welcome

I’ve loved to read for as long as I can remember. I’m pretty sure I started doing it because I always wanted to be as cool as my sister Katie, and she read all the time. But there was also Book IT!, the reading program where I got a personal pizza from Pizza Hut for every five books I read. That was a big motivator, for sure.

Either way, I read like a crazy person when I was little. My favorites were all The Boxcar Children books, which kept me busy for 143 books. And then the Sweet Valley which were another hundred. I eventually graduated to big kid books and I will now basically read everything that is recommended to me. I do have an annoying habit of needing to finish terrible books. I don’t know why I do this. Can someone help me break it?

I first met this adorable family while shooting an assignment for Eater Denver for Father’s Day. Jonathan was one of the chef dads we were featuring so he brought along his two daughters, Ramona and Harriet, and his wife Emily. And the second they walked in that room, I was their number one fan.

Harriet literally stomped when she walked—not in an obstinate way, but in an authoritative one. Ramona was shy at first, but all smiles from the beginning. As they warmed up to me and the camera, their goofiness started to shine through and I couldn’t stop laughing. My interaction with all four of them was very brief, but there was something about them that made me make a mental note.

When people use phrases like “salt of the earth,” I chuckle to myself a little bit. Because if they don’t know the D’Angelos, they don’t understand the meaning of that phrase. They aren’t your typical sweetie pie family though and that’s what makes them so perfect. They are the ultimate blend of sweet and spicy. Any of the four of them can make you snort-laugh one second and then feel 100% good about yourself the next.

I too often answer the question, “How are you?” with a simple word: “Busy.” But I recently realized that my busyness, much like my joy, is a choice. The fall is by far my busiest season as a photographer. I’m swamped with emails and editing and end of the year business stuff. I obsess over finances so I’m checking my spreadsheets and doing math based on hypothetical sessions and honestly? I just waste a ton of time during this season. And it makes me feel crabby and busy. But I’m just so sick of using it as an excuse.

This is an extra special #WIKAWednesday because it’s also an announcement. I would like to welcome my new nephew, Mr. Everett Jay Beam into the world!! He was born yesterday morning at 11:00 and he is just the sweetest little elf I ever saw. I can’t wait to squeeze him when I’m home at Thanksgiving! (Congrats Matt and Becca!)

I rarely get to show everyone an entire set of photographs because, well, it’s a lot of photographs. But the entire set so often tells a story that single images can’t. It shows personalities and moments that add up to the character of a family or event. So many people say that pictures can speak a thousand words and if that’s true, what can 150 pictures speak?