And a Happy New Year!

We did our last modeling shoot of the year today. This is the newest "calico princess" by Ollie Girl!--Mulan. I leave tomorrow for India. Check back mid-January for pictures from the trip. I will have pictures from the wedding, as well as from our safari and other adventures. Happy new year!

Merry Christmas to all!

Veralana Photography will be closed from December 24-28. My family and I wish you and yours a warm and joyful holiday.

Last Session of the Year

I usually wouldn't take sessions this late in the holiday season, but when these adult siblings contacted me and asked for some portraits for their parents, I made a special exception for them. And despite the freezing temperatures and brisk wind, we had a good time trying out some portrait ideas. I hope their parents enjoy their very special gifts this Christmas!

Future Ballplayer

I got to work with this family earlier in the fall for some maternity portraits, and I was so excited to meet the him when he finally decided to make his arrival. Here is their little holiday present in mom's knit cap, and with dad's baseball gear.

We have a winner!

I'm happy to announce that Picture #1, by young artist Emily, is the winner of my first ever blog contest. Here is the winning image:


She won a free photo session, and maybe we can capture her with a balloon and lollipop, just like the portrait in her imagination!

Time to Vote!

The entries are in and it's time to vote for your favorite! Please only one vote per person. Feel free to send over as many of your friends and family to vote as you would like. The theme of the contest is to draw a picture of yourself having your portrait taken. I'm so excited to have these fun pictures to share! The poll will be open until 11:59pm December 18th. And the winner will receive a free portrait session and an 8x10 print of themselves holding their winning entry.

Entry #1: Emily, age 5

Entry #2: Abby, age 4

Entry #3: Ashleigh, age 5

Entry #4: Mimi, age 5

Entry #5: Evelyn, age 5
Entry #6: Taylor, age 5

Something a little different

I was excited when I was asked to do some adult headshots/portraits. And working with such a great subject made it even more fun. Here's just a couple from our shoot.

Contest... last day to enter!

Happy snow day! Well, at least there is a little snow on the ground :) I thought it was a good time to share A's little snowman artwork. I know I love seeing what comes from her imagination. And I wanted to post a reminder that this is your last chance to enter your child's artwork in my first contest! I will be posting the entries early next week for voting. Here is the information again about the contest:

Ask your child (ages 3-6) to draw you a picture of themselves having their portrait taken. The image should be drawn with crayon, paint or marker on white paper. Scan in the image and send it to me by email (emily @ veralana.com) with the subject "Blog Contest". If more than 10 entries are received, 10 finalists will be selected. The finalists' entries will be posted on the blog, and voting will be conducted by a public poll. The winner of the poll will win a portrait session and an 8x10 of the winning artist holding his or her artwork.

The small print: Contest is open to residents of the DC area. Entries must be submitted by a parent, but drawn by a child age 3-6. Scanned images should be 600 pixels on the large side. Please keep the original artwork. Prize is an outdoor or studio session at the photographer's location of choice for the winning artist in the month of February or March 2009. Entries must be submitted November 19-December 7. Voting will be via poll on my blog (open to the public, one vote per person). I reserve the right to cancel the contest at any time, or disqualify entries if I believe any entries are not made in good faith or I suspect voting irregularities. After all, this contest is supposed to be fun! Winner will be posted on the blog and notified by email. Free session must be scheduled in February or March, and will expire if not used by the end of March 2009.

Blowing Kisses

My session this morning with this sweet little 2-year-old was a great way to end off the season of holiday portraits. She was full of giggles, kisses, and smiles for her mommy. I'm looking forward to seeing her again at their newborn session, when she will be the big sister.

Christmas Rock!

These little guys love to play music together, so mom had the idea that we could entice them into the some photo with a little performance. So here they are in action, the Brothers Klaus!

Contest Deadline Extended

If you're anything like me, the holiday weekend went by in a flash! I have decided to extend the kids' contest by one more week to give you more time to get those entries in. Here's the original post with the details. Can't wait to see the artwork!! The new deadline for entries is December 7th.

Happy 50th Anniversary!

In continuation of my weekend of family portraits, this family was celebrating the couple of honor's 50th wedding anniversary. What better way to celebrate than with a portrait of the children, their spouses and the grandchildren.

Family Day

I have been very lucky to work with a lot of repeat clients this holiday season, and this little guy was one of my maternity/newborn clients earlier in the year. Now he brought back his 3 sisters, his parents, 10 cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents for a group portrait.

I am thankful for....

My friends and family. This morning I was behind the camera, taking family and newborn portraits for some of my closest friends. I normally would have taken the day off, but this little angel was kind enough to come right before my visit, so I could meet her and take some fun natural light newborn portraits. Congratulations, Jason! It's so great to see you as a dad.

Mini-Session: Sisters

I was really excited to photograph these little cuties, because I have known them for a long time, and I know they are sweethearts. Even though we were aiming for holiday card photos, I had to take a few fun individual photos as well, since they were having so much fun with the props in the studio. It's like a kids' wonderland in there :)

Mini-Session: In the Studio

These little guys were some of my first customers, and I loved seeing them again for their holiday card portraits this year. I thought this image of the two of them was just so perfect, I had to show it as a gallery wrap. You would never guess how much fun and games we had while getting them to sit still for a few pictures. They were such fun little kids, and they were just full of hugs and kisses for each other.

Mini-Session: Natural Light

Brrr. We didn't realize when we scheduled this outdoor holiday card mini-session that despite the fact that the average temperature this year is 55 degrees, that it would feel like it was 20 degrees today! So we improvised, doing some quick outdoor shots and then some natural light inside. This little gal is such an adorable little girl, and she was one of the newborns I photographed last summer. I couldn't believe how much she had grown in just a few months!

Caught in a Yawn

I was so excited to meet this little angel. Her mommy and daddy came last month for maternity portraits, and today I got to meet her. She has the most gorgeous full head of shiny black hair, and she is only 10 days old!

Contest!!

I got this idea after we spent a couple minutes scanning in my daughter's artwork to share. I'm going to have my first-ever blog contest!

Here is the scoop:

Ask your child (ages 3-6) to draw you a picture of themselves having their portrait taken. The image should be drawn with crayon, paint or marker on white paper. Scan in the image and send it to me by email (emily @ veralana.com) with the subject "Blog Contest". If more than 10 entries are received, 10 finalists will be selected. The finalists' entries will be posted on the blog, and voting will be conducted by a public poll. The winner of the poll will win a portrait session and an 8x10 of the winning artist holding his or her artwork.

The small print: Contest is open to residents of the DC area. Entries must be submitted by a parent, but drawn by a child age 3-6. Scanned images should be 600 pixels on the large side. Please keep the original artwork. Prize is an outdoor or studio session at the photographer's location of choice for the winning artist in the month of February or March 2009. Entries must be submitted November 19-30. Voting will be via poll on my blog (open to the public, one vote per person). I reserve the right to cancel the contest at any time, or disqualify entries if I believe any entries are not made in good faith or I suspect voting irregularities. After all, this contest is supposed to be fun! Winner will be posted on the blog and notified by email. Free session must be scheduled in February or March, and will expire if not used by the end of March 2009.

In the Leaves

These little guys were just the happiest kids. And Dad sure could bring out the giggles! I had a great time hanging out with them this morning and catching a little bit of sunshine before the dark clouds rolled in.

And baby makes 6

You may recognize this little baby girl from one of my September newborn sessions. Today her older big brother and sister came home from their schools to visit and get a family portrait with all 4 of the kids. Little brother was full of energy, but we did manage to pin him down for a few group shots, and luckily we managed to get one with everyone looking in the right direction!