Documentary Family Photographer based in Ocean City, NJ

October 19, 2019

September Road Trip: Autumn + Auroras in Iceland

Reynisfjara Beach, Vík, Iceland

When I find myself lacking words to adequately describe how I feel, I take a photograph. It’s an expression of emotion, a love letter to my family, especially my sons, because sometimes motherhood throws so many emotions into one moment, I can’t say it with words. My oldest son was born the day after my 25th birthday, and even though by definition I was a working adult with a career and was already working toward a Master’s Degree, I had the good sense and maturity of a teenager, and looking back at that time, it feels like I was a baby giving birth to a baby, and had no business being responsible for another human life. But, alas, there are no background checks or tests required for parenthood. The last 14 years have been a combination of instincts, book reading, ignoring bad advice, leaning on solid friendships, and “fake it ’til you make it” parenting strategies. I feel like we’ve done pretty well, my son and I, and we’ve grown into this place where we have conversations like adults sometimes, and he makes really good points in heavy discussions about politics, music, culture, art, and religion. But when I see his face, I can hear the little voice singing “take me out to the ballgame” with all the words mixed up, one of his favorite songs as a three-year-old. In many ways, this feels like the place in time where we put an exclamation point on his childhood. Taking him on an adventure through Iceland, just the two of us, seemed to be the perfect way to mark this occasion.

Yes, he’s still a boy, but it’s been several years since I’ve carried his sleepy little body from the couch to tuck him into bed, years since he’s played super hero dress up with his brothers, and just recently, he gifted his younger siblings Dr. Who characters and Lego creations that spent years as proud childhood displays on his shelves. He’s ready to move on. I, on the other hand, am not. We celebrated both of our birthdays (mine, the last of my 30’s and his, the last before high school) on the last week of September on a road trip across Iceland (my favorite place in the world) in search of the Northern Lights. Just us. And on the second to last night we spent there, the lights came out in a dazzling display, in a farmer’s field, near the cold, salty coast at midnight. We were both awed. In that moment, we stared at the sky with wide-eyed amazement, like two children experiencing magic for the first time. I just felt so incredibly grateful for that moment, for my son, for the opportunity to hear him laugh in a way I hadn’t heard in a long time, away from wifi and the pressures of middle school . . . the freedom to be himself, in a place I love and treasure. The world, like motherhood, can be so hard, but it can also be so freaking beautiful.

Vestrahorn, Stokksnes, Höfn

Reynisfjara + Vík

black sand beach in Vik and church gate cemetery in Vik Iceland

Jökulsárlón

boy licking glacier at diamond beach, Iceland

Skógafoss

smiling boy at skogafoss waterfall in southern Iceland

Þingvellir

Thingvellir national park Iceland boy in t shirt looking at map

boy squinting in sun with fall leaves behind him

Golden Circle

boy leaning out window and boy feeding Icelandic horse

Kerið Crater

boy staring down at Kerid crater Golden Circle Iceland

*Reykjadalur Ther***mal River*, Hike, and Icelandair Hotel Reykjavík Marina***

Boy relaxing half submerged in thermal hot river Iceland

Reykjavík

boy sitting on steps in Reykjavik Iceland

Boy looking through telescope at Maritime Museum in Reykjavik

Boy playing with rubiks cube at flea market in Reykjavik Iceland

Icelandic Phallogical Museum. Yes, I took a 14 year old boy to a penis museum. Oddly, it was very educational and well curated, with plenty of middle aged women giggling like they were at a bachelorette party with a penis cake.

Boy looking at poster at Icelandic Phallogical Museum

Boy sitting on grassy hill in reykjavik harbor fishermen memorial

The Aurora Borealis

Aurora borealis northern lights in southern Iceland

Aurora Borealis northern lights near old barn Reykjanes peninsula

Places we stayed: Aurora Cabins, Icelandair Hotel Vik, Hotel Gullfoss, Icelandair Reykjavik Marina

Places we ate: Sudur Vik, Hotel Gullfoss (food was amazing!); in Reykjavík Kopar, Braud & Co, Stofan Cafe

Natural landmarks we visited (in the order that we stopped): Fjaðrárgljúfur Canyon, Svartifoss Waterfall, Höfn, Vestrahorn and the Viking Village, Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach, Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, Þingvellir National Park, Geysir, Bruarfoss Waterfall (worth the hike), Friðheimar Farm, Gullfoss Waterfall, Kerið Crater, Reykjadalur Hot Springs Thermal River

Museums/Exhibits we visited: The Settlement Exhibit, Maritime Museum, Hallgrímskirkja, Kolaportid Flea Market, Icelandic Phallological Museum, Laugardalslaug Pools, Þúfa, Grótta Island Lighthouse, Harpa Concert Hall

October 10, 2019

Studio Session with Shane Becker of Indian Run

Shane Becker of Indian Run

You can find Indian Run on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and Instagram.

My love of art and creativity extends to not just the end result, but the process, the hours, the revisions, the failures and frustrations that all lead to the final product, the blood, sweat, and tears stamped behind the signature of the artist. The artistic process is full of highs and lows, and understanding this messy middle part of the journey is what allows the observer to fully appreciate and understand a piece of art and what it means to its creator. Like photography, music is the blending of art and technology, which is an added (albeit occasionally frustrating) dimension of the creative process.

Having creative friends has its perks, and I gladly accepted an invitation into Shane Becker’s home music studio to document his work process in honor of his band Indian Run’s upcoming album release, Idk What Happens Next (coming October 24th). Shane’s first studio was aptly named the Cedar Room for its cedar paneled walls and ceilings, but after he and his wife bought their current home last year, the Cedar Room kept its name.

