life. photos. scrapbooking.

What to wear... A gallon, a quart, a pint.

I'm going home this coming weekend. It's my dad's 65th birthday.... and he's retiring at the end of the year. We are celebrating both of these milestones as a family this weekend. Should be good fun.

I'm especially glad Sandy reared her ugly head last weekend and not this one coming up. Shew.

By the way - we faired just fine through the storm.

Our roof was apparently damaged a little. Around 12pm on Monday we realized there was a lot of water on the floor of our utility room (if it had to happen - I'm glad it happened in there!) So we have a leaky spot in the roof that the insurance adjuster will have to come take a look at... and a 5 gallon bucket now under a hole of soggy drywall catching the drips.

Other than that - we are all good. The wind sure did howl... and it rained like the dickens... but we had power and hot water the whole way through. And plenty of beer, batteries, crayons, coloring books, candles, flashlights, and did I mention beer?

It's been a nice loooong weekend having Clark home for 4 days straight. :)

Anywhoo.... back to my story.

I'm going back to visit my parents this weekend - and as is our usual custom - we ALWAYS try to arrange for a family photo op. Since this particualr get together is particularly special - we decided to actually compare notes on outfits for the photo ahead of time.

My sister in law, Lizzy - and I - being the more focused creative heads of state in our family - browsed on Pinterest for ideas and settled on a color theme of mainly neutrals with a pop of color.

Blues, creams and a splash of orange. Will make for a nice fall palatte.

In interior design, they always talk about the gallon, the quart, the pint. The gallon is your wall color, the quart is your trim - and the pint is your accent (sometimes this is conveyed with throw pillows or a singular piece of upholstered furniture and a small vase in the same color... you get my drift).

I like to think of dressing for photos in much the same way.

The gallon = the neutral base

The quart = the complimentary color to the base

The pint = a fiery pop of color

This is the quick iPhone snap I emailed to my mom and Lizzy after raiding our closets trying to interpret our Blue, Cream, Orange color scheme....

Clark will be wearing a white button down with small blue plaid pattern, a navy sweater vest, orange paisley tie and jeans. Macho has jeans, an orange and navy plaid shirt and gray Chucks. Wild Thing will be wearing a hand-knit masterpiece by my Aunt Susie - a cream cable sweater, skinny jeans, sparkly gold Mary Janes and an orange bow in her hair. I'll be wearing a pair of tall brown boots, a denim pencil skirt (with tights) a white turtle neck and and orange wool jacket from JCrew.

I think it works.

I'll be sure to post the final large family shot of all of us in our getup here for your viewing pleasure. :)

Hope this rationale helps you think about how to dress your family for your own group photos.

Promise - the next time I post about this - the photo won't be so ghetto.

Welcome back!

 

Stormy Weekend Playlist

Thought I'd share some new tracks I've had on my itunes editing playlist... They are all fairly mellow... might be good for this stormy weekend we have ahead of us.

Batten down the hatches, y'all.

Sorry for the old self portrait... It was all I had that seemed relevant to this post.

:)

1. "Ho Hey"  by The Lumineers (my new anthem for Clark)

2. "RED" by Taylor Swift

3. "Ships In The Night" by Matt Kearney

4. "Turning Tables" by Adele

5. "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver (I actually have a ton of his stuff that I just play on a loop)

6. "Be Alright" by Justin Bieber

7. "We Don't Eat" by James Vincent McMorrow (has a Ray Lamontagne kinda sound - makes me weepy)

8. "I Gave You All" by Mumford & Sons

9. "Fall" by Justin Bieber

10. "Begin Again" by Taylor Swift

11. "Flume" by Bon Iver

12. "Summer Vibe" by Walk Off The Earth (because I like to end on a happy note)

 

And... some recent news. Don't judge, K?
I'm going to see Justin Bieber in concert on November 5th. (Thank you Clark! LOVE YOU!)

Squeeeee!

I'm going to embrace my tween years again. This is the New Kids On The Block concert I was never allowed to go to.  I'm a fool for that kid... in very NON-sexual way, of course. I sing to his songs while I'm editing - and my Macho just LOOOOVES him. We are a house full of "Beliebers" :)

I was sold after I watched his movie. It's actually quite good.

In fact - Macho is dressing up as Bieber for Halloween. More details on that ahead.

In the meantime... be careful all you East Coast Peeps!

xo

 

 

 

 

Sweet Baby S | Easton, MD Newborn Photographer

Well! Here we are for the next installment for the Orban family! Sweet baby S arrived on June 15th of this year. Perfectly perfect. A most beautiful little bean. So so so loved and anticipated by her first time parents and grandparents!~

She was about four weeks old by the time I was able to see and play with her for our photo shoot. A little older than most of the newborn babies I photograph... but this little one was so wonderfully sweet and accommodating.... and slept for me when I really needed her to!

Once again - because Nicole and Phil live in Richmond... we were invited to shoot on a wonderful property in their family here on the shore. Now, with full summer swing, the flowers were out, the pool was open, the fountains were running, and the shoreline was humming with boat life. What a glorious place!

I absolutely adore this family... You can view Nicole's maternity session HERE.

Without further ado... May I present, Sweet baby S.

 

A little before and after... :)

Another before and after that I loved...

"This was our second time working with Katie, and hopefully not our last. It's not just that the pictures are beautiful. They are, they're gorgeous. Katie is incredibly creative, and can find the perfect shot anywhere. Most importantly, she always had Sloane's safety in mind, Nicole and I were put at ease from the moment we met her. Our only regret is we can't go back in time and have her shoot our wedding!

