My Family Friday...

I celebrated my birthday two days ago... it was a great day!



But one of the best things I have EVER received came a few days before my birthday... it was this picture that Trey drew at school. Things he's thankful for...


I typed in what everything is... do you see that last thing... do you see it?! "My mama..."

That's all I needed.


Until next time,

~ K

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

I really can't believe it's already holiday season.

The music. The colors. The commercials. The food. The food....

It's madness really.

And I LOVE it!

So to kick things off, I'll be participating in a Ladies Night Out shopping event this Thursday at the McDonald Garden Center here in Hampton!



Come on out and knock-out some of that holiday shopping early :)

I'll be donating 50% off a sitting fee for one of their raffles...! This your chance :)

And... I might have a few other goodies out there too... hmmm... dunno. We'll see :)

See you there!

Until next time,

~ K

Keeping it simple...

I love that statement.

So little in life is truly simple... or at least it seems that way, as we tend to make things much more complicated than need be.

Okay. So maybe that's just me. But I'm really good at. Like... I've perfected the art of over-complicating things.

And so, as self-inflicted therapy, I've started simplifying.

I'm starting with my business.

The other day I was looking through my website... like I do every so often to make sure everything's loading properly and what-not... and I looked through my pricing...

&*$@#! ??

Confusing! I created it. And I was overwhelmed. (* cough * are we surprised? No.)

So I've re-vamped. Simplified. Clarified.

One creative fee. (ETA: Okay. So two creative fees. One for most sessions, one for newborns...)

A la carte prints & products.

Five collections to choose from (collections are a variety of prints and products offered together at a discounted price).

The end.

Ahhh. That feels so much better.

Check out my website for more specifics.
(All clients currently booked your prices have not changed. The new pricing is for clients booking from this day forward).

And because we can't post without a picture... and simplicity is the word of the day...


This is, very simply, everything that is beautiful about my son. His face. His spirit. His curiosity.

"Look mom! Look at this one! It's red! It's beautiful!"


Until next time,

~ K

My Family Friday...

Okay. I have to be honest. With this crazy weather and Trey being out of school for the past two days, our life has kind-of been turned upside down. I normally have this posted by mid-day, but... well... it's still Friday, right?

The week started out so beautifully...


On this particular day, the water on the harbor was absolutely pristine. It was like the sky and the water melded together into one at the horizon.

By Wednesday, the sky was steel grey and the rain was coming down in cold drops...sideways...

And by Thursday, it was full on Nor'Easter with winds gusting to almost 60 mph, tons of rain, and ridiculous tidal flooding...


We certainly didn't bear the brunt of it here, but the base had some serious flooding and the southside was hit really hard. School was cancelled... so the boys and I hunkered down to a few days of lounging in our PJ's and a Harry Potter movie marathon. DJ had to go into work both days, so it was just the three of us.

Hello cabin fever.


We read books... or, in this case, magazines (Noah is flipping through my Professional Photographer Mag)...


...and we hung out by the window and watched the waves beat against the shore...

I got my share of sun by editing through some images from earlier in the week.


The other day at the park, the boys ran around and Trey was showing Noah some ninja moves. But, you know..., before ninja moves, you have to start with a little bow. Namaste.

I love it.

I hope everyone has survived the storm...

Until next time,

~ K

'H' Family | Yorktown Family Photographer

Kendre first got in touch with me before they moved to VA to inquire about a session... and, though we had to wait several months for this to come to fruition, it was well worth the wait.

We walked around the park, chatted a bit (found out we'd both been stationed on Okinawa at roughly the same time), wiped baby snot, got drooled on (okay, well, maybe that was just dad... ), sang songs, threw some leaves, and watched little 'B' walk around like a pro...

It was a gorgeous day, the leaves are crisp and colorful, and ... well... it was just perfection.

Here's the family.


This is some prime genetics at work. Look at this GORGEOUS family! I feel like I say this all the time, but all of my families are so beautiful!

Little 'B' is about to turn one! And, as a matter of fact, her birthday is the same as mine! Oh... this makes me love her all the more...




I love the light and the colors here. Kendre, you did a superb job of picking out colors and outfits!

Mom... and 'B'...


