The Boyce Family // Princess Anne Country Club Family Photographer

I met the Boyce family on the most beautiful overcast day in Virginia Beach. The 9-mile traffic backup couldn't even get me down, because I was so excited to meet Lindy and her beautiful family! Lindy's husband, Matt, is the superintendent at the Princess Anne Country Club golf course, so we were able to walk all around the area and get some amazing pictures in such a gorgeous location!

You'll see some very sweet girls, and then a little rascal that just wanted to run, run, run. But oh it was so fun! I got to know each one of their little personalities, and what makes them unique. The entire family was so warm and welcoming to me, and I'm so grateful to have spent time with them before most of the family headed all the way back to Ohio after a weekend of celebrating birthdays and anniversaries.

Boyce family - thank you SO much for spending the afternoon with me! I truly had a blast, and I won't soon forget the time we spent together. I hope the rest of your weekend was wonderful, and I hope to see you all again some day!

This kid...I loved him in all his craziness!

Grandma and grandpa love all their grandkids :)

Told you this kid was crazy in the best way ;)

What to Wear to Your Session // Business

This summer has been a season full of engagements and family portraits! I am so grateful to have met so many new people and reconnected with others while meeting their family. A question that has come up over and over this summer is, "What should we wear to our session?" So I thought I'd answer that in a blog post, for everyone who is nervous about getting professional pictures taken for the first time!

The answer will really depend on the person, but I am a big fan of wearing complimentary - but not matching - outfits. Choose one or two colors to highlight, and pattern your choices around that. If you just love navy and coral, then great! Don't go out and buy the same navy colored shirt and coral shorts for everyone in the shoot, though. Find pieces that will connect you and the people in the photos with you. That might mean a navy shirt and coral pants for you, and a navy shirt with a coral logo and khaki shorts for your husband.

Or, you could mix up the colors with jewelry. If you want everyone wearing navy, let them choose what piece of their clothing is that color. You could wear a navy necklace while your husband wears a dark blue polo. You will compliment each other without being too matchy-matchy, and it will look great in pictures!

I would also recommend picking ONE piece as the fun, highlighted part of your outfit, and no more! If you are wearing a busy dress with a floral print, then choose a solid cardigan and tan shoes, for example. You want to stay away from a large print on top and another pattern on the bottom. This will cause the focus to be on your outfit instead of you! The same goes for jewelry/watches, etc...don't over-accessorize! A matching bracelet and necklace is cute. A large, beaded necklace, bracelet, earrings, and heavily decorated shoes will end up distracting from your pictures more than adding to them.

Another idea is to coordinate your outfit with your wedding/Christmas card colors, so when you send out cards or save the dates, everything matches! Also, be sure that you are either both dressy or both somewhat casual - it would look funny for one person to be in a collared shirt and tie, while the other is in jeans and a loose sweater. In these cases, it's helpful to pick out your outfits a few nights before the shoot, rather than the day of!

The most important thing is this - be comfortable, and be yourself. I am absolutely a huge fan of getting cute, fun outfits to wear, but if you're wearing an outfit you will never put back on again, you'll think of that every time you look at your pictures! Find something that you would want to wear over and over again, and you probably will. The point of pictures is to showcase who YOU are, not who someone else is or what they would wear. So have fun with it!

If you're still a little stuck, check out my Pinterest board for even more ideas!

(I Had) A Very Merry Christmas // Hampton Roads Photographer

Each year Christmas looks a little bit different, and each year I love it for different reasons! This year I especially loved seeing out of town family who traveled to us to celebrate, and watching my niece open presents for the very first time. She actually got the hang of it (besides sticking all the wrapping paper straight into her mouth)! We even celebrated a little differently with Nathan's family, and had a blast at the Cheesecake Factory and the movies, which I've never done before. Who can say no to cheesecake, though?!

We finally got to take some family pictures this Christmas, too! I only had a couple minutes, but I was able to capture a few sweet moments before we sat down and got way too full with way too much food in record time.

And thanks to my family for putting up me while I herded them into the backyard right before we were about to dig in. Y'all are the best.

First up is my sister and her boyfriend :)

My aunt and uncle who came up just to visit for Christmas!

My younger sister is SENIOR this year.

Here are my parents, who celebrated their 30th anniversary this year!

And finally, my brother, his wife, and my sweet little niece