Oh. My. Lanta. How I love these photos and these THREE people!!! Beth is a sister from my church who I have walked through life with more closely these last two years. She is one of the kindest people I know, so full of compassion and sincere care for others. Her husband Will is also a man of character, hardworking and genuine, so eager to serve others. Walking with Beth through her pregnancy has only amplified how much I see this couple’s trust in God, awareness of His grace, and declaration of how much we all need Him. I am so eager to see how God will continue revealing Himself to them and through them as little baby boy Palmer enters the world in February 2021!! We had a great time waltzing around downtown Norfolk a few Saturdays ago… enjoy a few highlight shots of our time together!!
Category Archives: Love
Braga Family: Sandbridge VA Beach Session
Virginia continues to give us a run for our money with a mixture of fall and summer weather, and I ain’t complainin’!!! Families are still enjoying the beaches of Hampton Roads to get in some long-weekend vacations, and when Jasmine hit me up saying she and her little crew would be near me this October, I was so excited to capture them along the shores of Sandbridge Beach in Virginia Beach! To top it off… the day we chose was Jasmine and Lucas’s wedding anniversary!!! I loved grabbing a few of just the two of them as well during our shoot.
As beach goers wind-down, my pumpkin patch / autumn colors city attire / fall leaf galore sessions are coming in hot!! Stay tuned for upcoming posts. And enjoy the Braga beach beauties below!!
Cummings Family: Ft. Monroe Beach Session
Don’t leave us yet, summer!!!! I love sessions like this one with Marcell, Hillary, and Max at Ft Monroe in Hampton. You might recognize this crew from last November. We had such a fun time keeping Max out of the fields of Cullipher Farm in Chesapeake, we wanted the other challenge of keeping him from plunging in the water and slipping on the rocks around Ft. Monroe! 😉 I was so pleased with the images we captured, and I hope you enjoy them too!!
Fox Family: Sandbridge, VA, Beach Family Session
Fall is almost here but I’m holding on to beach time as long as Virginia weather allows!!! One family that keeps me enjoying the sand every August is a crew I grew up with in Northern Virginia, the Foxes! They have been coming to vacation in the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach the last few years, and I have gotten to capture their growing clan one evening during their weeklong stay. This year’s shoot was its normal mixture of chaotic fun… I hope you enjoy a few of my favorite shots and get yourself out for some Vitamin D before autumn temps come our way!! Happy Friday!
Eric & Sharon: Gloucester Wedding
Anyone else miss the pre-covid wedding days? Celebrating with friends and family, sans face coverings and social distancing? While I know our current circumstances and the various regulations upon us are limits we all just have to accept as reality for right now, I still peruse weddings I shot in 2019 with such awe and glee, seeing mask-less faces and guests cozied up next to one another! I pray we get to be there again soon. Until then, enjoy some highlights from a wedding I shot back in May of 2019 for a dear couple from my church, Hampton Roads Fellowship! Watching their little blended family (Sharon & MJ, Eric & Cameron) become one surrounded by our HRF family was such a relaxed, joyful celebration!
(Note: I’m still shooting weddings in this season, maneuvering covid restrictions and seeking to bless couples as they deal with these crazy times! Message debbiedeanphotography@gmail.com to get wedding packages and booking details!)
Lydia: Newport News Newborn Session
One of the weirdest things about this covid-19 season is the number of maternity photo sessions I had booked that had to be cancelled… and then became newborn sessions!! It is so odd to go from seeing preggo women at church who are busting as the bellies, and then time passes and the next thing you know, you’re cuddling their two month old in between photo poses!!
Lara & Alberto were one such couple, who’s little girl Lydia entered the world at the beginning of June, and it was such a joy to get to capture their little family before they moved to the west coast with the Air Force. She’s so squishy and wonderful… I hope you all enjoy these images of her cuteness!!!
