Jodi+John+Jack+Nicky+Winnie+Maci // Family Session

If you live in the Raleigh area you’ve surely picked up a copy of The Indy. And if you’ve read the Indy, you’ve probably seen an ad somewhere along the line that pictures a tiny floating head of a smiling woman giving humorous advice out of a speech bubble on a 1960s-esque funky background. Below everything reads “Jodi Foy – The World’s Nicest Dentist.” When we first moved to Raleigh, I saw another dentist exactly one time before I became captivated with Dr. Foy’s ads and told Geoff that we needed to switch to this woman who was claiming to be the world’s nicest dentist. Turns out that she is, indeed, the world’s nicest dentist, but she is also the world’s most hilarious dentist, the world’s most-into-photography dentist, and the world’s biggest champion of the Carolina Hurricanes dentist. We love her and all of her incredible staff (“The Foyettes). And if you need a new dentist, she has the official dentist CSP endorsement.

This was our first time turning the tables on our jobs and us working for Jodi and her beautiful family! Her husband is a super nice guy who is very close with their dog Winnie, who has been sick, and they wanted to document some of their life at home with him, their smaller and younger spitfire of a dog named Maci, and their boys Jack and Nicky. Jack and Nicky are incredibly polite and really nice kids who have two hobbies that seem to occupy 98% of their time and attention: hockey and anything involving Star Wars.  Jodi is an awesome hockey mom who takes them to practice and supports them at all their games (and takes a lot of fantastic photos!) while John plays with them in their driveway at home. Together, they are a really, really fabulous family. We’re so grateful we found her head floating around the Indy all those years ago. :)

At Home // Anna, John, and Lou.

We spent a lazy Sunday morning at the home of incredibly talented illustration artist Anna, her awesome husband John, their little adorable almost-two-year-old daughter Lou, and happy pup Keva. We knew we’d like them based on Anna’s artwork, but we liked them even more when we saw their house, and even more when we saw their giant red stuffed squid pillow, and even more still when we saw three little dolls all made to look like the three of them even complete with John’s tattoos (a family friend made them). They have a striped tent! They have a little plastic toy Fisher-Price camera! John made Lou a puddle from a hose for her to jump in but she kinda just wanted to throw boats in it! Lou has learned family responsibilities like feeding the dog but just kinda gets dog food all over herself but it’s really cute! Anna can draw bunnies from chalk faster than anyone we’ve ever seen! Go, go admire their cuteness.child laughing with mom and dad child reading with parents girl hiding behind bed dad lifting daughter up parents reading with daughter family family photographers in raleigh durham little girl in house girl looking out window striped children's play tent striped play tent mom in play tent child climbing up to window child looking out window little girl looking out window little kid looking out window teaching child how to tie shoes family dolls family play tent family portrait photographer child with tent mom walking child down the stairs lifestyle family portraits north carolina day in the life family portraits raleigh little girl sitting on stairs mother and daughter child coloring child coloring family coloring at table candid family photography day in the life family portrait session fisher price vintage camera toy daughter talking to mom in living room little kid feeding the dog little kid and dog food father and daughter child playing in living room mother and daughter laughing dad spinning top for daughter family dog piggy back rides girl reading book dad playing with daughter on couch child in kitchen kid putting on rain boots father putting raincoat on daughter little kid in raincoat girl in raincoat candid family portraits durham nc girl rainboots lifestyle family portraits puddle jumping playing in puddles playing in puddles girl in raincoat in puddle family dog playing with chalk playing with chalk girl in raincoat

Courtney+Kyle+Patti+Roy // At home.

We do a lot of important stuff like photographing weddings and babies and engagements and all that good, happy stuff that usually signifies beginnings rather than endings. This shoot was a little different. Courtney, whom we met a friend’s wedding a couple years ago, contacted us because her parents were selling Courtney and her brother Kyle’s childhood home. They were pretty bummed out about it, but with the kids gone (Courtney) or going away (Kyle), it was time for Patti and Roy to downsize. Courtney wasn’t going without a fight, though, and hired us to photograph her and her family hanging out inside their house one last time before the family moves in January. We felt incredibly honored to do this type of shoot as we knew how important it was for the family, and it was kind of our first shoot that signified an ending. Of course, it’s a beginning too with Kyle going off to college and the parents moving into a new house, but it was the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another, and for some reason it made me feel the significance of our job probably more than I ever have previously. We were really happy to do this for them.

Of course, the fact that the family is super awesome, hilarious, and fun didn’t hurt much either. They made us food (yum!) and welcomed us in with open arms and Vanilla Coke. We ran around their gorgeous house and yard and had a great time. Courtney and Kyle showed us how they climbed on the roof as kids, how they play board games and pool and hang out in the kitchen, how they fish and play baseball, and how they decorate the tree planted in their grandpa’s memory for Christmas. The cats hid from us, but… we tried. :) We loved doing this type of shoot, and we hope that we were able to capture their awesome family doing what they love in a space that they grew up in and called home.