classic ON-LOCATION PORTRAITS
Williamsburg Family Photography
Williamsburg family portraits thoughtfully commissioned in the places that matter most to your family—from Colonial Williamsburg and Yorktown to your own backyard, waterfront, or family home.
family
Where Your Family's Story Meets Virginia's History.
One of the first questions families ask me is, “Where should we have our portraits taken?”
My answer is rarely, “the prettiest place.”
Instead, I encourage families to think about the places that already belong to them.
I firmly believe the places where your family builds its traditions deserve to be remembered alongside the people you love.
Family photographs become more meaningful with every passing year.
Not simply because your children grow, but because the places that shape your family’s story change, too.
The porch where grandparents gather. The horse pasture where little boots first learned to ride. The waterfront where every Fourth of July ends with tired children and sandy feet. The brick streets you’ve wandered together every fall or Christmas season.
Long after childhood has changed, these places become part of the memories your family carries forward.
That’s why I believe the most meaningful portraits preserve not only the people you love, but the places that helped shape your family’s story.
Meaningful Places Become Family Heirlooms
The most valuable location isn’t always the most scenic.
It’s the one your children will remember.
Sometimes that’s Colonial Williamsburg, where your family has spent countless weekends exploring together.
Sometimes it’s your grandparents’ front porch.
Sometimes it’s the horse farm that’s been in your family for generations.
Sometimes it’s your family’s historical waterfront home in Matthews.
Sometimes it’s your own backyard, where little feet have spent years running through the grass.
Beautiful portraits begin with meaningful places.
Someday These Places Will Look Different
Childhood changes quietly.
Trees grow taller.
Grandparents’ homes are sold.
Horses grow old.
Children outgrow the front porch swing.
Families move.
The places that feel ordinary today slowly become the places everyone wishes they could visit just one more time.
That’s why these portraits matter.
They preserve not only the faces you love, but the places your family loved being together.
Questions I Ask Every Family Before Choosing a Location
- Where do your children feel most like themselves?
- What place has become part of your family’s traditions?
- If your children looked at these portraits twenty years from now, what place would you hope they recognized?
- Where do you spend your Sunday afternoons?
- What’s one place your family returns to year after year?
Williamsburg Family Photos
Artwork That Lives With You
Every family commission begins with the finished piece in mind.
Rather than focusing on volume or digitals alone, I help families choose how their portraits will be preserved and enjoyed, whether that’s through custom-framed artwork for your walls or heirloom albums designed to be passed down.
Photography is simply the process.
The artwork is the purpose.
My favorite locations are rarely chosen because they’re beautiful.
They're chosen because they're part of your family's history.
calm, guided and unhurried...
The Commission Experience
Before your session, we’ll talk through:
• Where your family feels most at home
• What season best fits your vision
• Clothing that complements your home and artwork
• Where the finished portraits will hang
Signature Family Commission
$350 session fee
* Sessions in certain locations like Colonial Williamsburg may require an additional fee.
Each commission includes:
• Complimentary wardrobe guiance
• A guided portrait session
• A curated proof gallery
• An Reveal & Design Appointment to select your artwork
• Professional retouching of final portraits
Most families invest between $1,500–3,200+ on artwork for the home after the session.
PLANNING YOUR WILLIAMSBURG FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION
frequently asked questions
How do we choose the right location?
I always encourage families to begin by thinking about places that already hold meaning.
That might be your family’s horse farm, a historic home, the neighborhood where your children learned to ride their bikes, your grandparents’ property, or an evening spent wandering Colonial Williamsburg together.
Of course, I’m happy to recommend beautiful locations throughout Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, and Hampton Roads, but the most meaningful portraits are often created in places your family already loves.
We don't own a beautiful property. Can we still create meaningful portraits?
Absolutely.
Some of my favorite sessions have taken place in places families visit every year rather than places they own.
Colonial Williamsburg, the Yorktown waterfront, Historic Jamestowne, quiet gardens, wooded trails, and riverside paths all become part of your family’s story over time. The location doesn’t need to be grand—it simply needs to feel like you.
What should we wear?
I encourage clothing that feels timeless rather than trendy.
Soft, classic colors and beautiful natural fabrics allow your family’s connection—and the setting—to remain the focus. During planning, I’ll help coordinate everyone’s wardrobe so your portraits feel refined, cohesive, and perfectly at home on your walls for decades to come.
I’ve also created a shoppable Pinterest board for wardrobe inspiration.
What if my children don't sit still?
I don’t expect them to.
Children are meant to explore, laugh, collect sticks, ask questions, and occasionally run the opposite direction.
Rather than asking them to perform for the camera, I gently guide your family through an experience that allows genuine connection to unfold naturally. Those in-between moments are often the ones parents treasure most.
What happens after our session?
This is where my process becomes different from simply receiving a digital gallery.
Together we’ll select the portraits that best tell your family’s story and design custom artwork for your home. Whether that’s a statement piece above the fireplace, a gallery wall, or heirloom albums for future generations, my goal is to create artwork your family lives with every day—not photographs that disappear onto a hard drive.
Why invest in printed artwork?
Because your children deserve to grow up seeing themselves surrounded by the people who love them.
The portraits we create aren’t just for today. They’re for your children, your grandchildren, and every generation that follows. Long after clothing styles have changed and little voices have grown quiet, these photographs become part of your family’s visual history.
How far do you travel?
I’m based in Newport News and regularly photograph families throughout Williamsburg, Yorktown, Gloucester, Historic Jamestowne, Richmond, Virginia Beach, and the surrounding Hampton Roads region.
I’m also happy to travel to private homes, family farms, waterfront properties, and meaningful destinations throughout Virginia for commissioned portrait sessions.
For families who know how quickly this season passes.
Begin Your Commission
I accept a limited number of family photography commissions each month.