What do you do to instill your beliefs, morals and passions in your children? Is there a right way? I would love to hear your thoughts. I focus on trying to create happy and positive memories associated with that thing. Inevitably there are bothers in any situation. When this happens I try to brush it aside and not get angry. If it is stressful or a lot of hard work (as camping with small children can be!), I step back, adjust my attitude and strive not to let that be a negative thing. 

The blessing of hard work is something I learned from my parents that I want to pass on to each of my children. So it is not that I hide the hard work, but I make it fun, bonding and something we all do together. Something that brings you rewards, not just monetary rewards, but rewards of feelings of accomplishment and confidence. Whew! Thats a lot of depth from some fun pictures with headlamps!

The headlamps were my other favorite part of this camping trip. My kids got so involved in this project! They kept coming back to check every image on the back of the camera, and then making a new plan as to what they would do for the next shot. I often hear photographers talk about putting down the camera to be present. For me sometimes the camera helps me be part of my children’s world in a new way that wouldn’t be possible without it. This night was one of those times. I need to go camping again!

Topsail Beach lifestyle portraits

[tg_small_content class=””]Anna Rasmussen is a featured and award-winning family portrait photographer in Topsail Beach, NC. She loves documentary-style family photography and beautiful lifestyle portraits. Her two favorite things to photograph are travel logs and birth stories in the hospital. However she also loves everything family – from capturing the joy of expectant parents in maternity photography, the first days of a baby’s life in Newborn Fresh 48 Sessions, the beauty of everyday chaos in Family Day-in-the-Life Sessions, and on-location family portrait sessions. Anna is an on-location photographer, serving areas of coastal North Carolina, including Wilmington, Hampstead, Topsail Beach and Surf City. Book a session here with Anna today! Thank you so much for stopping by!

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I bought a fun old soviet camera at an antique market in Moscow. It is a rangefinder and it took me a roll or two to get the focus figured out. But I loved running some rolls of Ektar through it and even though some of these shots are missing focus I love the feeling of them! Ektar film is quickly becoming my favorite film to shoot. As I focus on my style and “who I am as a photographer” I am quickly realizing that I am colorful. And I dont want whimpy white washed colors. If it is in color I want the real thing. These fall colors remind me of one of my favorite times of year.

Our little aquarium here in North Carolina is not the best one in the world by any means. But it is big enough to keep girly happy and there is a fun playground attached and thats all the boys need. Ha! It was a fun outing.

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We enjoyed a fun road trip complete with Harry Potter on audio book to Nashville over Thanksgiving. I love road trips! Most of all I love seeing things, light, nature, cities. It really doesn’t matter what. I love new places and new adventures. I think driving is such a fun way to see the world, to see changes in the landscape. We drove over the smokey mountains and they were actually very smokey because of forest fires.

This was our second time in Nashville, but we had fun exploring some new places. I love street photography and capturing my children exploring a new city. Documenting my children’s exploration is my favorite use of my time.

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I had a wonderful bible study last week with my friends. One question that stuck out to me from the book we are reading was this : “How would you ever learn unconditional love if you were married to someone who met all the conditions?” Being married and being a mother does not mean that everyone in this family is perfect. Or perfectly suited in personality to me. The older my kids get the more I realize this. My Father in Heaven has sent all these spirits to me and my husband. They have a myriad of different personality quirks and traits. I loved each of them from the moment they were placed in my arms, but as they grow up and we butt heads, I have to learn to re-love them.

Unconditional love actually sounds like an attainable goal when you talk about about your own family members. But what about the billions of other humans that populate this world? What about those who disagree with us on matters of faith, politics and morals? Can we learn to love them unconditionally? I wonder if it is possible for me. I love to read. I recently read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It is fiction, but fiction based on a real place and real situation. A situation that before reading the book I would have said influenced my life greatly. My viewpoint changed reading the book, I saw from the side of others, people who were raised in a completely different world than me. Perhaps that is the best kind of unconditional love I can have. To listen to another’s viewpoint, seek to understand it and respect them.

As always I am SO grateful for the artistic journey of my life and the opportunity to capture my love and the beauty of the world around me, in my own home and in the places I travel to. I am loving getting to know so many other photographers throughout the world and am excited to be participating in a blog circle with some of my photographer friends.  We’re linking to each other’s posts, so you can check out what they’re up to. This month, I’m linking to a fabulous photographer who lives in my favorite place : England! She is sharing a beautiful family portrait session this month. Click here to check her out : Newborn and Family Photography in Reading, Berkshire

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Friday’s are my favorite day. After my workout, I go to bible study with my lovely friends. Then I got my hair done! (always a good day, and there were a couple friends hanging out). I had a portrait session this afternoon. Tonight I was driving to pick up another kid from another activity. I still had about three more kid activities to go, but at that moment I was alone in my car (never happens). As I watched the sun set, I just had this huge swell in my heart of love for this place. I shouldn’t be surprised, I have lived here about a year and a half, that is usually when I realize how much I love the place where I am living. Somehow I think there must be a cap though on places I can love, but it keeps happening over and over again. We move and it is hard, and I try to figure out what I want. For my kids, for my business, for myself. At some point the tendrils of the place reach up and start grabbing my heart. When I reach this point I know just how painful it is going to be to leave. Do I lock up my heart or do I just keep falling in love with each place I move to?

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My favorite thing about St. Petersburg quite obviously was the leaves. I have missed the fall since moving to the South and seeing it in Russia was amazing. Also I loved the food in St. Petersburg, some of the tastyiest Stroganoff ever.

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Moscow completely surprised me. It was such a clean and safe feeling city. It was huge and modern. Maybe I sound naive saying these things but as I tell most of my friends about my trip, it seems that I am not alone in my presumptions about what Moscow would be like. I loved it there.

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I figured out this was my fifth time in Paris. Makes me feel like a spoiled person! I feel so lucky to have seen as much of the world as I have. Traveling really fills a part of my soul. I loved this time to Paris. I had seen the sights and was able to just relax and photograph what I saw. Street photography is always my favorite thing to do in Paris. I first got into photography looking at a Eugene Atget book in high school. He was a pioneer documentary photographer in Paris in the 1900s. When I walk around Paris, I still feel his influence and a desire to capture life on the streets of Paris.

If you would like to order one of these prints for your home. You can do so here!

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Are you looking for an awesome spot for a family reunion? A getaway where you can slow down and relax? Check out this gorgeous historical home my parents own and rent out in Lakebay, Washington. It is right on the water and boasts amazing views and quiet seclusion. With three homes on the property there is plenty of space for an extended family to spread out and enjoy. You can rent the home here.

Interiors is not something I do often and I always feel like the photographic industry tells me to specialize, specialize, specialize. What can I say, except I specialize in not specializing? It was fun to do something totally different!

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