When Angel contacted me to schedule her family portraits I knew right away she was going to be a ton of fun to photograph. Check out their two Christmas card photos at the end! Would you ever do a family photo in your Christmas Eve pajamas? 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I could photograph women of this age ALL. YEAR. LONG. You women who have lived life and wear it on your skin with pride… let me photograph you, please? You have the je ne sais quoi that a bleached-blond, size-00, 18-year old can never have. You have an sexiness combined with subtlety that is impossible to put into words, but oh-so-beautiful to photograph.

The Traveling Table of Georgetown…

“As I sat there listening to these mothers, I felt really out of place. One of the women had been coming to the group for about a year, and she just kept talking about how horrible her life was, and going on and on. Some women didn’t want to open up, and others really opened up. But to me, it felt like the women there saw themselves as victims and were [myopic and] unable to see a bigger picture. I didn’t feel that there was any instruction or encouragement [on how to get better], and I ended up feeling even worse when I left. I knew I never wanted to do that again. It shook me awake. I [realized that I] saw myself as a strong person, not as a victim,  and I needed to redirect my negative energy into something else. That was the permission I needed to start working again on my business, and to really pour myself into that.”

I didn’t want to be someone who was still struggling a year later, and I decided that wasn’t going to happen. 

Work smarter, not harder, and communicate yourself succinctly, successfully. 

I am beyond glad to announce that this year, the week before Christmas, I will be taking a very limited number of sittings in…

Malachi and Jerusha came over to help with some light tests and I’m loving this Ralph-Lauren, but kind-of-old-hollywood-inspired photographs.

Twenty five people = Four families = One portrait.

More family photos after the jump! —>

I was sure she would say no, but I had to try, so I asked if she would model for me and to my astonishment and delight she said yes in the prettiest English accent I’ve ever heard. 

Sometimes headshot and personal branding isn’t supposed to be suit-and-tie, all buttoned up, clean shaven. Sometimes they are supposed to look like you got up and walked of the Art of Manliness blog and sat down in a photo studio.