Hi. I’m Sonja. Sonja with a J.

Photographer. Mom. Art collector. Backpacker. Preschool substitute teacher. Occasional children’s-book maker. Buyer of strange things I absolutely did not need.

I’m originally from Germany, moved to Cincinnati in 1998, and somehow never left. I have two boys, Jake and Finn, and have been photographing families professionally for 16 years—which means I’ve seen just about everything a toddler can do during a photo session.

And I’m here for it.

I don’t want to photograph your family standing in a perfect row with everyone looking at me and saying cheese. I want the kid who refuses to participate. The dad who says he hates pictures. The toddler who makes a run for it. The belly laughs, weird faces, windblown hair, bear hugs and whatever happens in between.

Basically, I want your family to look like your family.

A few things about me: I love colorful art, old things, live music, traveling, hiking and backpacking, cooking things from countries I’ve visited, and bringing home questionable treasures from estate sales. I will choose interesting over perfect almost every single time.

That applies to photography, too.

So if you want perfectly posed and perfectly behaved, I may not be your photographer.

But if you want photographs that feel like you—and a photographer who won’t blink when your three-year-old decides pants are optional—we’re probably going to get along beautifully.

Come as you are.

I’ll bring the camera.

Sonja (with a J)