I’ve been photographing my friends here over in Holly Springs for so many years – from when Sara and Sam were just a couple, to when their son was super little, to now when he’s in his school age years and obsessed with towers. The towers are new to this year. He loves towers of all types, but mostly towers that include sirens. One of his favorite activities is pretending he’s a tower with a siren, which involves standing completely still, arms above his head, emanating a high-pitched noise… all while making his parents find the base of the tower somewhere in the room, which is always invisible. The siren impressions are quite accurate and impeccable, and he can tell you about all sorts of famous towers with sirens all over the world. When he’s not talking about sirens, he enjoys talking about cats, reading, and playing video games.

Miss Poofy the Cat loves him and is totally cool with the siren sounds and the tower building. It was an honor to photograph her beautiful poofy self again, along with some photos of Biscuit, the super cute tabby with the orange who poses with very cartoon-wide eyes when offered treats. Bandit, their third kitty, did not make an appearance for this photoshoot but she sends her kind feline regards. Also a joy to photograph some of Sara and Sam this year making cookies for their annual Cookie Week at their house, where they bake a ton of different types of cookies (a delicious and wonderful tradition!).

I’ve worked with this family several times in my life and every time I do I’m better for it. Not just because they’re wonderful people but they’re also some of the funniest I’ve met, so I always come away with new jokes and songs. This time they taught me a song about peeing and a song about how you don’t have to wash black socks because they never look dirty. I think it goes without saying that I love them all and their three dogs. They’re such a fun bunch and they treat me like family every time, no matter how long it’s been since I’ve seen them. They also like Legos. Like, pretty extravagant Legos that take a long time to build and I respect that. I had a great time visiting with this hilarious crew, building Legos, fighting with lightsabers, blowing bubbles, swinging on hammocks, knocking down blocks and eating donuts. So happy to have them be a part of my client family! Much love to Robert and Julie, Hannah and Benny, Ben and Jen, and the kids!

These folks (and their cats) are near and dear to my heart! I met them back when they were a husband and wife photography team, photographed them after they had changed careers and before they had Julian, then photographed them most recently in early 2020 when Julian was just learning how to walk. Now Sara has grown her astrology business into a super successful career and has published books and planners, Sam works for a major company, and Julian is not only walking but flying between rooms. It’s been so fun to see the changes in all of them throughout the years. Their adorable cats, though, have held steady and are exactly the same and still very adorable. Biscuit and Miss Poofy (see if you can determine who is who) made appearances in exchange for treats and head scratches and were very good models. Julian is a little wild ball of 4 year-old energy that is friendly and sweet and LOVES cats. He also loves making tea in the backyard out of sand and water from the swimming pool, gardening, and reading. He’s a super successful reader who just picked up on reading himself – one day his parents just found that Julian was able to read – and I imagine that one day they’ll wake up to find that Julian has also picked up on calculus by himself, or maybe astrophysics. He’s just that sort of kid. He gave me lots of hugs when I left and asked if he could get in my car so I could take him to Marbles.