End of Year 2024 Wrap Up for DC and Maryland Family Photographer

I can’t believe it’s already time to write my 2024 end of year wrap up! Each year, this post is a chance to sit back and reflect on my work as a DC and Maryland family photographer. It’s always a blessing for me to look back on what’s happened and how the year went. While I may have forgotten my 2024 word of the year (or possibly skipped it entirely), I have some amazing memories that I can’t wait to share with you all! 

2024 Numbers:

This year’s numbers are so much smaller than last year. At first I felt the yucky comparison to my past years and other photographers. It’s so easy to jump into that comparison game honestly. But, then I remembered that I intentionally wanted to do less sessions this year. This move was important to me so that I could give each family I worked with more love and attention, not to mention my own personal life and family, too! 

In 2024, I photographed 53 families including projects and photographer swaps. I had 50 sessions with clients and of those clients, 26 were repeat clients. That means 48% of my sessions were with repeat clients. (Read my thank you letter to you all here!). This number includes the 30 mini sessions I captured this year. I worked actively to reduce my mini session offerings, so that I can focus on my signature sessions, which truly document the heart of each family I work with. This fall was the first time since 2019 that I just did one date of mini sessions. I beat a record by doing 11 sessions in one evening. That was wild but so much fun! 

A few other fun trends I noticed in looking back on this year’s numbers! 

• 12% of sessions included grandparents (whether at a newborn session, family, or extended family session)
• 10 sessions included pets (even one session with chickens!!)
• 28% of clients had in-home sessions and took place either inside and/or outside their walls
• Winter and Summer sessions are trending! More in-home sessions too! I love controlled temperatures and I think my clients do too! 
• 25% of my signature sessions were in the winter

2024 was a celebration!

Professional Celebrations: 

I was published THREE TIMES! You can see my work in 2024 Winter and 2024 Summer Kindred Path publications. I was also published in the 2024 Fall Heartfelt Magazine! See that here! 

I was on a Podcast Episode with Katie Dragos. Katie and I have been friends for over thirty years and even though she is a morning person and I am a night owl, we have one big similarity: being a multi-passionate person. I share about protecting my passions as a creative mother, focusing on boundaries, and family photography on this episode. If you ever wonder, “How does she do it all?” You can find out! 

I was interviewed in a panel with 2 other photographers on This Can’t Be That Hard to explain the success, the switch to the pricing structure of family sessions, and how clients are benefiting from this change. Annemie Token is one of my favorite photography educators and her content has no fluff.  

Personal Celebrations:

I turned 40!! My husband rented a party bus in Virginia and we had a blast visiting spots, singing songs in between locations, and had a lovely dinner. On the day of my birthday, I had big plans at the spa, but a snow day meant a day home with the kids. They were crazy, but we had fun in the snow.

I made time for visiting the cherry blossoms in DC not once, but TWICE!! Confession- I had never gone to the Tidal Basin in DC during the blossom season. Like any DMV family photographer, I woke up super early with my daughter to be photographed and it was absolutely beautiful. To our surprise we were at PEAK BLOOM that day. The following weekend I was back solo to just take in the beauty of the city.

Our kitchen is in the process of being renovated!! We had family photos in May by the talented Leah O’Connell and my husband made a comment about waiting till the kitchen gets renovated, but honestly I’m so happy to have these to see what life was like when we used our kitchen and our bay window as a Dunkin Donuts drive thru.

We added a new family member!! Our cat Bruno. Sweet, friendly, and our little escape artist who loves to find trouble. #orangecatbehavior

Our family traveled this year! We made time to visit my parents in Florida. Our then four year old and eight year old did so well!! We had hiccups in the travel to and from, and they were champs. At one point we were waiting in this massive line for a car rental and we reenacted the Dance Mode Bluey episode to pass the time. It was a blast – even amidst all the chaos.

2024 was also the year of the passport for the Tundos! Trust, the kid’s passports got lost in the mail and arrived just a few days prior to take off. My husband and I went to Mexico for a September wedding KID FREE!!! Then, we went to the Bahamas with our kids. We also had our friend’s and their kids who are similar ages with us too. We celebrated my husband’s 40th birthday (in case you were wondering why my fall had very limited availability) and was an unforgettable time.

Thank You to those who make it happen… 

Leah O’Connell, Mentor: Leah is not only the kindest and thoughtful mentor, she has so much goodness in how she approaches business and the business of photographing families. She gave me insight and ideas into this year and has shifted me towards the goals I want to reach. I enjoyed getting to meet her in Charlottesville, Virginia to shadow her in photographing a family and going through my portfolio. I’m so lucky to have Leah guiding me in this process. 

Sara Gillis (What Sara Said), Copywriting: This was one of the coolest experiences of the year! Sara watched me photograph a session in Washington, DC and tweaked the copy on my website to match the CTP experience. How incredible is that?!

Hannah, Mini Session Assistant: Hannah was so gentle and kind with my spring mini clients. It just made the day run seamlessly and I’m beyond grateful for her support.

Cassandra (Gallivant DMV), Mini Session Assistant: Cassandra helped my 11 fall minis run so smoothly at the Howard County Conservancy this fall. At one point I had AHEAD of schedule and that never happens.

Kristina (Dot the I’s Outsourcing) Content Writer: Kristina has been helping me to create meaningful and valuable content for all of you here on the blog! I’m so grateful for her help every month to show off my sessions and help write helpful posts to prepare you for those sessions! 

Cat Granger (Cat Granger Photography), Editor:  Cat literally saves my life. She has the BEST EYE and always makes sure every image is my signature editing style. I’m so thankful for everything she does to get beautiful photos in the hands of my clients every week. Records were beat with galleries and slideshows going around between 5-14 days this fall.

Jennifer (Choose Your Solutions Virtual Assisting), Virtual Assistant: Jennifer runs a virtual assisting company and assigned me a VA, also named Jennifer, who is a former teacher and photographer. She can read my brain and help complete tasks to save me time and energy.

Rocco Tundo (Marinucci & Associates CPA), Husband/Accountant/CFO: My husband Rocco does the bookkeeping and taxes. He helps me feel on top of my business financially and makes sure all of my earnings are being put to the best use (or tries to keep me from spending). He’s also my support system at home, too. There’s always lots of solo parenting days in the busy fall season and I’m thankful for everything he does. I’m so grateful to him for his support and love. 

I just want to say a final thank you to everyone who has made 2024 such a wonderful and beautiful year. I am so happy to get to know and work with each and every one of you!