I met Julie, Ben, Claire, and Yoda on a chilly day to get a photo for their holiday card, and despite the chill we had a great time! I say “chilly” but Julie and Ben are from Michigan so they’re pretty hard to make cold. I’m from Pittsburgh and used to think I was also hard to make cold, but now that I’ve lived down here for many years I no longer go anywhere under 70 degrees without at least a jacket (how did this happen to me?). Claire, who I was warned has a bit of stranger danger, didn’t take long to warm up at all (figuratively, since we were outside) and was excited to walk the trail down to the beautiful little park near their house. There we saw lots of deer, hung out near the gazebo (which Claire loves), and played on the swings. Claire is in an “all things leaves” stage and enjoyed holding and giving away her colored leaves, and she loved riding on the gazebo porch swing with her parents. She is adorable, strong-willed, and very smart… she also has the best shoes. Yoda the Very Good Boy of a Dog stayed closed and obediently took part in family portraits even though Claire didn’t always want that (it wasn’t part of her vision for the pictures apparently). I had such a good time spending some time with this beautiful family and exploring a new-to-me gorgeous little park.

I might be a little bit biased but I feel like I get the coolest families to photograph, and Jennifer and Gabe’s crew did not disappoint. First, they have an incredible house in the trees that is occupied by two cats. I only met the one, but he was freaking cute, fat, and orange (three solid criteria for judging a cat). His name is Hess. He came with the house and is very friendly, and apparently quite used to modeling for cameras. The second cat’s name is Koby and he did not come out to meet me, but I’m certain I would’ve liked him. Second, they have two adorable children. Maeve is a few weeks old and enjoys sleeping, looking cute as heck, and acquiring beautiful quilts that were sewn by Jennifer’s mom. Lincoln is three and enjoys never, ever getting out of his pajamas (something I totally respect) and hunting for dinosaur eggs that his dad hides in Lincoln’s sandbox under the cover of night. Jennifer and Gabe themselves are fantastic parents and partners, super patient and kind to their kids and each other. I had a great time getting to know them and pretending that I lived in their fantastic house for a brief hour or two of my life.

This was such a fun family session to do – I love doing extended family shoots with multiple generations because everyone’s excited to be there with each other, especially when they’re traveling from out of state (or in from India!). This shoot involved Gita and Neil, their adorable children Deven and Maya, as well as Neil’s extended family (shout out to Shilpu for finding my website and recommending me!). All of the family members were in town to meet newborn baby Maya, who is so sweet and agreeable! We had a great time hanging out around the house, putting together Legos and playing Chess. I also got to see Kiran cook the Indian version of funnel cake in a pan, which looked delicious! Deven rode his lowrider house-bike thing down the insanely beautiful hallways filled with light in their stunning house and we waited and waited for Maya to fall asleep for pictures, but she was really much more interested in whatever we were doing. :D I talked to Gita and Neil about their move to Chapel Hill from Boston, and admired their home and family. It was so great to meet and work with everyone involved and to get a glimpse into their family life this morning.