Last weekend I had the pleasure of capturing the Summerlin Family at the State Arboretum of Virginia. As much as I love capturing weddings, it’s always nice to switch gears a bit. Natalie contacted me a few weeks back in hopes to set up a family session for her parents for Christmas. Natalie’s sister, Lindsey, would be home from the service visiting for the holidays. The goal was to set something up before Lindsey had to return to Las Vegas, & luckily our dates just happened to match up! Of course this would make it an early Christmas gift for Natalie’s parents, but at least it would be used just in time for Christmas cards!

The Summerlins are actually good friends of my husband & I, so I was really excited to do this portrait session for them. It’s always a good time when you hang out with this bunch. It turns out that they love the State Arboretum of Virginia, so this was the location we decided upon. The State Arboretum of Virginia is beautiful year round, no matter what the season. Much to my surprise, we even had some color still left on the trees! It was certainly windy & cold, & it even started snowing halfway through their session! It was one of those “fall” days where we had to strip the coats last minute, take a few photos, then put the coats back on-lol. I think they enjoyed the poses where I had them pushed closely together 😉

 As much as I capture sessions at the State Arboretum, the Summerlins introduced me to a new picturesque location. On the opposite side of the State Arboretum, there is a grassy area full of golden yellow trees. Unfortunately the leaves had already fallen on the ground, but it still added that fall color & feel to their images. Lindsey was itching to throw some leaves, so we also had a little fun towards the end of their session 😉 It was beautiful, & I look forward to using this location again in the future (thank you, Summerlins!).

Here are just some of my favorite images from our time together. I have to say my absolute favorite is the one pictured below!

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