When Natalie and her mom first walked in the door of our Germantown, MD showroom for her family portrait consultation, she looked at the mixed media wall grouping of canvas gallery wraps and metal prints above the aubergine sofa, and said, “I want THAT!” And when we sat down and I asked her, “Why us?” she said:

“I don’t want anything common or ordinary. I prefer more artistic photography with better lighting. When I come into my home, I want to be able to step in, see my family portraits on the wall, and feel good about myself. I want our family photos to look like something we couldn’t do ourselves.”

Natalie had just had a baby (congratulations!) a few weeks earlier, and her husband was in from Afghanistan for only another week. Since we wouldn’t have time to reschedule an outdoor session in the case of rain, we decided to rent the indoor space of the stately Glenview Mansion in Rockville, Maryland, in order to have the option of photographing both in their beautiful outdoor gardens, should we have nice weather, or indoors with the mansion’s elegant feel. And it was a good thing we did so, since it rained cats and dogs the day of the Willis’s family portrait session! “Nothing ordinary,“ she said. Well, at Glenview Mansion, when I asked Natalie and her husband if they were up to lying down on the floor, I had all willing subjects, even if Natalie did give me a funny look at the beginning. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the resulting image below. It’s just so BEAUTIFUL!