~ Phil Orban

 

The Stanyard Family | Ellicott City, MD Family Photographer

My Clark and Jeff go way back. Way back to those college days that I'm SURE they'd rather not talk about. They played on the university baseball team, and they were both from the 'Burgh. I shall say NO more. :)

When Jeff introduced Clark to his new girlfriend, Danna, shortly after they graduated and were in their first rounds of employment - Clark knew Jeff had found his match. When I was finally in the picture - I got to meet her too - and thought she was just as fabulous as Jeff and the rest. Clark and I attended their wedding and we've maintained a close friendship ever since. In fact, when we moved to the Maryland area - they were our "go-to" friends for lots of stuff!

We've been friends through the births of all four of our children... spent many Sunday afternoons together watching the boys beloved Steelers play on TV... cooking and eating and drinking and having a grand old time watching the kids play.

This family has been there for us. So, of course it was my absolute HONOR to photograph them in their lovely new home this past July. We kept the party indoors for the first portion.... else we would've melted. It was +100 degrees outside. Luckily - their sunroom was abundant with light and plenty of AC!

Of course - I wanted to let the boys do their thing too - so eventually we made our way outside to their playground set and let them go to town. What fun.

And because I just can't control myself... clicking my camera is like a nervous tick for me... I just kept going - long after our "official session" time had expired and captured a few slice of life shots as well that evening and following morning as we continued our visit.

Thank you so so much you guys. You know we love you. Jeff - thanks for putting up with me and my goofball behavior! You are a great sport! Danna - you are just the epitome of grace and loveliness. You are authentic and kind and loyal. And I love you girl.

Until next time friends...

Enjoy...

Big man just turned 5... Just so ya know.

"Family photos with Katie have become an annual tradition. I love photography, and take tons of pictures of my kids, but at the end of the day I'm always behind the camera and never in front of it.

 This year's session was in July, on a 106 degree day and I had a very cranky two year old and a husband who doesn't love to have his picture taken. I knew Katie had a challenge on her hands! I love what she was able to capture in just a few short hours. The shots are beautiful and so clearly depict our family dynamics. Once again she came through in the clutch and I couldn't be more thrilled." 

~ Danna Stanyard

Misfit | Scene from 9.28.12

Often times... out. of. control.

She then proceeded to freak out during her unscheduled mid-day bath because the water turned such a bright red color.

Somedays... you just can't win at this motherhood gig.

xo

The "Katie Pegher Brand" Gets a Facelift :)

Sooooo.... I've been very sneaky.

I've been working on a behind-the-scenes project for a few months now. I've hired a design company to re-brand my business.

I tried to do it on my own - but every six months or so - I'd grow bored of it... and I never really felt I had NAILED it, if you know what I mean. Nailing yourself is hard work. I mean - who the heck am I, really?

I haven't a clue.

It's like writing an autobiography, I suppose. It's hard to look inside yourself and come up with a set of colors, images and typefaces that are representative of you... and the YOU you want to be. AND stay relevant to the business you are running and the career path you are hunting down.

In much the same way the folks who own nice cameras already - hire me to capture their newborns and weddings on a more professional scale... I knew that even though I certainly know my way around the Photoshop dancefloor - I needed some serious professional help with this.

It's the same principle.

Just because you CAN take pictures - doesn't mean you are able to capture a scene the way you see it in your mind.

Just because I know how to create logos and brand identities and doesn't mean I should for myself.

Enter BRAIZEN... a creative team based in the Atlanta suburbs, led by self-proclaimed "design ninja" Ashley Jankowski. In my next life - I want to be her. Major girl-crush.

My work with them (in-so-far as the branding is concerned is now complete) - and they've featured me on their blog today...

I'm feeling very rad at the moment.

You can check out the post by clicking the image below...

I absolutely cannot wait to roll out this new look and feel across the board... new website, new BLOG, new business cards, packaging, etc. The whole shebang. There's a lot of fires burning around here right now and I can't wait to share it with you all soon!

THANK YOU BRAIZEN!!!

xoxo

Stewart Family | St. Michaels, MD Family Photographer

It was a perfect evening in June. Not too hot. A nice breeze in the air. A gorgeous setting sun.

I met the Stewart family, fairly new imports (like myself) to the area, at a marvelous property in St. Michaels for their portrait session. We had access to the golf carts, so we piled on and explored the grounds, stopping here and there along the way.

Everywhere we turned, there was another amazing spot. The wildflower field was my personal favorite. The kids were just timeless looking in it. When Jenny saw the sneak peeks I posted on Facebook - she remarked to herself, "Oh wow - cool Ralph Lauren ad.... WAIT!!! those are MY KIDS!!!" Loved that she emailed me to say that. Completely made my day.

Guys - thank you.... All four of you were an utter pleasure to work with. I loved the vision and input you brought with you to the shoot - and how amazing you were every step of the process. I'm so so glad that you loved the resulting work and I can't wait to see your wall display finally installed! Your kids are beautiful, polite and sweet as pie. The "pile on" photo in the sand at the end - totally captures the love and connection between all of you. My heartfelt gratitude to you all.

Until next time...

Please enjoy some of my favorites. :)

Ok - the mom in me just couldn't hit delete on this shot. On the contrary... I totally love this look. A face only a mother could love!!! Priceless.