Indian Run’s single, Slicer, was released the week after our shoot, and it’s just so good. I’ve been a fan of Shane’s work for years and am constantly blown away by his talent and creativity, plus he’s an all around great human being. Before I went into his studio, we talked about what he was going for in terms of his aesthetic, so we used flash and some detail elements in the studio to create images that tell a story about the process of creating his music, as well as Shane’s identity as an artist. I intentionally went a little outside the lines of the documentary photography “rules” to deliver something a bit different than I usually shoot. It’s always a little fun to break the rules once in a while, right??

A note for photographers and film makers, you can find Shane’s licensing work for slideshows and films on Soundstripe https://app.soundstripe.com/artists/168

September 2, 2019

Summer Diaries: Part II

It’s September. And I have a lot of feelings, mixed between longing for a fresh start to the school year and the need for routine contrasted with my summer loving heart. I wish it could be summer forever. But, as the seasons go, all good things must end, and in fact, we may have had a little too much as evidenced by the late bedtimes and sleeping in, as well as the climbing numbers on the scale. Too much of a good thing is still too much. And while I never think I could have too much summer, at some point in August, it all starts to head south. Laziness becomes the norm around the house, people get bored, and people start throwing things and slapping one another (and by “people” I’m not talking about Dave or myself). And even the best things about summer, like ice cream, salt water, late beach days, and swimming, can’t compare to my favorite thing about summer: spending time with people I love. I get uninterrupted time with my kids, I see my nephew and niece almost every weekend, we meet up with friends, and we spend hours and hours with my parents and grandparents. That’s always the part about summer, and the hardest to let go.

As the days of August quickly dwindled and the days grew shorter and nights became cooler, here is how we rounded out our summer:

We played the claw. And actually won.

We swam in the bay.

We weathered some storms.

We hung out by the fishing boats with some friends.

We went to the beach.

There was wrestling.

We rode the new “Lighthouse Launcher” at Fantasy Island.

Then we got a little motion sick. And rested wherever we darn well pleased.

There was wrestling.

We celebrated little darlin’s “Three-iesta”

We braved a few injuries (not pictured, my ruptured eardrum from a freak run in with a wave).

We stayed in pajamas until noon some days.

We had (very noisy) family dinners and the boys heard legendary jokes from their Pops.

And finally, there was wrestling.

Peace out, summer 2019! Thanks for the memories.

August 14, 2019

Documentary Family Awards

Winning isn’t everything and I have learned a whole heck of a lot more from failures than successes in photography, but it sure does feel good to be recognized. For years, I have followed Kirsten Lewis Bethman and Jenna Shouldice as leaders in the genre of documentary family photography, two women who have raised the bar and truly elevated the game by creating incredible bodies of work, producing thoughtful instruction that is accessible to everyone, and provided a platform to celebrate the amazing talent within documentary family photography. The first time I watched them in the live judging of the Documentary Family Awards, I was blown away by the talent and creativity behind each image. Even better, Kirsten and Jenna went into detail about why certain images are powerful and what might be done to make them even better. When the DFAs rolled around the second time, I forced myself to enter, thinking that there was no way I was ever going to get an image into the competition. But I really wanted to be a part of it and learn from the process. And then I entered the third time. And the fourth. That time, I saw one of my images made it through the first round of judges and I was honestly THRILLED. I was totally proud just to see it. In June, I submitted photos, one a series that I had submitted previously and returned to it and worked harder to make it better. And so when I tuned in to watch the live judging and saw my photos be selected in every single category that I had submitted to (environmental portrait, cell phone only, nothing is better than real life, and series) I was floored. Incredulous.

I think this made my entire YEAR. I’m beyond proud to be a part of this incredible group of photographers with talent that constantly blows my mind and inspires me every day to be a better photographer.

Cell Phone Only

Nothing Is Better Than Real Life

Series

Me, Myself, and I

When growing up feels lonely. Everyone is supposed to have a place to belong, but what happens when you haven’t found it yet? What happens when people are changing and sometimes outgrow you? These are questions I’ve asked as a mom of a child in the middle of his adolescence, a time when desperately trying to fit himself into a space where he won’t be noticed. I still see him.

(You can see and read more on this series here)

July 30, 2019

Summer Diaries: Part I

As July is quickly coming to a close, summer feels like it’s flying by in a blink, but we’ve also packed an incredible amount of life into the past few weeks. Life can be a wild ride, but none wilder than summers spent shuffling back and forth to baseball, beach weekends with family, birthday celebrations, fireworks, sleep away camps, friend sleepovers, pool play dates, staying up late, sleeping in, and about 100 half gallon containers of ice cream. For real. Every summer, I vow to “slow down” and enjoy the time, but at this present phase of my life, the pedal is pressed to the metal and we feel the wind in our hair and sun on our faces as summer flies along.

We added a puppy to our crew a little over two months ago, a Portuguese Water Dog named Bennett. He is a wild, sweet, energetic pup, who manages to get his little puppy teeth on every surface in the house. The boys have holes in their t-shirts, so thank goodness for dog training, I think we are finally out of that phase. He comes to us as a “companion dog” in training for our 12 year old son with ASD. At least, that was the plan. But he’s been experiencing some neurologic issues (balance and eye wandering) that have been difficult to diagnose and by all accounts of specialists either are harmless (for the most part) or something lethal. We just don’t know. To say this has been a rollercoaster is an understatement, especially the unknown ahead and having to explain that to three young minds who don’t understand that the world isn’t always black and white. In the meantime, we are doing everything we can to carry on as normal, but with a little extra spoiling for Bennett (who loves carrots and hates lunch meat . . . what a guy).

Here’s what we’ve been up to.

We finished school.