Kelly Nelson Photography » Loudoun County family photographer

Sitting Beauties! | Loudoun County Family Photographer

Kelly — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:07:53 +0000

We had an absolutely perfect January weather for pictures in Loudoun County this past weekend. It was great to spend Saturday afternoon with the S family and their cuties. I love that I’ve been able to document their changes over the past few months. You can see how they’ve grown from their two newborn sessions here and here, to their three month session, to today at 7 months.

Mr. Will and Miss Stella are sitting up now, and I can’t believe what big kids they are becoming! This is a fun age to photograph because they aren’t escaping yet, but are old enough to engage with the camera a bit. I think these photos really capture their personalities.

I think the expressions below are ones that Mom and Dad are going to see quite a bit in the years to come. They both have the guiltiest “Who Me?” looks on their faces. I can totally imagine them each trying to blame the other for the mischief that’s occurred!

The best thing about this age, is that you can finally elicit genuine smiles and giggles. I’m pretty sure that at this point, Mom was singing and dancing, and Dad was wearing a necklace and hiding behind a blanket. I’m sure we were getting some strange looks on the street in downtown Leesburg, but whatever they did it was perfect, because Mr. Will thought it was a riot and gave a huge grin.

Miss Stella likes to fly! :) Look at those beautiful eyes!

A quiet moment with Mom.

A silly moment with Dad.

These last two are some of my favorites. To date, Mr. Will has never complained at a photo session. He always goes with the flow while his sister is usually the more fussy one for me. Today however, he had enough, and he let us know it! I can’t blame him. It was getting chilly, and he’d taken his socks off. Once he got angry and cold, the end came quickly and there was no going back.

S family, you make it look so easy. I can’t believe how fast these two are growing, and that we’re already talking about scheduling their one year session. Enjoy the chaos of the next few months and I can’t wait to see you again when they are on the move! XOXO – K

It’s still January, right? | Ashburn Lifestyle Photography

Kelly — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:15:17 +0000

In a perfect world, I would have had this post ready to go and ready to be published on December 29th. In fact, I had it penciled into my blogging schedule for that date. However, we all know that things don’t always work out the way we expect them to, and here I am on January 26th publishing my “2011 Year in Review” post. The good news, is that it is in fact still January, so I’m not that late. The better news is that I got it finished before this weekend when I have my first two sessions of 2012 scheduled!

I loved going through these sessions and seeing all of the fun families I got to work with last year. There were newborns, grandparents, pets, siblings, and best friends. We had sessions at home, sessions at the beach, downtown sessions, and sessions in my very own neighborhood park. We suffered through biting cold and stifling heat. Along the way we made great memories, created family heirlooms, and decorated a lot of blank walls!

Click to see the entire 2011 Year in Review Slideshow. I’d love to know which photos struck a chord with you!

If you’d like information about scheduling a session for your own family this year, please email me! I’d love to create memories with meaning for you and your family in 2012! I’m now booking for Spring sessions, and will have limited weekend availability.

Week in Review 2 | Ashburn Family Photography

Kelly — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:20:52 +0000

Here’s a little peek into what we’ve been up to this week at the Nelson house. We took little man up to North Jersey last weekend to celebrate his birthday at Northlandz – a humongous model train layout. (He opted for a family trip to see trains over a birthday party.) It was quite a spectacular display, although some of us felt like there could have been a few more trains…

1.) at the carwash 2.) Northlandz layout 3.) Northlandz trestle bridge 4.) angry birds for the non-technical 5.) the reasons I haven’t gotten any work done this week 6.) sunrise with moon out the front door 7.) airplane near Baltimore on I-95 8.) Little Man enjoying the scenery.

Happy Friday!

Family Style Guide | Ashburn, Virginia Photography

Kelly — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:30:45 +0000

Hooray! After a brief hiatus, the Family Style Guides are back! This month has a great pop of coral color to brighten up the gray outdoor landscapes. These would also make super cute outfits for Valentine’s Day parties or date night! One thing I always wonder when I look at these guides as a Mom of two boys, is whether it would be ok for me to wear the pink sweater in the photo, if there’s no one else wearing the color to tie it together. I say there’s nothing to worry about. The blue jeans and the brown shoes still tie her in, and it highlights Mom’s femininity!

