Impromptu In-Home Photography Session

I absolutely love being outdoors, but this bitterly cold winter is teaching me to appreciate the light streaming through my windows! Have you ever noticed how beautiful window light is? It can be so dramatic or also very soft and dreamy at the right times of day. So when we were babysitting my niece and nephew the other day, I couldn’t help but take some photos when I saw the beautiful window light coming in! Note that my nephew is not shown in any of the pictures because, as a typical 5 year old boy, he chose Paw Patrol over photos…

What is Lifestyle Photography?

If you’ve snooped around my site or checked out my Instagram, you’ve probably seen the term “lifestyle photography” more than once. So what IS lifestyle photography? And is it what you want? I’m glad you asked ;)

Lifestyle photography is all about connection. I want to capture your family interacting with one another. I want your best friend to look at the photos you post on facebook and say “I love when photographers capture candid moments!” Lifestyle photography is about laughter and tickles. It’s about sweet kisses on your newborn’s forehead and about the way your husband looks at you with so much love in his eyes.

It’s easy to look at photos like this and say “Oh, but we couldn’t do that! We wouldn’t know what to do! We’d look awkward.” So for all of you guys out there thinking this - I’m going to tell you a little secret. These “candid” photos that feel so unposed, typically require some…posing. And I’m going to walk you through that! I will give you prompts to inspire interaction, and I might even play some music to lighten the mood. It’ll be fun!

When we start taking photos, I’m going to ask you to ignore everything your mother taught you about posing for pictures. I will ask you, no no I’ll beg you to not look at the camera. I want you to pretend like I’m not there. Let’s clarify that I’ll absolutely be right there talking you through it all. But the people looking at your photos won’t know that I gave your kids a silly prompt to make them giggle. They’ll just see you guys interacting as a family and love it.

And yes. I know. Your mom wants a photo of you all looking at the camera. I’ve got you covered!

Because for every handful of these…

There’s 1 of these…

<3

Happy Valentine's Day, Single Friends!

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Today, I want to dedicate my blog to all of the single women out there. I spent way too many Valentine’s Days feeling marginalized and alone because of my singleness. This silly holiday has a way of stealing joy, and I’m here to say “NOT TODAY!” I’d be lying to you if I told you that I LOVED being single. I didn’t. I so admire women who embrace it with such beauty and confidence, but I was not one of those women. At a certain point, I deemed myself “perpetually single”. I spent years without a date and then I spent years with a whole lot of very bad dates. I’m not entirely sure which was better, but I came out of it all with a whole lot of stories (those are for another day…). Anyway, today I want to tell you why I’m so thankful for my single years. Because who wants to hear one more sappy love story today?!

1.Awesome Female Friendships: I knew almost no one when I moved to Pittsburgh. So I found a church and joined a women’s small group. Every week, we would all get together, drink a glass of wine, and talk about Jesus. We became best friends, and it was awesome.

2.Doing Stuff Alone: Have you ever plugged in your headphones and gone for a long walk by yourself? Or just a casual trip to Target? Or to the movies - whatever you wanna see? It’s so liberating!

3.Habits: You can really sink into (and enjoy) your habits that other people don’t appreciate. For example, I love drinking milk straight out of the carton! And I squeeze the toothpaste tube right near the nozzle instead of from the end.

4.Identity: If I had a boyfriend all those times I WISHED I had a boyfriend, I would not be the person I am today. Because no matter how much I would have denied it then, I was pretty moldable. I was still figuring things out, and I’m so glad I got to do that without the influence of a guy.

5.God’s Timing: If I could have written out my love story and then snapped my fingers and lived it right then…it wouldn’t have been as good as what actually happened. Because God’s better at writing love stories than I am. I know that now.

So remember, your value is not based on your relationship status. It’s hard to embrace singleness sometimes, especially on Valentine’s Day, but I’m here to cheer you on :)

Now here’s my favorite small-batch chocolate chip cookie recipe. Go have yourself a treat!

2 T Melted Butter

1 T Sugar

2 T Brown Sugar

1/4 t Vanilla

1 Egg Yolk

1 Pinch of Salt

1/4 t Baking Soda

1/4 C Flour

Chocolate Chips

Mix butter, sugars, and vanilla. Mix in the egg yolk. Mix in the salt, baking soda and flour. Mix in chocolate chips. Spoon into 2 balls on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

(recipe courtesy of the HGTV Instagram page)