These guys remind me so much of my own family that I inherently loved them from the very beginning and continue to love them as I’m posting these. This is a sibling trio consisting of Lauren, Randy, and Jill. For their parents Kevin and Dee’s birthdays, they bought them a photo session when they were in town from Connecticut to visit. The photo session also centers around Cyndee, Randy’s spunky and independent 4 year old daughter who is fearless, skilled at climbing just about everything, and totally uninterested in taking pictures with any member of her family. All 6 of these family members are hilarious. They have great senses of humor, funny family traditions, and are fierce board game competitors (FIERCE). I genuinely felt like I was with my own family (especially when Randy went to get something out of the car, so the remaining family members moved all of his board game pieces in the game of Trouble back to the start position while safely moving all their own pieces into home). Actually, they’re fierce competitors in general… and a great example of that would be that they raced each other, and Cyndee lost her shoe, BUT KEPT GOING. Let me remind you that she’s 4. She did not blink, but kept running with one entirely bare foot over the finish line. Also, the entire family only let Cyndee win that one shoeless time, then they decided that was enough and started pushing each other out of the way. I adore them.

Meaghan and Alex’s wedding in 2016 was a fan favorite, but also a photographer favorite. His suit! Her dress! The fall leaves! The venue! The colors! Literally everythinggggg was beautiful and fantastic and gorgeous and these are two hella stylish people. Well they just had a hella stylish baby named Helen who is ADORBS and likes French things, pulling at her dad’s beard, throwing up on everyone, smiling at the cat, and grabbing emphatically toward camera lenses. Also, 80s campers. Their house is awesome and I was fully expecting it to be great, but then Meaghan conveniently didn’t tell me about the CHICKENS which made it even more awesome because every portrait session is better with chickens (also large orange cats named Stewie who insert themselves into every picture). So I was pretty happy photographing a handful of animals (also Jemma the husky-corgi mix and Quinn the hound-terrier mix!) and a handful of very lovely people and also my first 1980s camper. Much thanks to Meaghan and Alex for always keeping things stylish and fun to photograph in every way, even while being actively vomited upon.

Katie and Cameron were married in 2012 at Magnolia Manor in a wedding full of rope swing glory, and Katie and I have kept in touch since through our mutual love of cats. There has been good times with cats (YAY CATS!!) and bad times with cats (illnesses, and the unfortunate passing away of their adored cat Bug before our session), but through the thick and thin, I know I have someone to message and commiserate with when it comes to cats… and for that I am grateful. :) And now that they’re in a light-filled modernist house of awesome in Chapel Hill, we can also keep in touch with our mutual love of attempting to keep desert plants alive in a zone 8 climate with high humidity.

Now Katie and Cameron have an ADORABLE toddler named Grayson who enjoys playing with his furry brothers and sisters (brown doggo Birdie, black doggo Chevy, gray kitteh Tuna), as well as feeding them cat treats (dogs included), and picking up sticks and running around with them. His parents have excellent taste, so they bought him a Charley Harper tent which is the most beautiful and fantastic tent, but he doesn’t care to sit in it, so Tuna the cat has taken it over. When he’s not playing with sticks or throwing balls, he likes to pull flowering stems off Katie’s succulents despite our protests, and also throw his head back and make noises like a zombie (it’s a true skill). His parents are particularly proud of the zombie moaning that Grayson’s mastered, but Katie still maintains that her greatest accomplishment is having a kid who loves cats more than she does. We have a deep love for this family, and we’re so glad the incredible Grayson has joined their ranks (we’re pretty sure that Birdie and Chevy are grateful too since now they get to eat cat treats and bananas).