Morning Sessions and Cute Toddler Smiles

Sometimes I find it strange how much I enjoy sunrise shoots, considering how much I hate mornings.

Maybe its because I feel super "carpe-diemy" after getting up so early -- or maybe its because morning shoots usually mean fun time with young families, which reminds me of my older sister's family -- but either way, its something I really love doing as part of my freelance work.

Earlier this summer I had to wonderful opportunity to shoot a mini session for a professor of mine from my undergraduate studies at the George Washington University. I was pretty pumped when she asked me to take some family photos of her, her wife and their adorable little boy Brinton.

It was actually the first time I got to meet Brinton, although I had seen plenty of photos of him growing up on his Instagram :)

I mean, isn't he just the cutest little man you ever did see?

During the shoot Brinton kept wanting to wave at the garbage truck drivers -- it was so so adorable.

Oh morning shoots, how I love you so :)

Adorable Alert: Mini Sunset Portrait/ Mommy & Me Session!

Can you believe it's almost September? Before you know it the air will be filled with cool breezes, the leaves will start turning color and we'll all be sipping on apple cider and Oktoberfest beers...Oh, how I love fall!

However, I shouldn't get ahead of myself -- we still have a few wonderful warm weeks of summer to enjoy! Come December, I know I'll be wishing I had an endless supply of warm evenings, fresh produce and lovely afternoon thunderstorms, so I should to my best to enjoy them now.

Speaking of, what better way to enjoy a summer evening than with an adorable headshot/mommy & me photo shoot?

I was so honored with my friend from grad school, Cynthia, asked me to take a few new headshots of her and snap some pics of her adorable daughter, Adelaide.

Cynthia and I met in class at Georgetown's School of Continuing studies where we are (or were in her case!) studying public relations and corporate communications. She's in the Army and is moving across the country now that she's done with school.

I'll miss seeing her around campus for sure but I was so happy to capture these images for her and her little one!

The Learning Curve: Taking Pictures of Babies Is Hard!

If there's one thing I've learned from my recent slew of family and portrait sessions is that taking posed pictures of babies (not candid, candid is easy!) is a lot harder than it looks.

While adults understand when to look at the camera, when to smile and how to take directions, little babies -- as adorable as they are -- require a bit more attention.

Plus, sometimes, matter what you do, you just might not have what it takes to make the little one smile, which is hard to accept as a perfectionist-type photographer.

Maybe it's because I don't have kids of my own yet, or maybe it's because I just don't photograph babies enough, but at times I find taking photos of babies age two and under harder than covering even the busiest of events!

All that being said, I did have a really awesome experience capturing photos of the Maki family, who has a little one, at the Rosedale Conservancy in Washington, DC a few weeks ago.

Not only was their family so wonderful to work with, but their little one was absolutely adorable!

While I definately think that these photos aren't award winning family pictures, you know, they aren't bad by any means and there are some cute ones in the mix.

Maybe I'm too hard on myself... or not hard enough.

All I can say is that I'm still getting better, and I'm lucky to have had the opportunity to practice taking pictures of little cuties!