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The photographer
About Anna
Sixteen years in Washington, more than nine hundred families, and a still-unbroken belief that there is no such thing as an unphotogenic person.
A little of my story
I came to Washington in 2009 with a secondhand camera, a degree in fine art, and absolutely no plan. My first paid session was a family of four on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for one hundred and fifty dollars, and I was so nervous I forgot to change my shutter speed for the first ten minutes.
Sixteen years later I have photographed more than nine hundred families across the District, Northern Virginia and Maryland — first-time parents holding a four-day-old, couples who met on the Metro, grandparents flown in from three time zones away, and a great many toddlers who had very strong opinions about standing still.
What I actually believe
That the best portraits are not performances. That children should be allowed to be children, and that a photograph of a five-year-old mid-laugh is worth ten photographs of a five-year-old being told to smile.
That the technical work — light, timing, location, wardrobe, retouching — is entirely my responsibility and should be invisible to you. You should never feel managed. You should feel like you spent a lovely hour outside with your family and somebody happened to be taking pictures.
The images people frame are almost never the ones they expected to frame. They are the quiet ones.
How I work
Every session begins with a conversation, not a contract. We talk about who will be photographed, what the photographs are for, and what your family is actually like — whether your toddler needs a snack break at 5:30, whether your teenager would rather be anywhere else, whether your mother is self-conscious about her arms.
Then I plan the evening around that. Location, arrival time, the order we photograph people in, where the shade is, where the parking is. By the time you step out of the car, the work is mostly done.
Beyond the camera
I live just outside the District with my husband and our two children, and a very large, very badly behaved dog named Atticus. I shoot on Canon, print at a fine-art lab in Virginia, and drink an unreasonable amount of coffee.
I would genuinely love to photograph your family. Send me a note and tell me about them.
— Anna Isaika
Selected work
Portrait sessions
Individual, maternity and executive portraits made in natural light.
The experience
Four unhurried steps
Design Your Session
We speak by phone, choose your location and golden-hour date, and build a wardrobe palette together.
The Session
Arrive and relax. You will be gently directed, never posed, while the light does the rest of the work.
Your Heirlooms
A private gallery in 3–5 days, then a viewing appointment to choose albums, framed prints and gifts.
Kind words
