A Special Connection {McLean, VA Family Photographer}

A not very secretive secret: I have a special place in my heart for babies with Down syndrome.

I have an extra-special place in my heart for babies with Down syndrome and lots of medical needs, because once upon a (long) time ago, that described my now

healthy

daughter with Down syndrome.

I was excited to capture this sweet family of five, with whom I'd originally connected through our local Down syndrome group.

They are beautiful and wonderful.  And dealing with a lot of medical equipment for their baby.  But someday, they'll have a child free of tubes and wires, probably flushing toys down the toilet or tattling on her siblings, and they'll look in wonder at these pictures from this time and wonder how they got from point A to point B.

This family was so warm and affectionate toward each other.  The big kids both treated their baby sister so gently.

"Of these, three remain.  Faith, hope and love.  And the greatest of these is love."

Thank you so much for a wonderful session, for welcoming me into your home, and for letting me capture this season.

Family of Four {Arlington, VA Family Photographer}

My busy photography weekend kicked off Saturday morning with a family of four.  It was baby girl's first photo session and the kids were both troopers considering the toasty weather and humidity.  (And the closed pool within sight!)

I loved the color combination mom picked with oranges and pinks, and I loved the interaction between the two adorable kids.  Big brother's toy truck even helped me work my camera for a few photos.

My summer schedule is full except for tutorial sessions and weeknight high school senior sessions, but I have some fall slots left and I am booking now for the rest of 2016!

More sneak peeks of all this week's fun are on

Facebook

!

Georgetown Senior Session {Alexandria, VA High School Senior Photographer}

What do you do with an unexpected wide open Sunday evening?

If you're me, you call your intern because she's now officially a high school senior and you drive to Georgetown to explore, snap some senior photos, and convince her to update your headshot.  (Check out my

About Me

page!)

After a muggy and hot spell, we had a nice breeze and some beautiful golden light.  Evening light always makes redheads just glow, and I will be editing this session all week!

Happy Senior Year, Jess!  Enjoy your final year at TC Williams.

I can't believe it's already July.  My daughter started summer school today.  I need to finalize our vacation plans, for a vacation that's sneaking up on me.  And I have been busy planning and plotting for sessions ranging from headshots for professional adults to high school seniors to new babies!  

Stay tuned... I have three sessions next weekend so lots of fun updates coming!

I Got a DSLR... Now What?

In 2011, I got a new camera.  It was my first DSLR, a Nikon D3100.

I knew my camera was capable of much more than my old point and shoot.  (And much more than the Blackberry I owned at the time... hey, it was five years ago!)

Challenges abounded.  Why were some pictures focused in the right place and some fuzzy?  Why were some grainy?  The more I learned, the more I was able to capture photos of my daughter that were worthy of hanging on my wall.

I love professional photos.  I love having my family photographed.  I hope you love it, too.  (If you don't, I'm not sure why you're here on my website.  Book a session.  You'll love it.)

The

only

problem with relying only on a professional photographer is that I'm not following you around your house every single day.  Sometimes, you want to grab your camera and capture the everyday.

In the first image below, my daughter was in the NICU.  The focus is on her back hand.  She's kind of blurry.  An everyday moment in that era... chillin' in her NICU crib.

The second image is her last day of preK.  She did NOT want a photo session, because she wanted to go to school.  Ellie moved a lot faster in the second image than the first.  It's an equally unscripted and un-posed moment.  (I yelled, "Get out the door, I want a picture!"  "No, Mommy, let's go to school!  I want to see my friends!")  Yet the image is in focus and she's not a blur.

I'll let the difference speak for itself.

To help you through the growing pains I experienced, I'm offering something new starting at the end of this month -

Learn to Use Your Camera Sessions

!  These are one-on-one sessions where we work together to help you meet your goals.  Want to learn to shoot in manual mode?  Or just how to pick an appropriate shooting mode?  You only have a point and shoot but you know a few simple tweaks could help you capture great images?  Well, we will get you photographing with confidence!

And lest you think the camera makes all the difference... here's a few from my iPhone.  Composition and light can make or break a photograph, even on a phone!

A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Jun 8, 2016 at 3:48pm PDT
A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Mar 1, 2016 at 8:33am PST
A photo posted by Megan Landmeier (@meganlando) on Sep 25, 2015 at 5:54am PDT

My Own Family {Arlington, VA Child Photographer}

Last weekend, we were preparing for my five year old's tonsillectomy and anticipating a low-key week ahead.  Knowing that Ellie probably wouldn't be much for smiling this week, and since I hadn't taken any nine month photos of Caroline, I tried to get some pictures of the girls before church.

Big sister takes over the baby bucket.

Big sister shares giraffe.

Laughter.  So much laughter.