Sarah Kelber Photography

Happy Holidays!

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Originally uploaded by kicksie

I've been working like crazy and not having as much time as I'd like to take pictures, but we did manage to get some family portraits last weekend. This isn't exactly what I had in my head, but it's pretty close, and working with an antsy toddler, I will take it!

I conceived of this as something to work with last year's card picture:



... as well as this picture from earlier this year:




Soon he is going to be too tall to do photos with just our feet, though. And not that you can tell, but I was totally wearing goofy socks in this one, too. :)

Simon family pics

I did a session this afternoon with some family -- my husband's uncle and his wife and kids, and toward the end, a couple of grandparents, too. It was a blast, and we so lucked out on the weather. It was gorgeous last weekend, but it had been gray and rainy ever since. Then today, out of nowhere, 68 degrees of perfection. I said elsewhere today that the best kind of sunny days are the ones that are a total surprise.

K family portraits

I've known the K family since their little one and my son were a few weeks old, thanks to our awesome new moms' group. This past weekend, I got the chance to shoot their family portraits, and it was such fun! This age (about 15 months) is tough because the kids scatter everywhere, but A. was game and hung in there for a long time, letting us shoot in a couple of locations in this park. Check out the slideshow, if you like:

Sweet new human Sam

Sunday evening, I had the amazing opportunity to photograph little Sam, who just joined us here on Earth last week.

His fabulous parents are so obviously in love with him, I was getting misty while I was editing some of the photos.

Take a look, if you like!

Finding the light

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Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

This past weekend, my family and I attended the first birthday party of the daughter of one of my husband's former coworkers. She was a total sweetheart, despite getting a molar (or two), which was causing a bit of pain.

The party was in a community center near Chesapeake Beach, and the room had a full wall of windws along one side. I was playing on the floor with the kids and caught this shot of Miss B, one of the birthday girl's cousins, during the party. I was so excited that 1) I caught her still, because she was all over the place, and 2) that she happened to be against the white wall with the sunlight coming through the windows and highlighting her lovely eyes.

She is a total sweetie and gave my little guy a big hug before we left the party. He wasn't sure what to do about that, but it sure was cute!

Maternity pictures at Lake Elkhorn

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Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

At the beginning of August, I did my first maternity shoot -- well, at least that wasn't of the self-portrait variety. I met Katy at Sonia's first birthday party, and soon after that we started talking on Facebook about doing a family picture shoot after her baby arrives. Then we decided that maternity pics sounded fun, too.

So I met up with Katy and her husband John at Lake Elkhorn, and we played a bit on the bridge and by the water and on a rock. They are so sweet and fun -- I just know they are going to be amazing parents to their little Sam when he gets here (which should be very, very soon now!).

Thanks again to Katy and John for letting me capture this unbelievable time in their lives!

Photo greeting cards

New product!: Photo greeting cards
Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

I have a new product to offer!

You can get 25 4x5-inch cards with one of your photos on the front printed on pearl, watercolor, linen or recycled papers, envelopes included, for $55. Can also be personalized with a message on the inside or on the back.

These papers are great! My favorites are the pearl and the watercolor.

Other sizes are available; just ask! And I have samples if you want to see them in person.

Lipcon family portraits

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Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

This morning, I did a portrait shoot with my friend from moms' group and her husband and daughter. We hit the park and tried to find some places that weren't too sunny. It was overcast earlier in the morning, but it burned off pretty much right before we started the shoot.

But open shade was our friend, and I got some nice shots of the family -- especially Sonia, who is SO full of personality!

Here is the rest of the set:

Show me your war face!

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Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

I had had this idea for a photo shoot with my husband and son for quite a while, but we hadn't had time to try it until yesterday.

It didn't turn out exactly as I had it in my head -- I was thinking of this picture as a counterpoint to the stripey sock picture from our holiday card -- but I still like it.

Sonia turns 1

Sonia turns 1
Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

I took this candid at darling Sonia's 1st birthday party this weekend. She is such a joyful kiddo, and I was so glad to capture this moment.

I'm going to do an actual family portrait session with her and her parents some time soon, and I can't wait!

Happy birthday, little one!

Cheerio, mate!

W. shows me a Cheerio
Originally uploaded by kicksie

Serendipity is just the best.

I caught this lucky shot of the son of a friend of a friend at a birthday party a couple of weeks ago. I was trying to get a shot of his gorgeous blue eyes while he was snacking, and he stuck his tongue out for one split-second with the Cheerio on it.

Too funny! And that lucky split-second created one of my most favorite pictures ever.

Darling D

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Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

I shot 1-year portraits for Miss Dakota and her family this past weekend.

We'd had trouble scheduling for a while because June has been jam-packed with thunderstorms, but the weather was absolutely perfect on Sunday evening.

I know Dakota and her parents through my moms' group, but I hadn't seen her since Halloween. She was so grown-up and such a big girl! She broke into her mom's bag and found her brush and didn't want to let it go after that, so I just kept on shooting.

Here's some more of the results from the evening:

Belinda's 60th

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Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

This past weekend, we took a trip to the Bay Area to celebrate my mother-in-law Belinda's 60th birthday. She wanted nothing more than to celebrate with all her kids and grandkids, and we were happy to oblige, traveling in from Southern California, Maryland and Alaska for the festivities.

As part of her present, I shot a variety of combinations of family portraits. Above is Belinda with her three kids (including my husband).

This slideshow is a sampling of the portraits from the day:

For another part of the celebration, we went to San Francisco for a fancy dinner at Tommy Toy's. This slideshow tells the story of the whole dinner, which featured speeches and presentations from all the kids and grandkids (and six fabulous courses!). I was so thrilled when I saw how these turned out because man, that room was dark. To the point that after we walked in, I thought I had left my sunglasses on by accident. But the ceiling and walls were nice and light, so my flash bounced around nicely -- and only slightly disturbed the speech-givers.

Meeting Adah

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Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

We were in the Bay Area this past weekend for my mother-in-law Belinda's 60th birthday festivities. On Saturday, we had a little window of opportunity and ducked out to visit our friends Isaac and Serena and their new beautiful baby daughter, Adah. I just took a handful of quick shots of her because of time constraints, nothing formal, but I still wanted to share. For a bitty girl (four weeks old!), she already has a range of expressions.

You can view the full set here:

Prom memories

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Originally uploaded by KelberPhotography

It doesn't feel like *that* long ago since I went to prom, but I guess it's been about 14 years. This evening, I shot the pre-prom festivities for Miranda and Juma, a darling couple whom I know through Miranda's mom, who is my son Isaac's teacher.

We met up at Lake Kittamaqundi before their pre-prom dinner and took some pictures. Typically, I am completely disinterested in the idea of being in high school again, but I have to admit, editing these photos made me a little nostalgic.

Below, you can see a slideshow of all the shots.