Meet Lia

A photographer, storyteller, detail-noticer, and professional awkwardness eliminator.

Here's the truth about me.

I will absolutely make a fool of myself if it gets your toddler to laugh.

I talk to dogs like they're people.

I notice tiny things most people walk right past. The way your daughter reaches for your hand without thinking. The look your partner gives you when you're not paying attention. The split second before everyone bursts into laughter. Those are the moments I'm chasing.

I didn't always photograph people.

For years, I worked as a cartographer, making maps for a living. Looking back, it feels oddly perfect.

I've always been wired to notice patterns, details and the little things other people overlook. Today, instead of mapping roads and rivers, I map relationships. I've always been wired to notice patterns, details and the little things other people overlook.

Today, instead of mapping roads and rivers, I map relationships.

I notice when someone walks into a branding session convinced they're awkward in front of a camera. I notice the exact moment they relax. The moment they stop performing and start being themselves. That's the person I want to photograph. The confidence that quietly appears twenty minutes into a branding session, right about the time you forget there's even a camera in front of you.

Maybe it's my ADHD. Maybe it's years of training my eye. Maybe it's both. Regardless, I’m grateful for it.

Whatever the reason, I've learned that the photographs people treasure most aren't the perfectly posed ones. They're the ones that remind them exactly how life felt in that moment.

Life has taught me a few things.

I've lived enough life to know perfection is a terrible goal.

I've been through marriage, divorce, falling in love again, raising five kids, becoming a grandma, changing careers, and reinventing myself more than once.

The older I get, the more convinced I am that the best stories are always a little messy.

Maybe that's why I don't obsess over perfectly posed photos.

I want the images that make you stop years from now and think,

"I remember how much we laughed."

A Few Things You Should Know About Me

I'm a New Yorker at heart.
I'll always tell you the truth, even if it's not wrapped up in a pretty bow.

If there's a dog nearby...
I've probably already introduced myself.

I love people.
Put me in a room with strangers and I'll leave with new friends and at least one funny story.

I'm a grandma.
It's one of my favorite titles.

I don't expect you to know what to do in front of a camera.
That's my job. Your job is simply to show up as yourself.

What It's Like to Work With Me

There will probably be bad jokes.

There might be dancing.

I'll almost certainly ask your kids to make fart noises if that's what gets a real smile.

You'll hear me say, "Don't look at me. Look at each other."

And somewhere between the laughter and the chaos, you'll forget you're having your picture taken.

That's when the magic happens.

Let's make something you'll want to look at for years.