Daric & Holly: Salisbury University
Last month, I was able to take a weekend to see friends in Salisbury, Maryland, where I resided from 2016-2018. A couple who I loved doing life with during those few years were Daric & Holly. They showed me how to love Jesus and love people in such practical ways, being constant fun, encouraging presences at meals, Bible studies, movie nights, and the like. Daric even offered to teach me guitar and we had a few great sessions… before I flaked!! They both supported me both financially and in being good friends during my time as Cru staff, and those years in Salisbury would not have been the same without them!! (I’ll especially always hold dearly the time a friend and I visited Daric at work and got a FULL tour of a crematory!!) Y’all bring much joy to me and others, and it was SO fun to photograph y’all that weekend. 🙂
Enjoy some favorites from my session with Daric & Holly around Salisbury University!!
A Swing Through 2019
Hello, friends! Happy 2020! Having time this month to slow down, regroup, and pray & plan for 2020 has been so refreshing. (Aside from the week I spent nursing my sick younger sister (a freshman at CNU) back to health from a virus, only to catch some kind of the bug myself and be out of commission for a week. Ah well, tis the season.)
As I look back over 2019, I am so humbled by the faces that fill folder after folder on my harddrive, from engagements, families, expecting parents, and more. As I posted on Instagram recently, 2019 was a year where love for the camera and really truly learning people, serving people, and enjoying people with photography came back to life for me. Selecting a slew of photos to share in this post was so hard because I wanted to use them all!!!! My smile kept growing as I put this selection together. Y’all have been such a joy to work with. I am beyond thankful!!!! I want this business to be a vehicle where people feel the love of God and know the value they hold as His creatures. While I have dreams and goals for Debbie Dean Photography in 2020, I pray that stays primary in all the work I do. Y’all are beautiful, unique, and emulate joy in your own ways. I love the gift it is to capture y’all. Instead of planning today, I’ll just continue scrolling through highlights of 2019, thankful to God for you all and humbled that I get to work with so many different image bearers of our great God!!!
A Note on Thanksgiving + Cummings Family: Cullipher Farm
Thanksgiving is tomorrow and tonight I am sitting on the couch with some of my sisters, at home in Northern VA, bouncing between Hallmark movies and Say Yes To The Dress while I edit photoshoots. I know we all say this annually, but the holidays definitely snuck up on me this year. Life is so full, so fun, and so go go go… I feel like I blinked and I’m home now, smelling my Mom’s Thanksgiving Eve cooking and wondering why I keep deciding it’s a good idea to kick off Thanksgiving with an early morning Turkey Trot run (tomorrow’s race route I’m doing this year is SO HILLY, and I’m hoping the wings on the turkey onesie I’m wearing will give me umph to soar up and over all the inclines!!!).
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, a brother at Fellowship Group (my church‘s version of small groups) prayed last night that God would help us recall the many things this past year that we have ignored or forgotten to thank Him for, and that He would help us to remember and praise Him. I was so humbled by that prayer because I often plow through life without spending much time reflecting specifically on God’s past grace to me, not often being still and thinking across the span of months/years with thanksgiving. In light of this, I am looking over 2019, and tonight I’m particularly humbled by God’s provision of business for Debbie Dean Photography.
A few months ago, I had no idea I could have this life, making a living doing childcare and photography (while learning and studying biblical counseling on the side in the process). Yet, God has opened door after door and I find myself floored at what each day holds! Strangers and friends alike have blessed me to serve them with photo sessions this fall. Reflecting on all the couples and families I’ve captured is stirring great thankfulness to God for the gift and experiences with photography He’s given over the years to bring me to this place. I pray He continues to grow me and show me His purposes for Debbie Dean Photography, and look forward to how I can keep serving others with photo experiences down the road!
In light of all this… enjoy a fun autumn family session I did recently, featuring Marcell, the brother in my Fellowship Group who’s prayer I referenced above! I have loved getting to know him and Hillary and their little guy, Max, since coming to HRF last year, and I hope you enjoy their session from Cullipher Farm in Chesapeake, Virginia!
Will & Beth: Historic Greenbrier Farms
Oh how I’m loving these fall photo sessions! A few weeks ago I gallivanted around Greenbrier Farms in Chesapeake, VA, with these two sweet friends from my church, Will and Beth. Beth in particular has been a sister who’s care and wisdom for me is continually a source that humbles and refreshes me! She challenges me faithfully in how to practically live out gospel truths and she exemplifies quiet servitude. I am so encouraged by how she and Will serve our church body! We had so much fun at Greenbrier Farms and I hope you enjoy some of my favorites from our session.
