Every time I photograph Eliza, I’m pleasantly surprised by the growth of her personality. On this particular day, Eliza warmed up to me quicker than ever. *yesssss* At the end of our session her mom gave her a plate of chocolate chip cookies for the first time ever! Eliza wasted no time in taking one single bite out of each and returning them neatly to the plate. Ha! Kids do the cutest things!
I first met Amanda at The Lady Jane during her First Friday exhibit. I walked in expecting wall art but was pleasantly surprised to see her little floral masterpieces. Arrangements that spruced up used food jars and donned a price tag labeled with a mere $5! The jars were modestly personalized with a ribbon or decorative string and each bouquet had a little birdie, a sparrow. Amanda owns a small floral business called Sparrow’s Floral Design and she has been keeping herself very busy lately. One look at her work and you’ll know why. I was thrilled when she asked me to do a session with her because she “just really needed some headshots” …nothing fancy. But after a few moments with her, the room softened. As the sun stretched it’s evening light, her personality poured out through laughter and all her awesome facial expressions, many of which, I have reserved just for her viewing pleasure. Ha! I really enjoyed my evening with Amanda and I look forward to working with her in the future!
When Ashley asked me to do photos of her family for a second time, I was pumped! The first session was last spring and involved massive storm clouds and chickens. Now, here it is fall and her babes have grown so much! We met at the park for a mini-session filled with beautiful sunlight, homemade cookies and a warm blankie for Daddy. Haha! What fun these guys are!
The kids took off to play with their Dad so I grabbed Ashley for a few solo shots in the remaining sunlight. What a beauty she is!
I am not (completely) losing my mind. I know that I just posted a Lucas Family session last week but if you know the Lucas’s, you know that there is absolutely no way I could fully capture them in a thirty minute time frame. So naturally, we set up a second session. These people are like family to me and it’s such a great feeling to have reciprocated support from fellow hardworking community members. Below you will see the side of them I love so much: pure silliness. What started as a photo session by the river turned into a laugh-fest on the train tracks. Never a dull moment.
It’s always a pleasant surprise to have a group on the other side of my lens who feels comfortable just being themselves, interacting as if my lens is just ‘one of the guys’. It allows for genuine, natural photos… my favorite. That’s what happened when I spent my afternoon with the Fraits Family. These kids have a heart of gold. What a lucky daddy. 
If dogs are family then Echo is my nephew. My spoiled little turd of a nephew. I met with Kimmy and Justin and my turd of a…I mean, Echo, on what was probably the coldest day of this year so far. I exaggerate. They were up for anything so we wandered to this rundown nook in New Market. It made a great stale backdrop for their fun-loving personalities to shine through.
What a pleasure it was to visit the home of Ashley, Josh and Leo. The land their house sits on is a photographic playground and we wasted no time before tromping through the tall grass to their old barns. It was a beautiful day to spend with beautiful people who are a true inspiration to me.
I love photographing families more than once. It’s such a pleasure to help them document the stages of their lives. I photographed sweet Noah and his mom and dad about a year ago and good grief has this boy grown! My afternoon with the Kinman Family was filled with the bright Sunday sunshine and lots of warm smiles. 
Just because the Lucas Family owns and man-handles their own amazing coffee business, doesn’t mean they’re all jacked up on caffeine all the time. And just because you have a slight case of a.d.d. after hanging out with them for an afternoon, doesn’t mean the smell of bean juice oozing from their being gave you a coffee buzz. But…one might think this is the case. That’s because those Lucas’s are dang inspiring: building a life from the ground up, raising two amazing boys, maintaining a loving marriage, juggling priorities and taking the time out of all that to support this local photog and smile for some pic-chas! Support ’em back, go buy their coffee!
Heather and Brian dropped in my studio on a cool, fall, Saturday afternoon for a short and sweet couples session. It didn’t take long for us to fall into the comfort zone and get to snapping. Their genuine nature is simply comforting and I truly enjoy their company, for photos and otherwise.
Brandy Somers Photography 