Baby Eloise :: Pittsburgh baby photographer

Is there anything quite like a newborn baby?  I really don't think so.  Meet baby Eloise...

Isn't she breathtaking?  I feel like that's one of the best ways to describe her.  The other ways include the following: adorable, beautiful, and the sweetest sweetness your eyes could behold.  *sigh*  Little Miss Eloise is only a month old and doing her portraits yesterday was a gift for me as much as anything else could be.    (YES.  On Christmas day!!!  That's how much I love doing what I do.  I'm willing to do it any time, anywhere, and any how.)

Babies are very special to me because, as it's been said, They are "...such a nice way to start people."  (This was once said by Don Herold.)  For me though?  It really reminded me of the fragility of life and the magnificence that was the Christ child when He was born.  Life is such a precious gift and when that gift also asserts faith and hope and love, well, I think it makes the gift of a precious baby even more amazing.

Welcome to you, Baby Eloise, for coming into the world and THANK YOU for bringing all of the hope, joy, and sweet baby-ness with you when you came.  You are a blessing and a precious gift for all who have the honor to know you.

Just a tad early

I know.  Christmas is still days away!  But the thing is, we've celebrated Christmas peeked into stockings and opened gifts already.  *shrug*

Merry Christmas 
and bless you and yours this season!  

May you be filled with love, joy, and peace in celebration of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ.

The Erdmans :: Baltimore family portrait photographer

I have known the Erdmans for quite sometime now.  Lisa (the Mrs.) and I actually graduated from high school together but we never really become friends until long after graduation happened one summer when we both worked at the legendary Mattapany Day Camp together.  Since that summer I have counted Lisa as one of my dearest and most cherished friendships.  It's been well over ten years since we first came to know one another and oh how time has changed things!  Nowadays she's happily married (to THE guy predicted she would end up with - I actually did their engagement pictures long ago!) and she is an adoring and doting mother to two handsome little boys.

I got together with all of the Erdmans the other day and we all had a grand ol' time laughing and carrying on despite the frigid temperatures. They are such troopers that you can barely tell how cold it was to be outside on the day we were...

Eventually we took the operation inside by the fire were it was much more reasonably warm and with the addition of lollipops into the mix, everybody was in much better spirits.

As an extra bonus to help minimize the holiday schedule crunch, Lisa enlisted me to do a customized graphic design for their holiday mailings this year to be sent out as New Year's greetings instead of Christmas ones.  (New Year's greetings are a personal favorite of mine and I always encourage my customers to do them instead of rushing to get them out before Christmas making the holiday season more of a headache than the joy that it can be.)  Didn't know I was a graphic designer in addition to being a photographer?  Check it out. Can't beat one-stop-shopping with me and I'm much cheaper than most of the retailers out there who use templates and just make you and yours look like everybody else and theirs...

Didn't get your holiday greetings out?  Let's do a New Year session and we can take care of a custom-designed New Year's mailing for you, too!

The Reams :: Massachusetts family portrait photographer

In case you didn't know, I am my family's official photographer.  I'm usually never anywhere without my camera somewhere within reach (and it's always been that way) so it works out well.  I don't mind it in the least though.  The gift of capturing beautiful images of people is a gift that I know I've been blessed with and I absolutely love sharing it with people.

These two handsome young gentlemen are my nephews and every time I see them they just got taller and more dashing looking.  The taller of the two was the first grandchild of the family and my first nephew and I still remember holding him at the hospital when he was first born.  With his younger brother, they are the only boy grandchildren of the whole crew of grandkids and I'm continually reminded of the fact that my next child would be a great blessing especially if it is a boy. For the record: If and when God blesses me with another bundle of joy, I'll be happy with whichever it is.  In the meanwhile I will just live vicariously through my brother and sister-in-law and their beautiful sons...

This might be one of my top five favorite portraits I've ever captured.  I love how my oldest nephew is standing there all big brother-like as if to say, "If you want to get to him? You WILL go through ME."

We took these portraits over my Thanksgiving vacation (one of the many advantages to having a day-job that is teaching) and as I've been editing them and getting them ready for proofing and printing on (this) my last day of break, I'm still reveling in the gratitude I have of being a part of such a beautiful and amazing family. 

The Osbornes :: Pennsylvania family portrait photographer

One of my favorite kinds of photography to do is portraits.  I started out doing this kind of photography and every time I return to it, I just like it more.  Doing portraits always makes me feel like I'm giving people very I special gifts to treasure for years and generations to come.

