Baby & Toddler

Happy New Year from Chasing Moments / Northern Virginia Baby Photographer

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! May 2021 be a whole lot happier, brighter and joyful than 2020!

With the pandemic going on, I did not blog in 2020 at all for various reasons and have kept my social media profile very low as well. I am hoping this will change, some of the though process behind the “online presence downtime” as well as a few Chasing Moments favorites coming up in the blog post or two to follow.

In the meantime, hope you and your loved ones are all staying safe, sane and healthy! Hope this recent (one of my last studio mini sessions of 2020) photo session will bring a smile to your face. This little professor came to the studio all ready to go! His Mom and Dad approached me with a “professor” concept, which we discussed and the session came together better than I could have ever imagined! Thank you Mom and Dad for your creativity and excellent chalk art and handwriting! Hope your family enjoyed the images and hope to see your little man back for some more fun sessions!

Warmest regards,

Olga/Chasing Moments Photography / Northern Virginia Newborn and Baby Photographer

chasing moments photography studio_baby photos

Studio Mini Session / Child photography in Fairfax County

It was my privilege to see these two again, I have photographed them several times over the years and it is amazing to see them grow and turn into beautiful, smart, happy kiddos!

Mom had special outfits for the little lady, and she was definitely a happy active little model to work with. I loved every photo we got and I think I might have over-delivered when it came to their proof gallery. Her brother did such a great job posing, and staying composed and cool the entire session! They are totally catalog-worthy models!

If you love my work and would like to schedule a studio session for your child(ren), please email me at chasingmoments@gmail.com or give me a call at 202-251-6368. I do all sessions at my Reston photography studio, which is especially geared and set up for baby and child photography.

Enjoy!

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Northern Virginia Baby Photography Mini Session

Thought I’d share this mini session I recently shot with one of my favorite little girls ever. I photographed both her and her older brother as newborns, and they have been regularly coming back for milestone, family, and mini sessions! Studio mini-sessions are perfect for babies, toddlers and young children because they are short, easy, and not very demanding on either the little one or their parents, and you can get a lot done in a short span of a session! Short session, lots of fun, and beautiful milestone photos – check, check, and check! Northern virginia baby photographer mini sessions If you have a little one and want to book a short mini-session with me at my Reston studio, please feel free to email me at chasingmoments@gmail.com or call me at 202-251-6368, and I’ll be happy to get you on my schedule!

Happy upcoming Halloween y’all! (Oh, and your mini session can be Halloween-themed too by the way! Boo!)

McLean Child Photography

From the looks of my blog, it may seem that I only photograph newborns with an occasional outdoor or a themed mini session thrown in. Not true! I do a lot of child and baby photography at the studio! Babies come in for milestone sessions (rolling, sitting up, crawling, standing up), or for annual “birthday” sessions (my favoriteÂ milestone birthday sessions are 1st year cake smashes – fun and yummy!!!). I just don’t post anything from my baby and kids session, but that’s going to change starting now. I met this sweet little lady when I was still in my (smaller) McLean studio, and this was actually the second time I photographed her (the first time she was barely a sitter), and I have since seen her a few more times in my Reston studio! Her mama and nana always bring in the most beautiful dresses and outfits. Those who know me – I am a mama of two boys, so it’s all shirts and jeans (oh, and mud and all kinds of dirt) – would tell you that it feels like Christmas every time I see parents bringing amazing outfits for their sweet little girlies.

Without further ado, here we go:

Christmas / Holiday Mini Sessions are HERE (Northern Virginia)

ATTENTION UPDATE!!! FOR 2018 SESSIONS PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK: http://www.chasingmoments.com/blog/announcements/christmas-holiday-studio-mini-sessions-2018-are-here/

The blog post below is from 2014.

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I am holding Christmas / Holiday studio mini sessions for babies/children in early November at my Reston, Northern Virginia, photography studio. These are great for holiday cards and updating your kids’ seasonal photos. I am thinking fancy holiday dresses and suits, cozy sweaters, Christmas jammies or just fun bold colors!

I will have two setups ready with several prop/look options (see the promo image below), and I am opening up THREE dates for these: November 6 and November 7 (Thursday and Friday, and should work out great for stay at home/work at home/part time mommies of babies and preschoolers) and November 9 (Sunday, for school aged kids). These will be short, 15-20 minute sessions, which (speaking from experience) is ideal both for kids who are “good posers” and who know how to work the camera, and for active curious toddlers with tons of energy who don’t like to sit still for more than a few seconds.

