Documentary Family Photographer based in Ocean City, NJ

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.

We slept in.

We celebrated a very special birthday. 85. When someone throws spit balls, she fights back.

We hit the boardwalk.

We hit the beach. Boys draw penises wherever they go. I just look away.

We swam in the ocean.

We dove in the pool.

We spent time with family. Which includes a lot of candy runs.

We played hide and seek. In gross places.

We went on the rides.

And it’s not over yet! Cheers to summer, the best time of year.

June 12, 2019

A Prom Story

Once upon a summer, there was a little girl riding her scooter in the driveway with her sister. She was five and just getting ready to go to kindergarten in the fall, adorably spunky, and the daughter of the first neighbor to welcome me when we first moved into our house. After years of friendship and watching her grow up, Kayla attended her junior prom last Friday. It almost seems impossible that she was that little girl on the scooter because it seems a memory so fresh, it could have been yesterday. I’m so thankful I got to document this moment for her family, the excitement and nerves were a quick reminder of how I felt at my own prom . . . that doesn’t feel like it was 20 years ago, either (yikes). My hope is that in 20 years, she will look back on this moment and remember how she felt, who was there, and the lifelong lesson in the value of double sided tape and cement strength hairspray ;). Milestones like these are worth documenting, contact me to learn more.

May 30, 2019

When Spring turns into Summer

The month of May on the beaches of New Jersey represents that weird shoulder season between early (aka cold) spring and summer. The combination of unpredictable weather, where one day is beach weather and the next is the second coming of winter with a thunder storm settled in between, and the inconvenience of the compulsory educational calendar make it a sleepy time in many towns, slowly coming to life day by day. As the dune grass grows greener and the breeze becomes a welcome refuge from the heat rather than a razor sharp blast of cold, signs of summer dreams begin to drift onto the beaches with kids carrying buckets, families with beach blankets and kites, bikes, bikinis, and the smells of sunscreen and ice cream wafting through the air. It’s seriously one of my favorite times, and watching it all unfold is entertainment at it’s finest, especially watching the gulls grow hungry in anticipation of tourists with hot dogs and pizza or a vulnerable toddler with a peanut butter and jelly sitting on a beach blanket. One summer, I actually googled “can seagulls carry rabies?” after Jackson’s baby hand got “beaked” and bloodied by a particularly aggressive bird. But I’m pretty sure rabies is just for mammals, FYI. This is the Jersey Shore, as summer awakens from her slumber, a welcome seasonal respite from it’s normal state.

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