I’ve photographed Abbi and Olivia at all sorts of important stages of their family now and I’ve built up quite a documentary archive of their beautiful life. They have two boys who are ADORABLE. One who is addicted to anything adrenaline-filled (anything involving wheels and a helmet, as well as jumping on the bed), and one who is currently addicted to the lighter things in life like bubbles and blueberries and sink water. Older Brother looooves teaching Younger Brother new things, and they cook together in their little outdoor kitchen and play together on their wall full of Household Stuff (old telephone parts, faucet handles, Master locks, keyboards – truly a gem of a DIY kid toy). Abbi and Olivia are constantly on the move after these fast-moving small humans, currently in the important stage of family life called “trying to keep up with very active kids.” And bounding around all of this, fast moving kids and fast moving moms, is Basil the German Shepherd, who is constantly trying to catch sunlight coming off of any object (usually my camera on photo days). It’s a joyful time in the heart of this little sweet family, and I’m glad I was there to capture the days of being little and carefree for these boys and their mamas.

I’ve photographed these folks a few times now and their family never ceases to amaze me. They’re joyful and hilarious. The kids are SO smart. They love talking to me about cats and cameras and wildflowers. The parents are brilliant as well – Lucy made all of the outfits that the kids are wearing in these photographs! They wanted to document this time together as a family and update their family portraits, as well as have a little snack picnic in their field and play with swords. It was the perfect summer evening outside. Their little boy picked a variety of wildflowers for me to take home to put in a vase, I met their adorable new rescue dog Rosie, and I witnessed the total failure of a spontaneous trust jump that somehow ended in minimal injury. They’re lovely and kind humans, and I always feel like family when I’m there.

These friends! The last time I photographed Quentin and Lady was back in 2012, and while we’ve stayed in touch, it was absolutely delightful to see them in person again. They wanted to have some photos taken of them in their incredible backyard garden and zen space with their two rescue dogs Ruthie (bigger pup) and Lily (smaller pup), who are the World’s Goodest Girls. When I say their garden is incredible, I mean their garden is incredible. It’s like a tiny Duke Gardens but with fruits and vegetables and wildflowers in addition to the magnolias and everything else. There are paths and birdhouses and bird baths and a firepit and a beautiful dinner table and a large grassy space that makes you want to lie down and roll around on it, which is exactly what Lily and Ruthie like to do. We walked around the garden and ate strawberries and chocolate mint and talked about birds like the old people we are. It was a beautiful afternoon spent with two beautiful people and two beautiful pups.