To book your session, please proceed to my online store, and click on your preferred date, and then select your preferred your select time from the drop down menu (UPDATE: most evening slots and some morning slots are already sold out so please book your session as soon as you decide!).

If you have any questions, please email me at chasingmoments@gmail.com.

Halloween Photo Session

I love Fall sessions! I get to do outdoor photo sessions against the gorgeous backdrop of Northern Virginia’s fall foliage, I get to meet so many families for outdoor mini sessions, and I get to do fun Halloween photo sessions at the studio as well. This beautiful little fairy came in to my Reston studio today for her Halloween outfit photo session, and – oh, isn’t she gorgeous? I have photographed sweet Ms. M. since she was 6 months old, and I am so glad I got to see her again!

If you like this picture and want a photo session for your baby, please contact me at chasingmoments@gmail.comÂ or call me at 202-251-6368 to schedule your session! I have years of experience photographing newborns and babies and I guarantee youâ€™ll love the photos!

To book a Halloween Mini session, please follow this link to book your spot: http://chasingmoments.bigcartel.com/product/halloween-studio-mini-sessions

Baby Photography: 7-month old baby photo session

I met this sweet little baby boy today for his 7-month old session, andÂ he rocked it! Two setups, and 8-10 different looks and props (I lost count!) in under an hour, and he was so good! Thank you, Mommy and Daddy, for choosing me as your baby photographer, I hope you’ll enjoy your sneak peek!

If you like this picture and want a photo session for your baby, please contact me at chasingmoments@gmail.comÂ or call me at 202-251-6368 to schedule your session! I have years of experience photographing newborns and babies and I guarantee you’ll love the photos!

“Back to School” Fall Mini Sessions

“Back to School” fall mini sessions are here! They are $150 ($50 for each additional child) and will take place in my Reston, Northern Virginia studio. They will be quick, 10-minute sessions, in a school/classroom-themed setting, and include a gallery of 7-10 images for you to choose from, and 3 high resolution digital images of your choice via email.Â These mini-sessions are most suitable for kids 2-7 years old.

When: September 15 and September 16, morning and early afternoon.

Please contact Olga atÂ chasingmoments@gmail.com with any questions. TO BOOK YOUR SESSION please click here, select your preferred date/time from the drop down menu, and proceed to check out.

Annandale Baby Photography

This beautiful little lady came to see me for her newborn mini session today from Annandale. I am so glad I could fit her session in – she was so sweet to photograph! (And her mama is using some secret amazingly smelling baby lotion on her and my studio now smells wonderfully…. !!!)Â Don’t you love the shy little smile?

Studio Baby Photography

You know that I DO photograph babies, toddlers and children in the studio, right? Not just newbornsIt was just pointed out to me that I do not have a gallery on my website that showcases examples of my kids studio sessions, so I’ll be working on putting one up in the next few weeks, I seriously do not know how I did not think about putting one up, my bad! In the meantime, let me share a few kids sessionsI literally neglected babies and older kids when posting to the blog.

Now, enjoy meeting beautiful Miss S., who was about 6 months old at the time of the session. Mommy wanted a couple of pictures in a traditional kimono as well as a couple of shots in a dress and a casual outfit, and S. did so well for all of them!

Outdoor Family Photographer in NoVa

October/November is one of my busiest times of the year, and outdoor family photo session are in full swing! I met this family when they were still a family of three, and was excited to meet their new little man this past week! We got some really beautiful pictures, and I can’t wait to get working on the full gallery! In the meantime, a sneak peek (I know mommy might be wanting to see one 😉

Bristow Baby Photographer

I recently met a super handsome Mr. H., who came to my McLean studio all the way from Bristow. He was getting close to his 1st birthday, and LOVED showing off his recently developed crawling skillsHe really-really wanted to get away from the set, or really-really wanted to have somebody hold him on the set, so getting beautiful portraits of him (other than lifestyle shots) was a bit of a challenge. He was really good at standing, but preferred standing with his back to the camera and not the other way around. But you know what, I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve and I got this handsome little man to give me the best smiles ever! Sooo cute, and look at those curls!

