You love to stop and stare at the wisps of your baby’s hair and how it catches the light just so.

You grin widely, for no reason, when your child runs back to you from her mini-adventures. Her sandy toes and mud-smudged cheeks make you grin even more.

You wish his itty-bitty shoes would stay itty-bitty, and each change in shoe size makes you just a little teary-eyed and sentimental.

You are creatively inspired, but you are a busy (maybe even frazzled!) parent, and you might not have the time to bring your inspirations to life. Or you need a little hand-holding to help to make your family art a reality.

You love the extra touch. You go the extra mile for your family, and you deserve the extra mile for yourself and for your family photographs. Quality is important to you, and you understand that your investment today keeps giving back to you tomorrow and for many, many years to come.

I do things a little differently. A lot differently, actually. I like to slow down, take things in, and see how they fit all together. Rather than plunk you down in a “pretty place” and then produce several versions of each of your “poses,” I like to create a full body of work that captures how you live, love and play. Your family’s passion for each other is the most important element of my work. Each image that you see from your session is a different and unique component that tells your story.

During our consultation, we meet at your home so that you can relax and be comfortable. We take the time to think about the things that are truly important to you and how they can be incorporated into your session. I also ask you to show me around your home to see the light in each room. I take in your personal style, and I ask you to point out any items that might have special meaning. I also raid your closets to help you put together outfits for your whole family! I answer all your questions and help you feel as prepared and comfortable as possible for your upcoming session.

At our photography session, we begin at your home and capture the details that matter to you. Sessions can take 1-2 hours (longer for newborn sessions), and there is always plenty of time to feed, take a break, or comfort your child. There is no need for awkward smiles or forced posing—just a tiny bit of prompting and placement of yourselves here and there will do. Just play and love each other as you normally do, and I capture your story as it unfolds.

After your session, I give your images basic processing to adjust for brightness, contrast, and color. I then put all the components of your story together into a slideshow. When your images are ready, we’ll get together once more to have a fabulous, celebratory debut of your images and slideshow. I’ll also have plenty of ideas for designing your images. I’ve prepared them just for you, so that you can visualize exactly how they will fit into to your home. When you decide to purchase any image, it lovingly receives retouching and artistic enhancement pixel by pixel. It is during this process that a plain image becomes the art of your lifetime.

I love to get personal and make a connection with my clients throughout the portrait process, and I am more than thrilled when clients keep in touch and update me on how they are doing after the session.

I’m a not a natural talker; listening is my ultimate talent. It comes from my childhood spent as a nerd and a wallflower.

I’ve never outgrown being a nerd.

I have a black thumb. I’ve tried to grow all sorts of plants but usually end up with brown stumps.

I love the smell of lumber. The hardware store is inspiring.

I spend way too much time adding to details to the packaging on gifts. I’m addicted to Pinterest. Want to share pins with me?

My favorite audio: This American Life.

My ultimate weakness: shoes.

Your portraits are gifts.

Your portraits are the gifts to yourself that help you cherish your little ones’ childhood, when they have long since stopped being so little. They are also the gifts that you give to your children to help them fondly remember the love that they experienced growing up.

Custom portraits require a commitment, just as a yearly vacation might. However, unlike most of the other material objects that you might buy, they are one of the very few things will endure your whole lifetime and grow in value and meaning.