I had a great time photographing the P family earlier this month. Mrs. P’s parents were in town for the holidays so they decided to book a large family holiday session! Here are a few sneak peeks!

The girls with their Lolas!

The P family just welcomed a new member to the family- meet little Nathaniel with his two older sisters, Mickey & Gaby!

Mickey & Gaby are super talented! Not only do they know how to play the piano, guitar, and violin, but they also participate in many sports from soccer, to lacrosse, to gymnastics! Here are the girls rockin out-

Thanks Mr & Mrs P for letting me stop by to photograph your beautiful family! Had a blast!

I always love photographing my sister and her beautiful family. They are my biggest supporters and clients This year we headed to Centennial Park for a Fall mini session! If you are interested in holiday photos, it’s not too late to book a session! Give me a holla!

2011 was a big year for the A Family. Taylor is now three and we welcomed Baby Bodhi!

Bodhi looks a lot like his Daddy. And yes, Daddy picked out the outfit and even popped his collar in some of the shots. So fashion savy…

Bodhi with his big sis, Taylor. It’s so cute watching Bodhi and Taylor interact. Everytime Taylor walks by or talks to him, he stares intently at her and smiles.

Daddy’s little girl…

Taylor is my super model! She is FULL of personality-  Love her laugh, love her smile, love her mischievous little self!

okay..maybe i should rename this blog post “Taylor’s Fall Mini Session”

Taylor was so excited that her and Mommy had matching boots!

Finally got to use my antique show find yellow chair outdoors!

I love it when past clients return and I’m able to see how much their family has grown. You might remember the M Family last year  from their family session at Echo Park. This year, we decided to head to Savage Mills for a Fall Family session. The colorful fall leaves paired with the golden light and the beautiful M family made for gorgeous photos!

Here’s a photo of Natalie last year, followed by a photo of her this year. Little Natalie is now a beautiful and energetic 2!

Natalie at ONE (2010)

Natalie at TWO (2011)

Thanks M Family for a great session!

I had a great time photographing the H Family a few weeks ago. Mr. H (aka Edward) found a new career opportunity in Pennsylvania and the family was beginning to pack up and move. Ed and his wife Kristin wanted to get in a family session before they left in order to remember their home in Maryland. They live in the cutest little neighborhood near Loyola College and have the most adorable son named Will who was full of smiles and giggles during our shoot!

In the middle of the neighborhood was a beautifully landscaped pond which made for a gorgeous backdrop for our photo session. We headed towards the pond just as the golden light began to surround us in it’s warm glow and we managed to capture a few photos along the way.

Seriously, how cute is Will with those gorgeous blue eyes?!

Will is just learning to walk…or wobble… 

Thanks Ed, Kristin, and Will for letting me capture a few family memories in Maryland! Good luck and best wishes in PA!

Had a great session with the L Family yesterday. We lucked out with beautiful weather! Here’s a sneak peek of yesterday’s OpLove pre-deployment session.

Happy New Year! Thank-you to all my past clients for making 2010 a great year!

I spent the morning hanging out with the E  family at the B&O Railroad Museum today. They are my first portrait session of 2011 and a gorgeous family at that! Here is a sneak peek from the photo session.

Brayden is such a beautiful little boy! Love his curls and his cute & infectious laugh!

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Thanks guys! Much more to come!

It’s amazing how time flies. I can’t believe it’s been 14 years since I graduated high school. I was excited when Kelly, a former classmate, emailed me to setup a family portrait session. I absolutely LOVE Facebook and how it connects you with friends- old and new!

We decided to start off at Lake Waterford Park and then headed back to the S Family’s house for more photos.

Little Owen is a rambunctious 2 and always on the move! He’s so photogenic! Love the big blue eyes!

Kelly mentioned that the family spends a lot of time hanging out in the master bedroom so we decided to do a couple fun and candid lifestyle shots there.

Baby R is only 10 weeks old and was so good during the shoot. He’s such a cute and sweet baby- I could have photographed him for hours!

Thanks Kelly for letting me capture your beautiful family! The rest of the photos will be posted soon!

Great morning session with The M Family at Glen Echo Park on Sunday! Here is a quick sneak peek- more to come!

Love little Natalie’s facial expressions during the shoot!

Sneak peek at The P family photos from earlier this morning.

It’s hard to believe that a little over 30 years ago my family and I immigrated to the United States. We were one of the many “boat people” who left Vietnam after the war and ended up living in the Hong Kong refugee camps for several months. Thankfully, a kind Maryland church sponsored us over. Growing up we didn’t have much. We never went on exotic family vacations to Europe or cruises to the Caribbeans. We got most of our clothes through donations from the church and most of our toys from yard sales. My parents made due with what little they had and tried to make our family “staycations” as fun as possible. I remember growing up we would take day trips to Kings Dominion, the Enchanted Forest in Ellicott City, and Ocean City. But what I remember the most and what became somewhat of an annual family tradition, was our trips to Larriland Farms. In the Fall, we would go out as a family to pick apples and in the summer we would pick strawberries. Many times my cousins would join us and we would run through the orchards and just get lost in our own imaginary world. Then years passed and my sister and I grew older…we became TEENAGERS! Every now and then my mom would excitedly ask us, “Want to go to the farms to pick fruits and veggies this year?” The thought of going to pick apples was so uncool to us. We laughed, “NOOOO mom…we aren’t TEN anymore.” I could tell she was disappointed. The excitement in her face was gone and although she smiled in response, we could tell there was sadness in her eyes.

Now that I’m older, looking back I miss those family outings. This past weekend, I did a photo session with the S Family at North Run Farms and it brought back some childhood memories, especially the sweet smell of Larriland’s famous apple fritters! On the drive home, I turned to my sister and said “let’s go to Larriland with Taylor!” I was excited when my sister said yes! We headed to her house, picked up my niece Taylor and my brother-in-law and headed to Larriland. The farm wasn’t as I remembered it. The place had grown and they added a lot more things for kids and families to do, from the farm animal enclosure, to the hay mazes, to the haunted house. The place was pretty packed but everyone was laughing and having fun.

Here is my little sweet & sassy niece Taylor. Oh my! The things we make kids do for a good photo!

We didn’t get a chance to pick apples but Taylor did pick out her Halloween pumpkin.

Some great pics from my sister & bro-in-law

Big SQUEEZE!

I think Taylor was tired of posing…she did find her pumpkin though!

And here’s a look back at Larriland Farms 20+ years ago…I think this might have been taken in 1985? This is me with my 2 cousins Vu and Tuan. We might have looked innocent…but boy were we TROUBLE!

And here’s one looking waayyyy back to 1979 – Hong Kong Refugee style. Yes- my sister and I have boy haircuts… I find it funny that I’m also holding an apple in this pic.