Hair Cut?!? | Personal | Dahlgren Va Rota Spain Family Photographer

As promised I am updating you all. I really thought we would finally go thru with it and chop all of his curly locks off.... but it just didn't happen. I know he seriously needs it, I am holding out so our Florida family can see the transformation, you know the ones who done have Facebook and don't get to see him on a daily basis. 

I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that once they're gone he will no longer look like a little baby. No NOT at all. :)

I am leaving you with his stinky face, adorable I know. Its hard to say no to that.

Bennett and Slinkosky Family | Family Photographer |Upper Northern Neck VA Family Photographer

Summer is Wrapping Up Pt 2 | Personal | Upper Northern Neck VA | Rota Spain Family Photographer |

As our Summer is coming to an end I've been looking back at it and realized we were forced to become a more active family. Why, you ask? We've been preparing for our big move to Rota Spain, we sold our GIANT SUV at the beginning of July. We live in such a small community here in Dahlgren Virginia, that we've been able to bike and walk everywhere here on base, to the clinic, our commissary, our movie theater and regular places like just going for an actual ride or walk.  

A few weeks ago while family was visiting we actually drove into DC with our bikes, rented a bike or two for our visiting family and biked all over the place. If you haven't done so yet I highly recommend it. We used Bike and Roll near the Reagan Center, the bikes run $35 for the day, 9am-9pm in the Summer and if you happen to be military you get 20% off (about $10 off that is), compared to the bike rentals on the street at a kiosk you are paying about 1/6th of the price, in addition to bikes they have strollers and wheelchairs as well.  

While our family was visiting we made it over to Colonial Beach and to Quantico for my husbands Triathlon . We had such a wonderful last summer here in the Fredericksburg area. Ate some delicious Thai yumminess at Seaside, as always~~~AMAZING!

Wondering if we gave the baby a haircut???? 

Searching for Newborns | Upper Northern Neck VA | Rota Spain Family Photographer |

Newborn Model Search!! Due to my huge prop stash...and the fact that I desperately want to refresh my newborn portfolio before heading to Spain, I am searching for specifically girl newborns (less than 10 days old). If you know of someone having a baby this month, have them contact me soon before I fill my calendar. If you have a boy contact me as well. Keep in mind I just don't have a ton of boy props, although I have plenty of ties and baskets for your little one!

Since I am refreshing all sessions booked will receive $100 off their session and your digital negatives, if booked by September. Otherwise if booked by November you will receive your digital negatives with no purchase required.

Remember that a key to getting those sleepy shots and newborn like poses is bringing them in when they are under 10 days old. Especially if they are bigger babies, the baby in both of these shots was born at albs 12 oz and he was only 10 days old in these photos. Due to how large he was he really would't do any of those swaddled shots and wouldn't have anything to do with being posed on his belly. Please keep that in mind when booking. Please email me at simonawatlersphotography@gmail.com or contact me on my contact form here.

Summer is Wrapping Up Pt 1 | Personal | Upper Northern Neck VA | Rota Spain Family Photographer |

Did you hear our exciting news? We are going abroad next Spring!!! We couldn't be more excited about starting this new adventure. We found out at the beginning of the summer and have been going non-stop making sure to get all the sites of D.C. in before we leave this beautiful part of the country. 

As we near the end of the summer I have realized that our blog has been seriously neglected. I am going to try to wrap our whole summer into one post.  Take in mind we do less during the summers thanks to the heat here in Dahlgren Virginia, overall I think we did pretty good and we are really going to miss this small little town. 

We spent the first part of the summer in shock that we were going to Rota Spain. It is our family's dream to experience everything that Europe has to offer and really cannot believe we're getting this chance. 

I cannot believe this boy is almost 20 months old! Where has the time gone? Look at his gorgeous locks.. We may or may not be getting his first hair cut this coming weekend on our way to Mount Vernon with our family. Stay tuned!

This sweet girl spent a good portion of the beginning of her summer visiting with her Nana and Papa in the Baltimore area and the middle with us for some summer enrichment at her school and to say goodbye to some of her friends who moved to their next duty stations. She is coming home tomorrow from her almost 3 week stay at her Gramma and Poppys house near Charlotte NC. We are very much looking forward to having her back. 

The middle of the summer we spent enjoying our family here at home. We went on long walks and many bike rides. We sold our car about 6 weeks ago to prepare for our big move, so we are biking everywhere lately. It isn't so bad especially in this small community, kind of makes me wish we had sold it sooner.
Now that we near the end of the summer we will be starting the long process of moving. More about the end of our summer next Monday when I reveal if Mr L got all his locks chopped off.
 If any of you are experts at moving please send me any and all information to help make our move as uneventful as possible.  Although we have lived all over the place we have NEVER moved overseas. 

Please leave a comment below giving me the best advice you've got! 

The Look Fabulous Tour in DC | Personal |Upper Northern Neck VA Family Photographer

Two weekends ago, a fellow photographer and I left little old Dahlgren VA and drove up to Arlington and spent the day at The Hilton   diving into the world of lighting, creativity, styling, post-processing and many more things that all add up to A LOT of "fashion flair", as Lindsay Adler calls it. Lindsay took the afternoon to walk us through a few different ways to talk to you, the client, to help you know exactly what we need from a photo shoot and that way you will be more confident in the brand that we are offering and showing you.  Lou Freeman spent the morning making sure we knew how to set up our lighting, the different ways to make the effects make you look better. I am ready to be able to use all the knowledge they sent my way and start applying it to my everyday photography. I look forward to making your dreams become reality. I invite you to have the photo shoot of your dreams.  If you have an idea and you want to run it by me please don't hesitate, I really want to go above and beyond for you. Just let me know what I can do for you to make it happen.

