house is adorable, bright, fun, and 100% complete with KISS Mr. Potato Head dolls. They moved from the UK to America several years ago and first landed in Los Angeles, and then hopped across the US to land in Durham. From across the pond they bring with them their wonderful senses of humor but also the knowledge of this British kid’s television show involving a cute monster-looking guy whose name currently escapes me but was reminiscent in the best ways of My Pet Monster (which was brilliant). Harper likes this monster, but also Daniel Tiger and Peppa Pig, and also occasionally snacking on goldfish crackers straight off the pond on top of the dollhouse that Clare painstakingly made her. Baby Lyla is happy and sleepy, and not yet appreciative of all of Clare’s household crafts (of which there are many fabulous ones!). I had a great time hanging out with this family and learning such phrases like being “duffed up on the nugget.”

1 nice things said

April 2, 2019

Beth+Darrin // Durham Family Session

You guyyys, meet Beth and Darrin! Beth is the absolute mastermind behind Early Bird Photo and also serves as the photographer for Chapel Hill, Durham, and Chatham Magazines because she’s brilliant. She also sews (she made the kickass dress with pockets she wears in the second half of this session!) and reads and likes to tell you about their dogs and is a total joy. She’s outgoing and easy to talk to and there was a lot of lamenting on both of our parts about the struggles and joys of growing your hair out, cutting it back off again, only to grow it out once more. Darrin, meanwhile, likes to ferment stuff. He ferments a lot of things! Apparently there’s a garlic habanero sauce that is fermented that sounds like I might be tempted to eat it with a spoon but then that would also be a mistake. He also enjoys gardening and cars.

They have two dogs: Willow the Sweet and Fearful, and Rooney the Cutest Dog Butt. Willow spent literally 100% of her time with us actively running away in fear or hiding behind her parents and shaking. We photographed her from far away, did not make eye contact, and did not approach, but it was still SHEER TERROR and she hated every minute of it (hope she doesn’t leave a Yelp review). Rooney, however, is indeed the Cutest Dog Butt, and is fluffy and small and extroverted. He was not fearful despite being a tenth of Willow’s size.

We documented this joyful family of 4 together at all of their favorite spots around town to celebrate Beth and Darrin’s 6+ years together, and now we have four (well, maybe three) new friends. Thanks to Pie Pushers, Letters Bookstore, and Bull McCabe’s for permission to shoot some photos inside!