A new trend in portrait photography is called lifestyle portrait photography where people use mostly natural light to illuminate their subjects.  I like the style very much but for as much as I try, I tend more toward a style that is much closer to heirloom, I think.  I feel like it has a more timeless quality to it and though it's more challenging because you don't use natural light and have to understand how to do flash photography, I enjoy it very much.  And it always helps when your customers have beautiful homes that lend themselves to classic settings.

This past weekend I did some portraits for a childhood friend of mine (all the way Pennsylvania!) and her portraits turned out gorgeous.  She is surprising her hard-working husband who (conveniently) was working during her portrait appointment but I think the next portrait session he will get to be in the pictures as well as she is already talking about scheduling another session!

Thank you, Jenny, for opening your home to me and for providing such a beautiful family of subjects for me to   photograph.  Such a blessing to me to be able to spend time with you!  I look forward to our next portrait session.

The Reams :: Richmond family portrait photographer

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!

I am celebrating the day by giving thanks for the beautiful family I have been so blessed to be a part of.  Want proof of just how beautiful they are?  See below...

My eldest niece

My middle niece (and goddaughter)

My youngest niece

The whole gang of nieces together

My older brother, sis-in-law, and their gang (of my nieces)

I love taking pictures of my family but I don't get to do it often enough because they live so far away from me in Maryland.  The beauty part is there are major holidays throughout the year that draw us together so that we have great excuses to spend time with one another.  Who needs an excuse to see your family?  Sadly... I do because I'm such a workaholic like that. *shamed*  I'm grateful for them loving me despite my own ridiculous nature to work even during the holidays - like how I finagled to do now on Thanksgiving!  Well, at least they got some gorgeous portraits out of it, right?  There's always something to be thankful for. *wink*

The Ganns :: Bowie portrait photographer

Portraiture is and will always be one of my favorite things to do.  People are always telling me that they aren't photogenic enough to look decent in pictures and I just love proving them wrong!  God has given me both the heart and the eye to see others as truly beautiful in the way He created them in His likeness and I love being able to provide tangible evidence to show others that they aren't just photogenic but they're also really beautiful.

With November here (and, let's face it, almost gone now), wedding season is over and portrait season is in full swing.  I had the great blessing last evening to create some portraits for the lovely Gann family and we all had a great time trying to get the timing right for everybody to look at the camera and smile at the same time.  I'd say from what we got below, they're pretty set in the way of family portraits for the season, wouldn't you?

Always a joy and a blessing to create your portraits, Ganns. (Especially the littlest Gann folks)  See you next year for your annual portrait session!

A view by Sher :: DC artist portrait photographer

Yes, you can call me a photographer. But if you don't mind, please call me a visual artist.  Because I don't believe in just taking someone's picture.  Rather, I insist on creating an image that is elevated to a level of visual artistry.

This past Sunday I had the great honor to spend some time with and create a portrait for another of my kind.  She's a photographer as well and she's been working diligently and tirelessly to perfect her craft.  She will be graduating next month from the amazing Art Institute located in Arlington, Virginia and she is also preparing to make her mark on the interwebs soon with a launch of her photography business website.  To say that she is amazingly talented would be a ridiculous understatement.  And I would link to her website here but I think she's still working on it - though I know it's going to be any moment now.  The good thing of it is that we were able to take care of her artist portrait for the "about me" section that most any good visual artist should have to explain themselves a little better...

We scouted and trekked all over Georgetown to find a location for the above and we almost missed this setting because it was literally down a little grassy knolls and almost under a bridge.  *shrug* (Visual artists will go just about anywhere and do just about anything for the shot they need and want.)  The vision for the picture was to have something with a colorful background ala what's found in Philadelphia more than DC but the best we could do was some monotone graffiti tags.  Oh... what's that?  The graffiti isn't monotone?  Hmmm... that's right!  That's because I used my "mad skillz" (as my high school students like to call them) in Photoshop and I tweaked them so they looked colorful as if they were meant to be that way.  The power of Photoshop is amazing sometimes and though I prefer using it only for minor adjustments, the situation called for such a major "tweak" so that it was more accurately illustrative of how colorful and dynamic Sher is to begin with - nevermind her amazing visual artwork!

Spending time with Sher and being able to create her artist portrait was both a treat and an honor for me.  We talked plenty about visual art and how powerful it can be as well as just getting to know each other a little better on a personal level.  Always a joy meeting someone like Sher who has the same type of passion for visual art as I do!  Can't wait to see where Sher will go with all the talent she's got going on for herself because I guarantee that she's going to blow people's minds with whatever she will do.

Best of luck, Sher!  You've come quite a ways but I'm certain you have yet to surpass everyone with the miles you have yet to go.