Hope you all enjoy the pop of spring on a cold dreary day. As always, everything here can be purchased from Gap, Old Navy and Piper Lime. Happy shopping!

All of the Memories, None of the Guilt

Kelly — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:21:45 +0000

Two years ago, in December of 2009, I was relatively new to the whole photography thing. I had done several sessions, I had a blog, I followed other photographers online. I joined a photography forum of other like-minded photographers and we shared trials and tribulations as newcomers to the field. When the calendar page turned to January, suddenly from every corner of the internet I was being beckoned to try a photo-a-day or 365 project. Eager to fit in with my new community, I readily signed up. I opened a flickr account, and I started taking a picture every day. I didn’t really have a theme or a goal in mind, I was just taking a picture each day. Some days were easy, but other days I found myself taking random pictures of a can from my pantry, or running back downstairs after I’d gotten in bed to take a picture of my kitchen in the dark or something. As the weeks went by, many of my flickr friends slowly gave up. But I was determined to finish something I started. But as the weather turned warm and I began to spend more time outside with my kids, and less time sitting in front of my computer I took and uploaded fewer and fewer pictures. I soldiered on out of guilt, but was filled with resentment about the project. I finally fizzled out around mid May.

In the years since, every January first, I think to myself for an hour or two that I should try again because everyone else is doing it. I watched one friend successfully document her life last year, and am envious that she completed her task. She now has 365 photos of her children, her friends and her life, and 365 great memories and stories to share. This year, I thought about trying again. With an iPhone it should be even easier, but then there’s some days that I just don’t do anything exciting or worth taking a photo of. Despite having a photography business, there are some days I just want to veg out and enjoy the moments when I’m in them and not feel like I HAVE to take a picture. I can’t think of many other professions where workers set themselves up to do extra work just for fun every day and then post the results online and share with friends. Can you imagine an accountant going home each night and saying “Now I’m going to do some tax forms just because I want to do one every day for a year and I didn’t do one yet today!”?

So anyway. I did decide that I wanted to be more conscious of taking photographs for fun, for me, and to more carefully document things that we do as a family. So I’m going to try to be good about posting a Weekly Favorites post here each week. Some weeks I might have a dozen photos to share, others only one. They might be from my iPhone, or they might be from a session, or from my camera. I hope you’ll enjoy them, I hope that I’ll enjoy doing it without the self-imposed pressure, and I’d love any support or encouragement you can offer!

1.) sunrise through the bathroom window 2.) January sky 3.) halftime at basketball 4.) sunshine before the snow 5.) first road trip in dad’s new car 6.) snow on the wheat grass 7.) our new homework station in the dining room (saving grace) 8.) snow on crape myrtle

Holiday Round-Up | Ashburn Family Photographer

Kelly — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:28:42 +0000

I’m still playing catch-up in the new year, and wanted to share a few little snap shots of “What I did over Winter Break”. We basically had a stay-cation, with D taking the week off. We had some visitors come and go, and for the most part, my camera stayed tucked away in my gorgeous new camera bag. We played with all of our new toys, re-organized the basement and playroom to make room for those new toys, and had a very nice relaxing couple of weeks. Here are a few little snippets of what the holidays looked like at our house:

Santa was very good to us this year, as you can see from the stash he left under the tree!

There were two prevailing themes at our house this holiday. The first was Monster Jam Monster Trucks. We went from having 5 trucks on Christmas Eve to having 22 trucks by Christmas Night… The ~~best~~ worst thing about Monster Trucks is that there is a perpetual “freestyle course” set up all over our family room, which consists of boxes, ramps, and random cars.

The other gift which was a major success was Lego Trains. These are basically the model trains you remember, made out of Legos. Much easier for little hands to control and redesign and rebuild. Our Engineers still need some work, but these have been a huge hit. If you have little ones who like trains AND Legos, keep this idea in your back pocket for next year.

No Christmas post would be complete without the obligatory photos of the boys in front of the tree. They didn’t really want to cooperate and pose together, so I had to settle for these shots.

