As the weather is getting colder and the trees are becoming much more naked, I just love having a warm, light and urban studio for portrait shoots!  Cullen and his parents recently came for a fun morning at the studio, bringing along the cutest outfits, most exciting toys and even their handsome doberman, Elko.  And towards the end of the shoot, when Cullen started to get a bit bored with his regular toys and even the new studio toys, we pulled down the red ladder and his face just lit up!  Cullen thinks every boy should get to have a big red ladder in the middle of his room

Just hangin’ with the fam’

Elko is such a gorgeous dog!  He put on his best handsome face for this photo.

What better way to spend a drizzly afternoon than in a cozy living room with a bunch of fun and goofy kids?!  I had so much fun with this family recently – these kids had me laughing hysterically the whole time with all their crazy antics.  After some great family portraits in some chilly overcast weather, we headed inside to relax.  Grace promptly changed into her best princess costume, which is something I think we should all do more often.  Aidan turned on some great Irish tunes and showed me his amazing dancing.  And after Ian & Kellan, the twin boys, had their dinner, they cast off their shirts, as babies love to do, and turned on the charm!  And seriously, just try to resist those adorable chubby smiles

These two little guys look soooo alike – I don’t know how their parents tell them apart – I sure can’t!

This post is all about babies – and not only that, but a couple of the cutest babies Capitol Hill has to offer!  In preparation for an upcoming exhibit of photos of ‘kids on the hill,’ I recently photographed these two adorable girls.  Lindsey is about 6 months and came to my studio bright and early one more for a little giggling and hat-wearing.  The hat with the little ears was made by SugarB Baby – check it out!

And sweet little Ava was only 6 days old in these photos!  She was so precious I could hardly stand it!!  Newborns are so fascinating.  They do so little and yet you can’t help but just stand and watch and ooh and ahh at every little movement and expression.

My eyes about dropped right out of my head when I saw Max, Tess & Lauren for their family portrait session recently.  I cannot even believe how much they’ve grown since last year’s session!  Especially little Lauren – she is just such a little lady now!  We had a great time on a sunshine-filled day at the new Southwest Waterfront Park in DC.  This first series of shots was so much fun.  Max told me very frankly, after his sisters couldn’t reach the ceiling, that he would be able to because he’s almost six!  Apparently, that is the age that you become incredibly tall and able to do anything you want.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Tess’s pigtails flying in the air as she chased after Max.

Lauren kept her dad very busy this day – running to and fro, to and fro.

Okay, this next one just cracks me up every time I look at it.  We were trying to take a family shot, towards the end of the session.  Max and Tess had just finished a fun session of some sort of Superman game.  So they were feeling a bit silly.  And Lauren had had about enough of all these picture shenanigans and was doing her best not to be in the photo.  Rob (dad) had been such a trooper chasing Lauren around and trying to get her to smile and laugh.  And after a bit, he just gave up and sat down.  And I love everything that this picture embodies – the chaos and silliness and fun and exhaustion that is a family.

And in the end, it all worked out – everyone sat in the green grass and smiled for the camera.  Ahhh, happy endings.

One of the things I love most about portrait photography is getting to watch little babies turn into little kids.  It’s so much fun to see how they change every few months between their sessions.  And each time I see them, they’re so much the same and so very different than the time before!  Lucas had his third portrait session recently.  I met Lucas when he was just 5 months old and then got to spend some more time with him when he was about one year and just taking his first steps.  Well, now Lucas is running around everywhere and not looking back!  This little guy is so much fun – it’s a blast to spend the morning watching him explore everything, stick whatever he can find in his mouth and try to open and close every door in the world.  We had some beautiful weather for his session and enjoyed every minute!

Love the Frager’s t-shirt – Capitol Hill represent!!