 I just adored this model, everything about her, the natural beauty that she had, how fun she was to work with made the afternoon so much easier and less awkward. I love that these shots prove that when make up is applied properly and evenly there is really no need for re-touching. These images are SOOC (cropped straight out of the camera). Thanks so much for the talent behind all of these staged photo-shoots- the models, hair and make up and the lighting team over at the Looking Fabulous Tour with Lindsay Adler and Lou Freeman, I look forward to sharing a few more images from the day in the next part of the blog post. Until then don't forget to look at our Facebook page and leave a comment here or there!

Kumar Family | Family Photographer | Upper Northern Neck VA Family Photographer

  Little Mr A is sure to be a great big brother. Momma and Daddy sure had their hands full with a brand new little guy and a busy 3 year old. I really had to do a lot of tricks to get Big brother to give me any attention. He was having to much fun, he finally settled in on my bubbles and let me snap away. 

This mama is so proud and so in love with these boys, you can tell because in every shot was beaming. I had such a good time out there with the last session of the evening, the Kumar family.

Ripdon and Cynthia | Engagement Photographer | Upper Northern Neck VA Family Photographer}

I was so excited when my friend Cynthia contacted me, letting me know her fiance's deployment had been pushed back a few weeks. We didn't think we were going to be able to get this done in time with the way mother nature kept delaying the blossoms. So grateful we were able plan it down to each and every detail. Thanks to our Pinterest board we were able to make use of the added time. 

When I asked her what she would like to be portrayed the most from their session, she mentioned that they had a love of tattoo's. From there on out we made sure to plan everything with that in mind. I really love how their personalities just shined!

 

Cameron Family Cherry Blossoms | Family Photographer | Upper Northern Neck VA Family Photographer

A BIG Hello to my parents who drove down from Baltimore area and were my first session of the day last weekend. I had such a great time making them lay on the ground and smooch. It was altogether a bit fun and a bit embarrassing/awkward. 

It made me a bit homesick after having my baby sister hold the family sign. She is the youngest of 7 who are all out of the house and married some even with kids of their own. I am so glad that although we are in the military we have been blessed for the last 2 years that my parents have been so close. I am really going to miss this next year when we are sent to a new duty station. For now I am trying to enjoy each and every moment with them while we can. Here's to being the last in the nest.

Special thanks to the kind family who gave her a tip for helping me during the morning. She was guarding my photography equipment so that no one took off with it. She also did a pretty great job of baby wrangling when I needed her to blow bubbles and make crazy silly faces as well as taking the little's to play while I took some shots of just mommies and daddies. Thanks Ashleigh!

If you would like to see all of their photos go check them out HERE in a new feature exclusive to my Collection packages called PASS, maybe your family can be the next featured in this wonderful, easy and up to date way to share your photos with your loved ones all over the county, heck all over the world.  

Karima and Hussam | Maternity Photographer |Upper Northern Neck VA Family Photographer

I am so glad I had the pleasure of meeting Karima and Hussam. They were my third session on Saturday before I took a small break to enjoy the beauties of the day, oh and to have a drink and get a bite to eat. They are locals in DC who own a international Hookah business. They were so excited to drive in and enjoy the day on the Tidal Basin and get her maternity shots taken.

I can't wait to hear when Little Miss A is born. I hope I have the pleasure of taking her newborn photos.

Special thank you to Hussam for thinking of my assistant, IE my youngest sister, who sat with me during the morning to watch over my camera equipment and keep the little's busy if I was taking shots of just their parents. At the end of their session he gave her a tip for coming out to help me for the afternoon. Again you made her day. Thanks for being so thoughtful. Praying for a wonderful birth and a easy recovery.

Miss Tiffany | Maternity Photographer| Upper Northern Neck VA Family Photographer

This gorgeous mama and sweet little man were my second session of the day, last weekend. Little man had such a good time blowing bubbles, playing hide-n-seek in the local giant trees, and I even got serenaded to while he played his guitar.  He is going to be a great big brother I can already tell.

 Now did I mention how easy it was to work with his mama? She was so laid back and easy going. I had such a relaxing time working with them. I look forward to the opportunity to meet the rest of their family soon. She is waiting until the baby is born to find out, which is exactly what we did the last go around. It is such a exciting feeling on top of meeting the baby for the first time. I applaud her and her husband, family members tried every which way to convince us that we really wanted to find out before hand. It is really one of the only things in life that you can plan to surprise yourself with. So why not? Either way it will be a bundle of joy. Congrats Tiffany! I'm praying for a easy delivery and quick recovery. Good Luck!

My Family | Personal | Upper Northern Neck VA Family Photographer

Welcome Spring and Cherry Blossom season.

I hope your family enjoyed the day in DC as much as mine did. We arrived around 945 found parking and toted our props, bench and kids to "the spot" and didn't leave to head for home until 8:15 that night. I am telling you it was worth it all a thousand times over. I have been looking forward to this time since last year when I took my kids and closest friend to go scouting for "the spot".  See some of our shots from last year here. 

I love all the looks we got that morning as we trudged our way to "the spot". I am sure people were wondering why we had a suitcase, a stroller with a bench on top and then why we were all dressed up pulling all this stuff.  I really wanted to just put a sign on my back that read "photographer", but alas I didn't have time to make a sign.

Again thanks so much for all your patience in waiting for mother nature to finally decide to let the blossoms bloom. Our original date of March 15 quickly got bumped to a few weekends later. Finally on April 13th this is what we were waiting for.

 I can tell you I am just finished recovering from our big weekend and spring break trip to Baltimore as of today. I can not wait to show you the rest, until then here is just one more.

 I will be posting a few more each day. Keep an eye out for many more.