Kristina Kumpel for Building Hope Ministries :: Maryland Event Photographer

Being a photographer has filled my life with some very unique opportunities. A couple of months ago, I had the great honor to participate in a project with a local non-profit (Building Hope Ministries) whose mission is to share the gospel by supporting orphans all the way on the other side of the world in India. They paired up with an up-and-coming vocal artist, Kristina Kumpel, to create a CD of music inspired by faith and the glory of the Lord. They asked me to join them in creating images to be used for the promotion of their project as well as provide them with some strong visuals for album art. I was delighted and humbled and I gladly accepted the invitation.

I worked with Kristina and Mike Callahan (of Building Hope Ministries) for months. We did multiple photo shoots - one that was hours long and went well past midnight on a weeknight/school night - and spent many more hours meeting, discussing, and figuring out the details of how everything should come together. Above all though? The most important thing that we did was pray. We prayed for inspiration to direct our steps, we prayed for wisdom to know exactly how and what should be done, and we (most importantly) prayed for endurance in times when it seemed like things were too daunting or things might not work out. And just like how the Lord always does, He provided and just this past Saturday, I joined Kristina and Mike at the concert that debuted their CD that was (only months ago) barely a wish of something that we couldn't even begin to imagine happening.










It's not often than I'm speechless, (Seriously. Ask any of the students I teach!) but being a part of this project with Kristina and Mike was nothing short of amazing. There were so many "hitches" with the overall project happening that I had to stop counting them because I started to become convinced that it wasn't just that it couldn't happen but it also wouldn't happen. Still, I prayed that all that I did would be to serve God. I prayed that I would (if nothing else) create a reflection of His glory that people could not stop themselves from looking at and experiencing.

Now that I'm at the end of the project, I've got a whole new appreciation for things that I never knew before...

• Performing artists need visual artists and vice versa
• If you think only one photo shoot will be enough, you're wrong
• Album art and design will always require more hours (and people!) than you could ever project and plan for
• Don't even think that God's plans won't be carried out... just pray about it, wait, and then watch and see what happens!

As we say in my church, "God is good all the time! All the time God is GOOD."

Pictures so good you want to eat them

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I'm easily bribed with delicious food.

The ability to make delicious food is a talent I can't even begin to comprehend. I'm a visual person and trying to wrap my brain around one flavor and how that mixes and merges with other flavors is something I don't even have. And I can't even lie and say that I have a very refined palette either. On any given day, I am just as happy with Lobster Thermidor as I would be with a bowl of the ultimate in faux food dishes - Velveeta Shells and Cheese. But what about food that is just as amazing to look at as it is to taste? What about that?

One of my all-time favorite jobs ever was teaming up with an awesome catering company called My Thyme. They taught me to have a new appreciation for food because they specialize in making some of the best food you might ever taste! Now, the job itself was no "walk in the park" because though you'd think food is lifeless and should therefore be easy to photograph but it's not all that easy. You can't just set up a plate and snap a picture. There's so much more that goes into it! Not only does the food itself need to be "styled" so that you can take it's textures and angles at the most right perspective, you've also got to worry about keeping it fresh looking long after it's been prepared. And then when you finally get it looking so good that you just want to eat it, you can't! Because then you won't be able to take the picture!!


If you ever get the opportunity to try your hand at food photography, don't hesitate to try your hand at it. It's very creatively challenging and (if you're really lucky) you might get to enjoy an all-you-can-eat feast of the things that you were told you could shoot but not eat.

Liz :: Baltimore Senior Portrait Photographer

Liz is another member of this year's class of 2011. Take note of a few things you will NOT likely see in her senior portrait session: her incredible culinary skills and cooking prowess, barely a smidge of makeup, even a hint of "girly"-ness, and anything more than a hint of a smile.

Despite the fact that Liz might seem like the ultimate "tough girl," I'm here to confirm for you once and for all that she's a serious sweetheart with the biggest and softest heart of gold. She's also got an incredibly infectious laugh and she can get just about anybody to crack a smile with some of the funniest and silliest things I've ever heard. Makes no sense for someone who doesn't like to smile, right? Well... it's only because she has a kind of smile that's all her own and even though it's just barely there sometimes, that's how it's supposed to be and that's how Liz likes it best.

Someday you might cross paths with Liz (but hardly realize it) because Liz is headed off to be a classically trained culinarian at ECPI College in Virginia Beach. She has great aspirations of opening her own restaurant one day and - trust me on this one - you WILL want to be there when it finally opens its doors.

Congratulations on all you've accomplished, Liz! Have the best senior year EVER.

:: Locations for this session - Henryton, Patapsco State Park, Baltimore, Maryland, Annapolis Inner Harbor ::