November 21, 2008 – 11:18 am
There is something about a woman who truly wants to be pregnant. Something so special about the glow a woman can get when she is with child and that is EXACTLY where she wants to be. Patty had it. It was just so easy to watch. Pattys mom passed away before her daughter was bon (she made her appearance shortly after Obama won the election - Nov 4th was her due date) I got a chance to ask her about how she felt to be a mom, and her answers gave me a smile. Patty is my fathers sister, and my most active Aunt on his sidee of my family. She gave me alot to look up to and taught me alot about the woman I wanted to be when I grew up, and the woman I strive to be now. It was certainly strange to be giving my aunt advice and soothing her nerves about motherhood and the birthing process. But I was truly honored to do so. Baby Ava has the most diligent angel in your mother I am sure, Patty and I am honored that you trusted me with your images. Its even more special that you came down for Baltimore for the session. I’m excited to meet Little Ava and do her new born session in December!
Oh to the dad Kwame I heard you on NPR talking about your business. Congrats! You got your MBA, a Baby and your first plug on NPR - its been a great stretch for you - I’m sure its only gonna get better.
If you guys have Gift Cards you don’t want or want to cash in check out his site! Leave a review if you do!
November 20, 2008 – 8:49 pm
So I needed some mini session and we needed to be outside- so we headed to our favorite spot. Met a few friends and I pulled out the Camera.
Sometimes when I watch my kids thru the lens I think that I get a more honest view of them as personalities. I get to notice things I am usually to busy to tired or jsut too close to them to see. Cammys shine, Gabbys glow. And I’d like to introduce Mr. Ami. Yes that would be captain GQ a little further down.
Jerry got in a few pictures with the girl, I like the colors in these images more than I have in a while, Fall is easily my favorite season.. Indian Summers are the best.
November 20, 2008 – 11:04 am
I was contacted to do some head shots for the editors of a education magazine and let me tell you - these are the kind of women I hope my girls run into often in life. I fully expected them to take a red pen to my blog and send it back all lit up cause you know for a writer I have THE WORST SPELLING EVAH!! Any who they are fun and beautiful and full of spirit. Sharon is also a author (just started her book -its really more up Jerrys alley but he said I may like it- will report back later.) as a matter of fact I think I’ll give the set away - and beg Sharon for another set?!?!? SHaron you out there?!? send a girl an email!
Her co editior Tricia is an amazing spirit, shes the kind of person I wish I got to hang out with. and I am honored that they have trusted me with this task. Even as I am workin the kinks out -
you guys your input has been invaluable. Thank you so much for all your effort and patience!
November 18, 2008 – 9:33 am
I am back.. from outer space!
Well It feels like I been fighting through the space time continum, and I am moving, to my clients waiting on CD’s I expect to get all photoshopped images this week and CD’s delivered to their proper homes by Friday. I have updated and launched the betas of my sites the wedding site here and the portraiture site here so I am kinda excited about that. And I have finished alot of my online info (some of it now avalible under the menus above) and ironed out alot of my processes, so a big hearty thank you to those who have corrected my misqueues as I get the hang of all this. Today I am posting the start of my catch up so your readers are gonna get a little OD of Raquita this week.
I’m gonna go way back. To my first little darling Molly. Such a sweet little angel, she was first seen on my blog here - that perfect belly gave us this perfect little lady. She holds a special spot in my heart cause shes my first - not in anyway related to me - newborn. I’ve gotten to see her a few times since these pictures were taken and shes just such a ball of wonder.
New babies are just a collage of sweetness and every good and wonderful thing in the world. My favorite part of newborn sessions is always when I get to shoot the details, like toes!! NOM NOM NOM.
SO perfectly cute. Gotta love dady hands. Also! This is as good a post as any to annouce my referral program is gonna go into effect starting Dec 1st. For each wedding that is referred to me you will receive a $115 dollar session credit. For each portrait session a $40 session credit is earned. So for those of you waiting til I got this launched ( I got that email :P) You can go ahead and get those referrals in. I am taking a few - very few last minute Christmas Card sessions as well. I got some great cards this year , I’ll be posting the ones I have finished soon!
The thing I love about family portraits is the way families tend to frame each other. Photography is like life for me, and life is like dancing. In dancing, the man is in most cases a frame to showcase the beauty of his partner. In turn the womans beauty showcases the strength and intricateness of the frame. It is that combination of strength and sesitivity that most men cannot help but portray. Dancing, and I’m talking ballroom and the like, requires complete trust in the partners, especially from the woman, and men always seem to take that trust so seriously. Which I bet while flying thru the air their partners are thankful for.
In photography, for mr at least when a woman says to her partner I want to take a photo with you, she is telling him in so many words, I trust you. I want to show off what we are to me, and she does when she is comfortable and secure in that moment. For him he wants to portray that trust. For him he wants to be solid, wants to portray the stability that he offers and that she gives him. He wants to stand and allow his pride and affection to be seen, and the childeren become the decoration, like the perfect gown or the exact right music. And then we can begin the dance.
WIth this family, it was very easy, to begin the dance. I often got caught up in just watching them together. Dad was the perfect frame, Mom with her easy beauty and son the perfect decoration. That day we met at the Boat House At Forest Park, we talked about light sabers and Yoda, their son and my girls, and marriage and life in general. We got rained on, and I think the best images came after the storm cleared. Which I think is a testiment to life and dancing, and hopefully photography.
The thing I love most about this family is easily, the mom. She is the kind of person you root for. She moved into my neighborhood temporarily, only staying for a year. My kid, and every other kid int eh neighborhood it seems figured out what we adults were a bit slower to see. This lady was six kinds of awesome with fanny-tastic sauce on top. We had met, in that my “kid keeps disapearing and is at your house so I think I should know who you are..” kinda way, we spoke often when we would see each other outside, we were both our natural bubbly selves and I remember thinking I should go over there and hang out she seems cool, a number of times. But it wasn’t til just before she left that I got to find out how cool she was. So when she asked if I was free for a session, I immediately moved things around to make that happen.
The boys were boys, one so engrossed in his book that I don’t think he put it down to climb into the sky, the other young and quick, and the daughter the kind of girl who makes me think of pixies and fairies, sweet and slightly mischevious. It was an honor to occupy some of this lifetime with them, and I hope to do it again.
I’ll be back tomorrow with a new post I’ve been trying to get all the sessions I have taken up and avaible to clients. I am making progress people! Thanks for all the emails of support and the referrals, it means more than you guys would ever know.
