This year I've had the opportunity to photograph several grandparents visiting from various parts of the US and from China, the UK, and Philippines. My clients usually reach out to me and propose these extended family photo sessions as a gift that they want to give their parents or in-laws. And really, what a gift it is!

Children heirloom vignette portraits have long been a southern tradition, but they are getting more popular everywhere around the country, and for good reason.

Props during baby photography are important because they keep babies entertained and engaged, so that the resulting images are dynamic. They also serve as a point of reference to see how small our children are.

For this studio maternity session, we wanted simplicity in the image to showcase her pregnancy in all its splendor. Simple outfits, simple backgrounds. Just her, and different setups with my lighting equipment – and of course we had to sneak in some images with her husband and beautiful kids. 

Traditionally, professional headshots were defined as tightly-cropped images of just the shoulders and head in a formal, “professional” setting. But in today’s world of small business owners, creatives, solopreneurs, and bloggers, this approach has changed to accommodate more fun and candid shots. Of course this varies by industry and will ultimately depend on your company’s brand identity, but the point is that we all need an image that reflects who we are and what we do, and presents us in a professional, but authentic way to potential clients and customers.

One of my photography goals of this year was to do a lot more self-portraits. So, here we are. I am sharing a few self-portraits that I took last week. While you scroll through these, let me take this opportunity to encourage you to take more photos of yourself too.