McLean VA Professional Baby Photographer

This is one of my most favorite recent baby sessions – I loved everything about it! Baby M. was 6 months old at the time, and could sit unsupported for short periods of time, so we did a combination of sitting, tummy time and mommy-and-me shots. M. is such a beautiful little lady, and her grandma brought along some special outfits and headbands for the session – oh, how I love working with little girls! We got lots of smiles and grins, she is just so gorgeous!

Storytelling Adventure: Meeting Puff the Magic Dragon!

My three-year-old Ryan is a huge fan of “Puff the Magic Dragon”. He knows all the words to the song, loves it at bedtime, “reads” the book with me every day and generally speaks of Puff as a good friend. Amazingly, for his age, he understands the entire story and a few days ago he talked about how Puff was so sad because Jackie wouldn’t come to play with him any more, and Puff was so lonely! Well, I got my little man a surprise – a huge stuffed “Puff”, and I wanted to make Puff’s arrival very special. So, this Monday I stole Rye-Rye for a few hours and took him to the studio “on an adventure to meet Puff”!!!

We read “Puff” and talked about his home Honalee, and decided to make a “home” for him with us, so we could be his friends and he wouldn’t be lonely any more. Rye loved the idea and decided that Puff loved the sun, clouds, the ocean, and boats.Â So, off we went to create a “welcoming” new home for Puff. First, we made the sun and some clouds.

Then we made the ocean. I didn’t have enough supplies (especially glue) at hand to make a boat, so he just drew one.

Then I had Rye look through a spyglass to be on the lookout for Puff – Puff was coming!

In the meantime, I got Puff out of a special hiding spot and… Oh my God! I have never seen a happier little boy in my life! Seriously! I almost cried watching Ryan play with Puff!

From what I hear, Puff is no longer lonely, he lives “happily ever after with a new family”, and has “lots of friends to play with” and “everyone loves him”!

Alexandria VA Professional Baby Photographer

Just look at this gorgeous little man! And can you believe he is only 4 months old?Â I am so happy his mommy and daddy drove out to see me for his baby pictures – he was super adorable and happy during the session, made my day!

McLean VA Professional Photography Studio

Ready for my big news?

This has been a couple of months in the making and I’ve been dreaming it up for quite some time. Over the last year, I felt like my photography work has outgrown the current home photo studio arrangement and I am in need of a bigger, permanent, professional studio space! Today everything finally came together!

This morning I signed a lease for a space to open my own professional photography studio in McLean VA. It will be located in the heart of McLean, in McLean Professional Park, and will offer full studio services for pregnancy, newborn, baby, children and family photos. It is conveniently located for all my Northern Virginia clients within and outside of the Beltway, in a beautiful professional community that caters to small businesses like mine. Besides the photography studio space, the suite offers full amenities, including a kitchen, a bathroom (with a shower), and free wifi.

I am soooo excited! I’ll be moving in next week and will be ready to welcome my first clients in early February!!!

Cake Smash Session / Reston Photographer

Oh, I had a very fun (and somewhat messy) morning today doing this one year old cake smash session for my own baby boy! The cake worked great, and the little man loved eating it as much as smearing it all over, almost no mess and the whole shoot took a bit more than 5 minutes to photograph (thanks for the awesome little model!). I am getting the collage printed out as a 20×20 and putting it up in his room!

And some of my favorites!

Studio Photos on White Background

White background is one of my most frequently requested studio setups. It works really well for newborn, baby/toddler and maternity photos (which are my primary photography areas), and I have had a lot of my work on “white background” featured commercially as well. So, I am really excited to have a guest blog post about how to achieve a pure white background (knockout background) for studio shots on MCP Actions Blog. Jodi Friendman, the face behind MCP Actions, is an internationally recognized expert offering the photography community a range of photoshop, lightroom and elements actions, and I use her action sets in most of my editing for newborn and family portrait clients.

Without further ado, check out the blog post about achieving a pure white background with studio lights here. Would love to get feedback, comments and questions. “Baby” and “Newborn” clients in Northern Virginia – feel free to request “white background” for your portrait sessions; local photogs – please feel free to contact me – I’ll be happy to get together for a chat/coffee and answer any questions!

Collage of Baby’s Expressions / Outdoors Baby Photographer

Aaah, this little guy’s many expressions! Below is an example of using a collage to s how a variety of expressions! This print would make a beautiful art for kids’ room or play area! An alternative to a single collage print would be to have five separates prints made for a wall arrangement.

Northern Virginia Newborn and Baby Photographer

Category Archives: Baby & Toddler