Check out his blog or Facebook page. Even if you are not quite ready to buy or sell your home, he’s always willing to give advice.

We met over ten years ago, and I am still amazed by his determination!

During our trip back east we visited my old friend Kendra in New Jersey.  I mentioned her a few months back in a post.  Her son is one day younger than my daughter.  This was the second time they met, and seemed to become instant friends.  I think at one point three of the four adults had a camera out and were trying to keep up with the little ones running around.

This is one of my favorites because it captures them.  It reminds me of their dashes that would start in one end of the kitchen, and end in a very brief break looking out the window at a cold winter day.

I first met Kendra when we were little girls at dancing school, probably around 6 or 7 years old. I met Kendra again as freshmen in high school. We were in the same honors English class. On the second day of school, she brought a photo of our dancing school class in. She was excited to show me that we knew each other back then. I was so embarrassed of the picture of me as a chubby little girl in a tutu!

Kendra’s son Nate was born a day after my daughter. If only they weren’t 3000 miles away in New Jersey I would have just rushed over to take the holiday portraits for her.

So how do you get that great portrait of your toddler?

Don’t try to keep your little one still. Be prepared to chase. Put on your sneakers. Have your camera ready. Take a test shot of the scene first and then have your finger on the button.

Have someone in the portrait with him or her. Your toddler walking holding hands can make a sweet picture and slow them down a bit.

Put your spouse or friend on babysitting detail. You are the photographer and don’t want to be worrying about what goes in your toddler’s mouth or if he is too close to the street. Have someone along that can take all responsibility so you can just take the photos.

Get outside. Little ones loves to explore. If you are at a park, or even in the yard, there is more to distract your toddler from trying to grab the camera.

Get to know your camera. Whether you are shooting with a DSLR, a digicam, or even your cell phone, see what options you have. If you don’t have manual options, try shooting in sports mode. This typically uses a fast shutter speed, which helps with moving subjects.

Catch them busy. My daughter can get really caught up looking at something or playing with a certain toy. Take advantage of these times. Keep the camera handy and pick up up while your toddler is distracted.

Shoot lots. When I do family portraits, I take tons of images. Babies and toddlers move quickly and even with my professional camera I can’t always snap it before they are in motion. I sometimes photograph on rapid fire. I’d rather have excess of images than have missed a moment.

Contact me | View Portfolio

Sweet Mama $95

• a mini portrait session (30 minutes, 15-20 images in gallery)
• two 5×7 prints
• eight wallets

Sensational Mama $250

• portrait session (an hour, approximately 30-35 images in gallery)
• a 20 page hard bound coffee table book of your favorite images
• an 8×10 print
• eight wallets

Sustainable Mama $375

• portrait session (an hour, approximately 30-35 images in gallery)
• high resolution digital negatives on dvd
• printing rights to images
• an 8×10 print custom framed by Green House Framing

These sessions must be purchased in May but can take place anytime within the next year.  My portrait sessions include a location of your choice, creative editing of your photos, a pre-session consultation via email or on the phone, and a private web gallery.

If these packages do not meet your needs, send me an email with what you have in mind and I’ll create a custom one for you.

Take a look at my portfolio and email me to schedule a session.

I am now thrilled to announce that I will be offering digital downloads of your individual image files. This will start in March. I still have to work out the pricing but I will definitely offer discounts for bundles of images. There will also be three versions available, low resolution, medium resolution, and high resolution. I may possibly include an “online only use” download as well.

This service will be available through your password protected online gallery. As simple as adding a print to your shopping cart, you will be able to add a digital file. Once you submit the order, I will review it and then send you notification that your photograph is ready.

The beauty of this product to me is that you can pick and choose, just like you would when ordering prints. If you have a photograph that you want to use for your baby announcements, you can simple purchase a medium resolution file of that image, and have the right to use it for unlimited personal prints!

With that said, I do still encourage enlargements be ordered through me directly. The professional lab I use does incredible work, and you may not find the same quality at a random one hour lab. If you do decide to buy a high resolution file for large prints, please ask me and I will recommend some local labs.

Though this service is mainly geared towards my portrait clients, it will be available to my wedding photography clients as well. My wedding packages include a high resolution dvd, but one of your guests may want to take advantage of being able to download a high resolution photograph from your wedding.

A few months ago, I was out shopping, and I noticed a mom bringing her toddler in for portraits. For a second I thought I should swoop in, and pass a business card, but that is not my style. Then I looked at a sign and saw they do not charge for a sitting and let you pick from images to get prints all within minutes.

Neat, I thought. How do I compete ? My answer is I don’t. What I do is of a completely different nature.

I capture natural moments, let everyone go about being themselves, and I come to you (or we meet at your favorite location). I like to think my images show more about my subjects. I purposely limit the amount of clients I work with at a time. I consider myself fully booked at four portrait sessions per week, or one wedding and a portrait. This allows me to give you my full attention and for me to be in the best mental state possible. It also let’s me see you and your loved ones for who you are instead of a number.

I am a trained professional. I have a bachelor’s degree in art and photography. The piece of paper does not matter. What makes a difference is that I understand photography technically, historically, and have spent countless hours discussing and critiquing photography. Though my business is yet to turn one, I have been shooting for years. I love what I do, and photograph all the time whether paid for it by a client or not.

Back to the topic, what else do I do besides snap pictures for an hour or so?

Behind the scenes tasks:

• Consult with clients via email or phone about all the details (what type of package, location, date, and more)
• Charge 2-3 camera batteries, and flash batteries
• Clean lenses and check equipment
• Check to make sure memory cards are empty
• Pack up my gear (bringing along a spare equipment just in case)
• Travel typically an hour round trip
• After the session, I dump images to my computer
• Backup RAW images to my external drive
• Backup RAW images to dvd
• Clean memory cards and put away gear
• File paperwork
• Record payments and expenses (gas, mileage, ect)
• Do an initial sort through 100-200 images flagging the ones to keep
• Process flagged images in Lightroom adjusting exposure, color, and other minor tweaks
• Selecting images that I want to edit further
• Creatively editing 25-35 images in Photoshop
• Blog a sneak peak of 2-4 images
• Make a dvd backup of the final images
• Upload final images to client website
• Consult with client on any questions regarding ordering print and albums
• Coordinate ordering of prints
• Design, order and ship album (if applicable)

To my surprise, I spend much more time doing other tasks then I do actually photographing!