The other super-exciting thing that happened since I’ve last posted is that Little Man turned 4. I find it hard to believe I have a 4 year old in the house now, although he actually acts like he’s going on 8 like his big brother. He surprised us this year by asking to go see trains rather than having a party, so this weekend we are off to see a layout with 8 miles of model train track. Wish us luck. :)

With the holidays finally behind us, I’m starting to get back to a normal routine. I’m am loving that I’m already starting to hear from clients who are thinking about booking sessions this spring! I’m headed up to my hometown to photograph my best friend from high school and her family this weekend and can’t wait. I’ve promised her for two years that I’d do these photos the next time I was in town! Think warm thoughts for us!

Be Merry | Ashburn Family Photography

Kelly — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:00:32 +0000

Merry Christmas friends. Thank you to each and every one of you who take the time to stop by and visit each day – those who leave comments, and those who simply read. I’ve been so blessed to be able to stay at home with my boys and to build this little business to keep myself busy doing what I love. Stay tuned next week for a few of my favorites from this year. Until then, enjoy this week with your loved ones, and celebrate the magic of the season.

Gift Certificates now Available | Ashburn Family Photography

Kelly — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 21:00:52 +0000

Happy “Black Friday – Small Business Saturday – Cyber Monday” everyone! I hope you all survived the feast and the mayhem!

I’m super excited to announce that Kelly Nelson Photography now has gift certificates available! Your 5×7 certificate will come in a beautiful gift box perfect for wrapping and hiding under the tree. Guys – I promise that the gift of a session plus the promise that you’ll smile and cooperate surely beats a Snuggie. To make this deal even sweeter for everyone involved, if you contact me to purchase a gift certificate valued at $150 or more, by Wednesday 11/30 at midnight, I’ll throw in a $25 Amazon gift card so you can do a little shopping for yourselves! It’s a win-win for everyone! (Updated 12/1 – this offer has expired.)

Certificates are available in any denomination. Contact me today to purchase your certificate – either via email at kelly{at}kellynphotography{dot}com or by phone at 703.638.9570. If you’re reading this and thinking “Yes, this would be the perfect thing for me! I just wish I could tell my husband, grandma, office mate….” go ahead and use the email a friend link at the end of the post.

Happy shopping and enjoy the rest of this gorgeous weekend!

November Family Style Guide | Loudoun County Family Photography

Kelly — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:00:45 +0000

It’s mid-November, which means it’s time for another Family Style Guide! I especially love the dress for Mom and the funky plaid jacket for big brother this month. With the addition of a cardigan for Big Sis, this family would be ready to rock their late Fall photos! Now that many of the leaves have dropped from the trees and the backgrounds will be becoming more monochrome it’s important to add in the pops of color in the wardrobe choices. Whether it’s magenta like this guide, or orange like my own family wore, I highly recommend choosing one color that weaves through all of the rest of the outfits and pulls everything together. I was so impressed by my Fall Mini Session families this year. They all did awesome with their wardrobe choices!

Quick! Get shopping before the Black Friday crowds swallow up these fun outfits!

The L Family | Loudoun County Lifestyle Photography

Kelly — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:56:37 +0000

Sunday morning I had the pleasure of photographing the L family at their beautiful home in Loudoun County, Virginia. Living in a congested neighborhood like I do, it’s easy to forget that Loudoun still has quaint small towns, and large open spaces, so it was very refreshing to arrive at the L family home and realize just how much open space we had to work with. This was also the first session that included not one or two, but three family dogs! They gave us a run for our money in the wet morning grass, but eventually we got everyone cooperating and managed to get some great shots!

I was very excited to meet this family after reading their pre-session get-to-know-you questionnaire. Each of them has such different interests, and I was thrilled to be able to incorporate some of their hobbies into our session to showcase their unique personalities.

As you can see they were quite a fun bunch to work with!

L family, it was great to meet all of you! Huge thanks to Dar for getting us together!

This session was gifted to the L family by Dad’s sister who happens to be a high school classmate of mine. I’m currently working on creating gift certificates in time for the holidays. If you’d like to gift a session of your own, or if you’re someone who would like to receive a session and need to send a hint, Like my Photography Page on Facebook where I’ll be posting the announcement first when the gift certificates are available for purchase.