Unlike many photographers, I avoid posing my subjects, shooting in a studio, and using artificial light (strobe or floods) unless absolutely necessary, to avoid producing artificial, stylized photos. I work with you to choose an environment that is comfortable for your child, ideally outdoors or in or around your home. I use long lenses whenever possible, enabling me to shoot from a distance, which makes children less self-conscious and more likely to be themselves. I adapt my shooting style to the age, temperment and mood of each subject, but my goal is always to obtain informal, natural images that express your child's unique personality, rather than some pre-conceived idea of what a child ought to look like. The results may be cute, serious, thoughtful, intense, playful, exuberant, etc., depending on what your child expresses during the session.

I also differ from most photographers by delivering as many good photos to you as I can, rather than only a few. I shoot a lot during a session, and I tend to produce a fairly large number of good images (though this varies of course). After shooting, I take four weeks to process the resulting images, selecting my best shots and cropping them and adjusting their image characteristics. Taking this much time is important, since it allows me to be more objective about which images are the best and to adjust them as needed. Despite being selective, I tend to produce a relatively large number of good photos, often including several similar shots of each moment, mood, or action. Rather than make you select only a small subset of these for me to print for you, I deliver all of my selected photos to you as digital files, on a CD or DVD.

Some photographers these days treat their digital images the way we used to treat film, keeping the originals and selling you only prints or low-resolution files from which you can make only small prints yourself, forcing you to pay extra for larger copies. In contrast, I give you all my selected images in high-resolution digital form, so that you obtain maximum value from my work and have complete freedom in what you print or distribute digitally to friends or family. I can get high-quality prints of any size made for you if you like, but I will also suggest where you can obtain cheaper, reasonable quality prints for more casual uses. Unlike many photographers, I therefore do not include a "package" of some number of prints of various sizes as part of my product; instead I deliver all of my selected photos in digital form so that you can decide whether to view and distribute them digitally, print them yourself, or have me obtain high-quality prints for you. I believe that this provides the best value for you from my shooting style by giving you lots of good images, which you can use any way you like.

(Note: If you are interested in black and white, click here)

For more information, see: examples of my work, details of my process, and my pricing and incentives.