At Home Portraits

Like many, the world over, we in the UK are now in the midst of stay-at-home-measures in an attempt to slow the spread of covid-19. A few weeks ago we were hearing about the deaths in Wuhan and we appeared far removed. Now, we are asked to stay home, work from home, leave the house only for necessities or as a key worker...although currently we are allowed to walk locally or exercise once a day. Many older people and those with underlying health conditions cannot even do that and have been told to self-isolate for at lease 12 weeks, although it will likely be for much longer. A few months ago none of us could have envisioned how much life would change.

Extra time at home has meant many things; a different way of doing school or work, bouts of boredom, spurts of creativity, an increase in reaching out to others by way of technology as our connecting in person has been increasingly restricted.

Our girls have been experimenting. Our youngest asked our middle to cut her hair (big gulp)...and actually, thankfully, it did not turn out awful. Then they took it a step further and begged for hair dye, which daddy dutifully found on one of his grocery trips.

I talked them into letting me take a few photos, to document the outcome. It's rare to get more than snapshots these days so I just had to do a bit of editing with all this extra time on my hands and then of course, share. These girls are beautiful, inside and out and growing up far too quickly. I cherish this bit of extra time together, and as a homebody have not had as hard a time as I'm sure most extroverts have.

February Photo Project 2017 - Photo A Day - Day 1

I never made an official announcement about no longer being in business, but after our international moves and having to dive into full-time homeschooling, that is what happened. I still shoot for myself, of course, and occasionally take on a small project, but this is a different season. 


One day I hope to return, but in the meantime, as in years past, I am once again doing my February photo project and will post a photo a day. It may only be one month of the year, but I love to look back on these photos and it never hurts to have a bit of discipline. No real rules, just our life documented a little. Maybe there'll be captions, maybe not, there could be the occasional phone photo thrown in on busier days and sometimes it may be hard to narrow things down and there could be bonus photos. 

I'd love for you to follow along, or even join in. Let me know!




These girls! I have so many versions of this photo over the years; sitting together on one of their beds, hanging out, maybe watching a show or listening to some music...and it never gets old. There are times when they cannot stand to be together and they can drive each other crazy, but they have the sweetest bond too. I hesitate, sometimes, to take this photo yet again, but I do love to see the variations and progression.




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February Photo Project - Photo A Day - Day 21

Some days when the kids are extra tired, probably because they had too much fun at their sleepovers, the bickering can get out of hand. The whining isn't too much fun either. Some of those days are extra long and you don't have the chance or motivation to pick up your camera at all, and at the end of the day you have to hunt for a last minute photo and maybe it is more of a snapshot, but it's a precious memory too. To find them like this restores hope again and is wonderfully sweet, knowing they truly love each other and want to be together.

(As in years past, I've decided to do the February photo project and take a photo a day. It never hurts to have a bit of discipline and with all our transitions my creativity has been sorely lacking, so I'm looking forward to jumping back in. No real rules, just our life documented a little. Maybe there'll be captions, maybe not, there could be the occasional phone photo thrown in on busier days and sometimes it may be hard to narrow things down and there could be bonus photos. I'd love for you to follow along, or even join in. Let me know!)

Photo a Day February 2015 - Day 19

This is a personal kick start project, a photo a day for the month of February.

52 Weeks of 2014 - Week 12

Sure the photographs of a happy smiling family are often the ones that end up on the walls, but these...these moments are the ones that I will look back on with a full heart. These candid moments, snippets of real life, not posed, will bring the memories flooding back.

52 Weeks of 2014 - Week 7

Ah my sweet girls. I love to watch their relationship; they love each other to death and are best friends, but of course they know each others 'buttons' like nobody else.

I have recently been learning to crochet and made them each a cute hat last week, which they actually like and are wearing(!), they were so cute together that I had to take a photograph. Any excuse right?

52 Weeks of 2013 - Week 26

We are already half way through this year!

I love making my kids laugh, they are so cute. My girls, as of this week have matching missing teeth, in spite of the two year age difference. Well of course I had to capture it, before it changes (any excuse).

They are sweethearts and they do humor me. I have learned over the years that if I keep our little shoots lighthearted and fun and short, everyone is pretty happy. I get a few shots, I do it all before they have a chance to start whining, I make them laugh (yep, I can be pretty funny), I capture them together and we're done...before they can complain that they're bored. I try to make it a positive experience, that they can enjoy and therefore maximize my chances of a favorable response the next time I ask them to let me take photos. Now sometimes, I will admit, there are groans when they see the camera, but for the most part I think we've found a little rhythm and that makes me incredibly happy.

Love them SO much!

52 Weeks of 2013 - Week 20

There are those RARE moments in life when your little girls say "Mommy! Take a picture of us" and you don't argue, you grab your camera quickly and don't worry about what the background looks like, or whether outfits match perfectly, or are cute enough. Then they spontaneously hug each other without you  asking them to. They smile....then they really surprise you and even do a sweet kiss and you are just doing as you were told and documenting that they really do love each other. Which, of course you knew.

Sometimes, though, with all the bickering and yelling and pinching, you wonder if they will both survive, or if you will even be able to handle the teenage years if it's already like this now. So you'll take these moments and treasure them and of course record them. They will be proof. (One day you may need to shove a photo like this in their faces and remind them how they really are best friends because, maybe, for brief moments they might forget.)

I realize, this could just be how it is with my kids and yours may be just perfect at all times, loving and sweet and kind to each other. But, I seriously doubt it.

Love these unscripted moments. Sigh.

52 Weeks of 2013 - Week 10

They are true sisters, the best of friends, the worst of enemies. They play together and giggle together and plan and primp together. They still hold hands! I love watching their relationship blossom and I try hard to remember if it was like that for my sister and I. My memory fails me but I am sure it must have been.

They approach life so differently and have strengths and weaknesses uniquely their own and I love them all the more for it. I know they will always be there for each other, through thick and thin. They are and will be, a force to be reckoned with.

Love these two little mischief makers!

52 Week Project - Week 15 {Bay Area Child Portrait Photographer}

I love the relationship my kids have with each other. They truly enjoy each other and have fun together. The girls really are each others best friend and the time they have spent together since their brother started school has only served to strengthen their bond.

Yesterday I made a new dress for Bryttain - a pillowcase dress. I have been looking for something simple and classic, for the longest time and it just has not materialized, so I decided I would just have to make it. I ran to a local thrift store and found one pillowcase that would work, ran to Michaels for some ribbon to make the ties and an hour later she had a cute dress, perfect for a little shoot. She was pretty excited and all of a sudden all three of them were excited. We were losing light rapidly but they were insistent! Arran (kind of) helped me drag my bench out into the field and I just started shooting.

I love to catch them interacting and this fun stage of their relationship. I know that in the years ahead they may not always be this close, but I will have proof that they were and I know in my heart that they will always have an undeniable bond, that I hope will come full circle.

Love the natural outtakes too.

Of course we have to have some fun too, we cannot be all serious when it comes to photographs, otherwise how many do you think I would really get? Love, love, love these little people!

Sisters, sisters, never were there such devoted sisters!

I love watching the relationships of my children. They each genuinely love and adore each other, in spite of the bickering and fights that regularly erupt. They truly are best friends and it warms my heart and blesses me.

Arran is already back in school and we miss him terribly, but it does mean that the two girls get to spend more time working on their bond. Mommies and babies, dressing up, cooking in their little kitchen, these girlie activities are regular occurrences in our household (although truth be told, Arran would happily join in with any of those games).

Here are my little princesses (with a little vintage-like processing), cooperating and letting me take a picture of them together, I hope they will be this close for the rest of their lives.