And, you guys know how I just love pictures of Dads and their kids... This might be one of my favorites to date...



Real. Beautiful. Lovely. I don't think I could ask for much more...

If you guys are loving the colors as much as I do, consider signing up for my newly re-opened Quickie shoots for this weekend... see here.

I had a great time meeting you!

Until next time,

~ K

Strength and Beauty... | Hampton Family Photography

Let me introduce you to a family that I've only known for a very short time, who I've had very little contact with, but who have made a very big impact on my life.

I've known the 'F' family since last year when Trey started his pre-K program. Their son, Sean, was in his class and they became fast friends. Trey would come home with little pictures that Sean had cut out, colored, and gifted him with... he would talk about his friend Sean all the time... "Hey Mom! Did you know...Sean did this... and then that... and then this... and then that...." Every so often, in the afternoons, as I would stand in the little hallway outside of Trey's classroom, waiting for them to finish singing, "It was a good day..." Sean's dad would be there waiting too, with Sean's older brother, Nick. Nick would smile at Noah who, at the time, was barely walking and would giggle at him or, more often than not, make some kind of odd-Noah-grunt... and Nick would say, "He's cute!" and smile.

But mainly, that was the extent of the contact I had with the 'F' family. Courteous... a mutual respect for the cuteness of our kids. But each of us with busy lives...

Then as the year came to a close and we were giving out invitations to Trey's 1/2 Birthday Party, we noticed Sean was gone from school early. Trey, with all that kid-honesty I love so much, said, "Sean said his brother is sick. So they have to go on vacation early. He said he has headaches..."

The summer progressed ... and then Trey was invited to a birthday party... and Sean was there! DJ talked to his mom for a bit and, at my insisting, obtained her email address so I could forward on a picture I had taken of the boys at school that spring.

DJ spoke with Christina for a while... and, as it turns out, Nick was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, DIPG or Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. Their "early vacation" was a trip to St. Jude's in Memphis for rigorous treatment.

This one hit really close to home. I was... kind-of... fraught with uncertainty about what to do ... I knew I wanted to DO something... to SAY just the perfect thing... to REACH OUT to them. But I was so unsure of how to go about doing that without sounding cliche or fake... in the end, I just sent an email saying I wanted to offer them some portraits...

Christina was gracious and wonderful and open and has been ever since. I've read their Caring Bridge journal which she so willingly shared with me, I cried and laughed, and... more than anything... I've been amazed at the strength of their family through this.

It's only been a few months and their spirit is amazing. Nick was diagnosed on May 30th of this year... and is doing SO well. At their last visit to St. Jude's, the doctor's said there was a significant reduction in the size of the tumor.... There is hope.

So here they are. A beautiful family... a strong family... and a family, who despite it all, is just as real and wonderful as can be.



Meet Nick...



And Sean...









Now go hug your kids. And smile.

Until next time,

~ K

My Family Friday...

We should probably start off with some introductions...

Meet my eldest, Trey...


Trey is pretty much your stereotypical first child... competitive, yet thoughtful, a perfectionist, kinda high-strung. He is a happy boy and a sweet boy with a good, good heart... However, he has a propensity for whining that makes me go a little batty. Here he is, happily showing me his moves (I think he was singing... "Dontcha wish ya girlfriend was hot like me..."). I made him stop throwing the ball outside to take a few pictures. He rolled his eyes, moved into the good light (he's a photog's kid) and started dancing and singing like a madman... for five seconds... then said, "I'm Done." And picked up the ball again. It can't be easy growing up with a photographer as a parent.

And the baby, Noah...


Noah is the antithesis of Trey. He is impulsive, loud, and a raging dare-devil. His favorite phrase is, "ME DO!" As in, me-do everything... I don't need your stinkin' help walking down this huge flight of very steep stairs... "ME DO!" He is the reason years have been shaved off my life... For instance, this morning... I ran upstairs to get Trey's socks and by the time I came back down, Noah had put his little red plastic chair ON the couch and was sitting on it. {!!!} Heart attack!

Hope you guys have a fantastic weekend planned! The weather here in Eastern VA is supposed to be gorgeous! I've got several two shoots coming up and a even a little something for my own family :) So sneak peeks coming soon !

Until next time,

~ K