Megan+Carly+Jane+Ronan

I’ve known Megan and Carly for many years now and it was wonderful to reunite with them to celebrate the birth of their new baby Ronan and the wild, amazing ways of 2 year old Jane. Megan and Carly are fantastic people and it is not a surprise that their children would be the same! Jane is… incredible. Like, really incredible. She has amazing fashion choices (best shark shoes ever) and an extremely enthusiastic attitude. I feel the need to tell you that I did not pose Jane at all for any pictures. The facial expressions and poses are Jane’s and Jane’s alone. And there are a lot of them… and they’re all amazing. She was very excited for her photoshoot, greeting me at the door and yelling, “CAROLYN’S HERE!” to her parents and then proceeding to welcome me in and giving me a grand tour of her toys and house. She is an amazing force of a little person and I love her and all of her sheer joy. Ronan is an adorable baby so he enjoys eating and sleeping and looking at Jane while Jane enthusiastically hugs him. He is very cute and extremely well-behaved. I love this whole family and their amazing selves. Thank you to Megan and Carly for having me run around your house and be a part of documenting you all together!

Kathy+Andrew+Alden+Eben

Such a joy reuniting with some of my all-time favorite people! Geoff and I photographed Kathy and Andrew’s wedding back in the day, and then I’ve also had the joy of photographing them with Alden a couple of times. Now it’s been a few years and they have a new 2 year-old addition named Eben, who is just as delightful as Alden. Their children are adorable and sweet kids who enjoy making forts in the living room, having tea, and playing with lots of trains. The trains, for some reason, are carrying large tanks full of what appears to be full-grown great white sharks. I’m not sure if the trains are transporting these sharks to an aquarium or a rehabilitation center or if it’s a Snowpiercer situation, but regardless, I just want to let you know the type of cargo the trains in this household are transporting because it seems important.

And there, watching the trains transport the sharks and observing the tea parties and the cookie making, is Brewer the Tabby Cat. Brewer is an extremely friendly cat who has always been a part of our shoots. I think he thinks that the camera is there for him, and he acts accordingly. Their calico Addie, however, wants nothing to do with me but I love her from afar.

It was quite a gloomy and rainy morning when we shot this, but the kids made the absolute most of their day inside by doing a ton of fun things with Mom and Dad, which included making cookies, which is maybe the absolute best activity you can do when it’s raining. I had so much fun catching up with all of them and continuing to be a little part of their family story!

Crystal+Jason+Co

It is wonderful photographing people you haven’t seen in a while, especially when those people have had two children since the last time you saw them, and those two children really love your branding even though they’ve never met you or used your services, and they’ve placed your stickers all over their house. I’ve come equipped to recent sessions with two stickers: my current branding with the two fruit bats, and my old “vintage” branding that depicts two classic Halloween bats in front of a moon. Eloise and Thomas, the children of Crystal and Jason, had already placed their parents’ vintage stickers around the house. So when I tried to give another one of these to Eloise, she seemed disappointed and said, “Oh…. yeah… we already have that one,” but she was excited about the new fruit bats. But by the end of the session, Eloise had changed her tune and was suddenly requesting “four more stickers – two for me, and two for my little brother” – one of each branding design. I diligently obliged and then went back to talking to Crystal about something. When I turned around a few seconds later, I discovered both to my delight and horror that Eloise had placed all four stickers in prominent positions on her parents’ vehicles. I think I ran around stammering “I’m so sorry” repeatedly while photographing my new moving billboards with my phone. Thankfully Crystal and Jason are good sports and are okay with accidentally advertising for me for the remainder of the lifespan of their cars (or until they get some Goo Gone, whichever comes first) because they are delightful. Their children are delightful – intelligent, thoughtful, smiley little creatures. And their dog Atlas is DELIGHTFUL. All caps. Love this good old boy. Sorry about the stickers everyone, but I do smile when I go to bed at night knowing that the bats are driving around town.