PARENT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Becky Gardner
Celebrating life through photography
BY LINDSDAY C. VANASDALAN
FAMILY FAVORITES
Family meal: I would say
spaghetti and meatballs. We
love to make lamb meatballs.

Place to photograph your
family: Probably at home. We
just bought a 110-year-old house
out in Purcellville, and there are
always weird outbuildings
and light.

Family photo: We spent some
time living abroad in England.

My boys were a couple of years
younger, and everywhere has
swords and shields. I remember
this photo of Henry and Hollis
doing what we called storming
the castle. Everywhere we went,
my husband would be like “OK,
go storm the castle!”
Story to tell your kids: My
husband used to be in the Army,
and we met in college. He got
orders to move to a different
base, and if we weren’t married,
basically I couldn’t go. We like to
tell them the story of when we
got married on our lunch hour
and both (of us) went back to
work. We didn’t even bring the
camera. 24 Washington FAMILY MAY 2022
why they’re awesome. But then it’s
realizing that 13 years went by super
duper fast.

I went through a time where I actually
had Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I was sick, went
through chemo and lost all my hair. And
I made sure to take pictures of my kids.

We had a lot of funny things to lighten
the mood there. But I think a lot of lev-
ity can be found in photos. Looking back,
you can find that—maybe see something
differently than you did before or you can
always then see. I have a giant wall of pho-
tos and books and books and books of
them to look through.

Your photography is focused
on capturing the authentic
moments that tell a family’s
story. Has your career made
you more driven to document
these moments in your own life?
Yes and no—I would say most
photographers would agree with that.

When I pick up my camera now, I would say
that’s one of the hardest things is it sort of
becomes work, or that I get to be kind of
How do you balance your
too much of a perfectionist, or trying to
day-to-day schedule as a
really treat it as a job rather than letting
photographer with family life?
my family take center stage. A couple of
I feel like that’s something that I still am times a year, I’ll really buckle down and
learning. It’s gotten much better as I have have a couple of long days with my kids
learned to set boundaries, say no to things where I can document them as they are.

and focus on what is going to be best for
not only my clients but for my family. I What’s one thing you hope your
think when you’re first starting out it’s a kids learn from your career?
lot of “hustle, hustle, hustle” and trying to Creativity and creating art, and creating
say yes to everything. There is definitely something for others to appreciate and
room to say no, and that’s sometimes all treasure and that’s meaningful to them.

you can do for your sanity.

I hope that they get letting their brains
wander and play in beautiful light in big
open fields and those kind of things. I
started with a camera and a couple of
classes and then put my mind to figuring
It means so, so much. My daughter just out this was something that I wanted
turned 13, which I feel like, you know, I to do, took the steps and did it the right
spent a lot of time going back through way. You can create something if you put
pictures and I feel like that’s one reason in the work. n
What does creating those
memories mean to you as
parent? PHOTO COURTESY OF BECKY GARDNER
B ecky
Gardner’s photography
journey began with a few
community college classes after her
son Henry was born in 2011. In seeking
something fun and different from her
work in corporate sales and recruiting, she
turned to an old love.

“I’ve always been really interested in
genealogy and local history, and trying to
find out the stories of things and places,”
Gardner says. Now she seeks out stories
through her camera as the owner of Becky A.

Gardner Photography.

A big part of these stories shines
through in clients’ homes, she says, but
Gardner also enjoys finding hidden gems
where she photographs families in Loudon
and Fairfax counties, as well as Arlington
and Washington, D.C.

“Through 11 years—and some of my
families have been with me that long—I
haven’t run out of places,” Gardner says.

Gardner now lives in Purcellville,
Virginia, with her husband, John-Mark,
and her three children, Hollis (6), Henry
(11) and Sage (13).




FAMILY FUN
Best Kids’ Cooking and
Baking Experiences
in the DMV
BY LINDSAY C. VANASDALAN
I Serving up all types of candies
and treats—nostalgic varieties,
candy-by-the-pound jars, every
chocolate bar you could imag-
ine (including bacon and potato
chips!)—Henry’s opens up its
modern candy store to kids with
fun classes and camps for bak-
ing and decorating. Owner Patty
Craver is also a full-time pas-
try chef, which means she offers
lots of house-made goodies in
the store, such as fresh pastries,
Cookology 21100
Dulles Town
Cir- chocolate-covered Oreos, cake
cle, Sterling, VA 20166 | pops, buckeyes and fudge. Sum-
mer camps for ages 6-12 include
cookologyonline.com/kids Is your little chef looking for lunch and a baking craft.

more options to hone their
culinary skills? Kids with big The Kosher Chocolate
dreams of becoming a chef can Factory
get started at Cookology, which 14803
Southlawn Lane
offers a range of camps; fam- (behind the Dunkin Donuts),
ily cooking classes; one-on-ones Rockville,
MD 20850
| with mom, dad, a grandparent kosherchocolatefactory.com
or caregiver; and a workshop. Learn how to make your own
Cooking classes at Ballston chocolate at The Kosher Choco-
Quarter and Dulles Town Cen- late Factory, part of the JCrafts
ter begin as early as age 3. Kids workshop series. Families can
will learn skills such as measur- sign up for two programs: choc-
ing, mixing and rolling. All age olate from scratch and truffle
groups will work with a profes- making. This kosher series also
sional chef and explore cuisine allows children to explore the
including New World, seasonal, historic connection between
healthy and gluten-free varieties. Jews and chocolate and mold
some kosher-themed chocolate
shapes. Kids will also get to make
Henry’s Sweet Retreat
4823 St. Elmo Ave., Bethesda, MD their own custom box of truffles
20814 | henryssweetretreat.com to take home. L’chaim!
WHISK: PURUAN / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS; LITTLE CHEF: MIKI-TIGER / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
s your child a budding gour-
met? Soon your little one
could be making you pan-
cakes every morning, not just
on Mother’s Day! Just kidding …
but your little chefs will love the
opportunity to learn (and eat)
more at these cooking and bak-
ing classes in the DMV.

The Red Bandana
Bakery 8218 Wisconsin Ave., Suite
101, Bethesda, MD 20814 |
theredbandanabakery.com Here’s a baking class you and
your child can complete in the
comfort of your own home.

Order kits from the gluten-free
bakery with a 4-inch or 6-inch
cake round (dairy-free, vegan
and keto-friendly options) and
frosting, sprinkles, fondant, pre-
serves filling, cake board and
a piping bag and get baking. A
pre-recorded instruction video
from the head baker will be avail-
able to play as you create. Kids
can also try other kits, including
scratch-made pizza, cookie deco-
rating, chickpea blondies, bagels
and cinnamon rolls.

Wild Wood Pizza
1600 Village Market Blvd.,
Suite 120, Leesburg, VA 20175 |
wildwoodpizzeria.com “Pizza is a great equalizer. It
doesn’t matter if you’re young
or old,” reads the Wild Wood
Pizza website, and that quote
translates to its cooking classes!
Kids of all ages will participate
in hands-on pizza making in the
Village at Leesburg. Chef Curtis
Alfred will teach them how to
roll and knead dough and create
their own pizzas, which will then
be placed in the wood-burning
oven by Wild Wood staff. Parents
or guardians must be on site,
but only children younger than
10 require cooking supervision.

Purchase an extra DIY pizza kit
to take home after class. ■
WashingtonFAMILY.com 25