You'd love to have a family portrait session that fully captures who you are, how you connect, and how much affection surfaces when all the members of your family are present within the camera frame.

We're happy to capture your family in our studio, complete with gorgeous light and minimal distractions, or in your comfy-cozy home full of familiar toys and routines. No matter where our session takes place, we'll delight in your delight. And we'll encourage you to pay attention to one another instead of the camera, because there's no 'add happy' button in Photoshop.

We don't care whether you're barefoot or wearing fuzzy slippers, and we won't be sending over a twenty-page list of suggestions about what to wear. (We can make you look beautiful in sweat pants if you love each other.) We just want to capture your family. Your habits, your quirks, and your love. Die-hard beach goers? World travelers? Animal lovers? Trekkies? We wanna see it. And when you view the images we've created together for the first time, we want the depth of love you feel for your family to grab you by the collar and bring tears to your eyes.

The video below provides a peek at how portrait sessions unfold. If you have questions or would like to schedule a portrait session, click on the 'Contact' link above or call 215-206-3689. Oh -- and thanks for stopping by, lovely!

-- Kristen & Haunani, Essential Imagery owners

P.S. That's Kristen up in the header -- Haunani is camera-shy.

6TH ANNUAL ACHIEVEABILITY GALA

ACHIEVEability works to permanently break the cycle of poverty for single parent, low-income families, many formerly homeless, by providing a range of supportive services, including education, job readiness, and housing assistance. (In other words, they help people better their lives by being a hand up, not a handout. Awesome!)

The Sixth Annual ACHIEVEability Gala took place last Saturday at the absolutely divine Urban Outfitters headquarters in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The venue was truly lovely, especially for my natural-light loving self:

ACHIEVEability Interim CEO Joel Lawson, shown left, hangs with Urban Outfitters Chairman and President Richard Hayne. (Yes, ladies, he’s responsible for all that money you drop at Urban Outfitters AND Anthropologie AND Free People AND Terrain. He has good karma, though, so don’t hate him too much.)

Stephanie Goldstein, shown bottom left, was responsible for coordinating this giant event, and deserves praise for rockin’ it out!

Raffle & silent auction items — GORGEOUS!!

The lovely people of Briggs Auction House, who donated their time and talent — on the only 17′ couch I’ve ever encountered.

Finally, there were too many lovely people to include in the little preview, so here’s the (horribly compressed, but shared with no less love) event slideshow:

ACHIEVEability Gala from Kristen Kalp on Vimeo.