Winter at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon
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Arlington Cemetery on a Sunny Winter Day
Arlington Cemetery is one of those places that you have to visit when you come to Washington DC. The cemetery is beautiful, peaceful, saddening and yet hopeful. Visiting with young kids takes away a bit of the opportunity for contemplation, but my hope is in a trade off of small seeds of impression planted in
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5 Photographers Who Inspire
Life as a creative requires consistent inspiration. Sometimes we can find that inspiration within, but other times it is necessary to look outside of ourselves. These 5 photographers who inspire offer unique viewpoints and evocative imagery- a combination that never fails to ignite my own creativity. Photographers Who Inspire | Nisian Hughes Starting out with
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6 Important Novels
Can you relate? We move pretty often. The longest we’ve lived any one place in 14 years of marriage is just under 4 years. Due to the frequent need to pack (and stay under a pre-determined weight limit!) I’ve done a lot of book decluttering. I’ve spent hours at my bookshelves, running my fingers over
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Hot Chocolate Afternoon
The kids each received a few packets of hot chocolate in their stockings for Christmas this year, and we’ve slowly been working through them. Some days have definitely not been hot chocolate days, recently. High of 82 in Virginia? In FEBRUARY? Can’t complain about the sunshine, though ;) (PS- these were edited with the Ruby
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Health and Wellness Favorites for Early 2018
Health and wellness have been on my mind this year. I mean, they’re on usually on my mind, in general, but after a rough 2017, I want to make some healthy changes in 2018. In the interest of helping anyone who has similar interests to mine, here are some of my health and wellness favorites
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5 Tips for Choosing New Photography Gear
So you’re in the process of choosing new photography gear. How do you make sure that you purchase the best piece of equipment possible, and that you’ll fall in love with using it? Choosing New Photography Gear: Know Why You Need It New gear is fun. The rush of buying it. The bliss of using
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Farm Boys
Recently we drove several hours south of DC to pick up a tabletop that my husband had commissioned from custom woodworker. The woodworker’s son is a colleague of my husband’s and we were graciously invited to enjoy their farmland and lumber mill. Our boys didn’t want to leave. ;) Yet another indication that our eventual
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Disney World 2017 | Animal Kingdom
The last day of our Disney World trip was spent in Animal Kingdom, and it was awesome. In general, AK felt less crowded than the other parks and we enjoyed the variety of rides and attractions. The new Avatar, Flight of Passage ride had opened shortly before we visited, so the plan was to head
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Disney World 2017 | Magic Kingdom Day 2
We bought 5 day park hopper passes for our trip to Disney World, which meant that one park could be repeated. We chose to spread Magic Kingdom over two days and I’m glad that we did. The park is full of rides that appealed to everyone in our group and we were able to repeat
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Disney World 2017 | Out and About Around the Resort
The third day of our trip to Disney World was slated for Hollywood Studios. We found that we only needed a few hours at the park with the kids, and their time was better spent on an afternoon nap. Thankfully, our traveling companions- my parents- rescued their tired little grandchildren and accompanied them back to
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Disney World 2017 | Epcot
After our first day, at Magic Kingdom, we were ready to tackle Epcot. We walked from Yacht Club, where we were staying, right to the back gate, which was super convenient, but also put us on entirely the opposite side of the park from all of the rides. Semi-undaunted, we walked all the way around
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Disney World | Magic Kingdom Day 1
Our Disney trip was months in the making. I think we started officially planning in March, and we traveled in October. Astonishingly, we were barely early enough, as some hotels were sold out already for military rates for our dates, and reservations for certain activities opened up within a month or so of our booking
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Upstate New York on Film
I’ve learned something new about film. Portra 160 doesn’t like quite as much light as Portra 400 and the other higher ISO films I’ve worked with. Exposing for the shadows leaves me with more highlight brightness than I’d like. Filing away “meter for midtones for Portra 160” for future reference. Has anyone else experienced the
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October Self Portraits | Thoughts and Settings
All indoor self portraits for October. Even though it was still pretty summer-like for the majority of the month, the beginning of fall always finds me retreating indoors. Maybe I’m looking forward to the holidays? Speaking of, I have started listening to Christmas music almost every day now that Halloween is done. 2 months per
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Boston Visit with Kids
Our ‘great summer road trip’ rounded out with a few nights spent outside Boston. We found an AirBnB close to a Subway stop and spent a morning and afternoon walking around the city. First- figuring out the ticketing system. Not so self explanatory. A nice transit employee leaving her shift happened to walk by and
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Kennebunkport Maine on Film | Portra 400
After New Hampshire, we were headed down to Boston to see some family friends and check out the city. However, we want to hit as many East Coast states as possible, while we live in Virginia, so we made a side trip to the Southern coast of Maine for the day. Our first stop was
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New Hampshire Train Ride
After the epic one day road trip from Western upstate New York, across Vermont, to the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, we had settled into our rental for the next two nights and were ready to explore New Hampshire. The state has long been on our list of possible places to land after we’re done moving
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Chalk Paint Dresser Makeover
When I was a little girl, my Mom repainted a dresser, that she had used as a child, for me to use. I think it was a deep pink, and I know that she had toll painted pictures of little girls on the doors. Then, when I moved out to an apartment for one year
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Portrait Session with a 4 Year Old
Place, chase, joke, replace, shoot 1 frame. Repeat the first 4 steps in order to get to the 5th… over and over. That is how my sessions with all three of my boys at 4 years old have proceeded. Worth it in the end though, for pictures that help me to remember what their soft
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New York to New Hampshire | Road Trip
On our summer vacation this year, we spent our first few nights in Ithaca New York, then drove across the state, and Vermont, to Meredith New Hampshire on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee. The drive was beautiful, but, let me tell you… don’t get off the highway at the wrong exit in rural New York.
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Fall Farm Activities in Northern Virginia
I love living in an area that has four seasons. Fall and Spring are my favorites, and I look forward to fall activities all year long. Over the past two falls we’ve visited several farms in the Northern Virginia and I wanted to share three of my favorites. Fall Farm Activities in Northern Virginia |
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Mastering Natural Light Indoors
A week from today the last run of 2017 for Mastering Natural Light Indoors begins. I’ve been teaching this workshop for Click Photo School for over 5 years, now. I remember the nerves I felt creating the materials, wanting so badly to create an experience that would make a difference for photographers. After instructing hundreds
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September Self Portraits | Settings and Thoughts
While I was shooting my self portraits in September, I didn’t feel like they were incredibly inspired or creative. But now, as I look at them as a group I can see how I was experimenting with different techniques and I can appreciate the creativity that they do contain. This ability to see my work
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