Celebrating Love… and Marriage!!!

December 3, 2011December 3, 2011
by Victoria J

As I try to make sense out of recent events and changes of events, I suspect that there may be an attack on marriage… However, when I look around, I see husbands and wives working together to raise children, support each other, weather the storms of live, share love and life, and more!!!! I Celebrate LOVE and MARRIAGE!!!!

Disclaimer: There are many many more beautiful couples that I was not able to include because I did not have a clear couple shot on my photo drives. Charge it my resources and not my heart!!! I celebrate y’all too!!!!!

I see why she calls her “Mini-Me”

November 26, 2011
by Victoria J

A couple of weeks ago, I photographed a friend from Delaware, and I have been so blessed to be able to capture her daughter’s growth through the lens of my camera. See the throwbacks below.

In this last session, instead of doing an outdoor shoot, we decided to photograph inside, and during this session, I really saw why her mama calls her “Mini-Me!” Not only do they bear similar features, but she takes after her mother in mannerisms and style! See select images below.

Happy Anniversary!

July 5, 2011
by Victoria J

Today, my parents celebrate 31 years of marriage! Wow!!! I am sure it’s been no cake walk, but they have been and still are committed to loving each other in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death do them part!

Thank you Mom and Dad and CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

I took this photo in Mississippi in 2009, and I feel it still captures the essence of the love they have for each other!!!

Surprisin’ & Seein’ the Fam in Mississippi!

June 22, 2011June 22, 2011
by Victoria J

Last week, my family threw a surprise party for my Dad. It was a real surprise party because his birthday was four months ago… and because he was under the impression that he was planning a get-together for one side of his family. Well, I was delightfully surprised to see that we managed to keep it a surprise up until mom yelled “SURPRISE!” This was largely because he was making a lot of calls to family and running into people that were not doing the best job at keeping the surprise, but thankfully he did not notice all of the comments that were made. But better than seeing his surprised face was the opportunity to see family that I had not seen in years. For many of my family members, I had not seen them since the homegoings of other family members, so it was good to see them for a celebration of LIFE! Needless to say, I ran my mouth more than I clicked away with my camera, but I was still able to capture the highlights of this event, which I have included below.

We not only had family, but we also had friends of the family, who seem more like members of the family than friends! One of which was a very dear friend of mine, who is also my travel budding/road dog! She has gone with me on all of my international trips and she has been present for so many noteworthy events in my life… Anyway, at the event, I took inspiration from a photo I took in Paris in 2008 of her, and I have included this throwback/inspired photograph in the collection below.

Another great moment for me was an exchange with one of my uncles. For as far back as I can remember, I recall that my uncle Stan and my dad had the same Canon SLR camera. Uncle Stan always took so much longer than Dad to capture any moment, but his pictures (as well as Dad’s) were always priceless! So when I saw him at the event, he told me that halfway down from WI, he realized that he left his camera. Well, thank God for preparation! I was able to let him use my backup camera, which I was appreciative of afterwards when I realized that there were some people that I talked to, but did not photograph – Thanks Uncle Stan! Among other shots, one of the things we did was capture each other capturing each other… and those were among my favorite shots!

Y’all, it was just sooo good to be around family, despite the heat and the loooooonnnnggg road trip! I wouldn’t have traded these moments for anything!

Enjoy the photos below, and if you see something you like, don’t hesitate to leave a comment!!!

He was officially surprised!

Family & Friends

You don’t see cuteness like this everyday!!!
TCW Throwback

Through the Eyes of a Child

March 14, 2011March 14, 2011
by Victoria J

Back in 2007, I photographed one of my first weddings for a San Antonio couple. What a joy it was, as well as a learning experience! Welll, at the start of this year, I had the opportunity to photograph this family at one of San Antonio’s scenic parks, Brakenridge Park in the downtown area. Since their wedding, this couple has welcomed two new people into the world.

In this post, which was previously “sneak peaked,” I have included images from this recent portrait session, and you will notice a focus on the children. I could attribute the emphasis of this post to the fact that I love children or to the fact that our children are our future… I could even attribute the nature of this post to the fact that these children are soooo absolutely cute! But today I am focusing on the children because I remember reading somewhere that you will and can judge a tree by its fruit.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to spend some time with this family, and words cannot express the joy that filled my heart in being around them. Their genuine love for each other is not something that I always see in our culture, especially not among younger families. But in this family, I saw love, support, honor, obedience (which probably goes hand in hand with honor), care, well-wishes, modesty, wise choices, and maturity. The children were mindful of the rules and the instructions given by their parents. They did not talk back to their parents, nor did they roll their eyes. They did not try to cause harm to each other or anyone else. The children were very appreciative of gifts without a sense of entitlement. They liked to play, as well as learn and read. The truth be told, watching these children made me look forward to having a family of my own one day.

Anyway, I share all of this not to subliminally reference “bad” kids that I have encountered along this journey. Not at all! I shared this to say that you will know a tree by its fruit, and this couple has been very purposeful in the rearing of their children and the establishing of rules in their home, and it shows! It shows when you engage these children in conversation or play. It shows when you see their manners. It shows when they ask to eat bell peppers instead of candy as a snack. It shows when you watch them interact with their parents. For me, it shows when I am directing the portrait sessions.

With this post, I wanted to honor these parents because they truly are doing what they have been called to do! Raise up a child in the way that he should go, and when his old, he shall not depart from it…

Below are some throw back pictures of this couple back in 2007 when I photographed their wedding…

And now, for where they are now!

Revisiting Sea World of Texas!

February 5, 2011February 6, 2011
by Victoria J

My first real job was at Sea World of Texas, where a 16-year-old can not only be a manager, but also sign a waiver to not get paid time and a half for hours worked in excess of 40 per week (in the height of the summer, I remember working 50 hour weeks regularly). Back then, we did not even realize that we were missing out on anything. I can remember, being excited about the $300+ checks I brought home each week, and by having teenage labor, Sea World knew how to make a little extra money by charging the employees a check cashing fee, so that we could instantly turn our checks into cash. Even with my deeply-rooted frugality, I will admit that many a Thursday/Friday afternoon, I cashed my checks at the little van in front of the employee entrance.

The point of this blog is not to talk about the exploitation of young workers, but rather to share images from a recent visit to Sea World of Texas. As a matter of fact, I had not been there since I stopped working at the park in 2000. In this over 10-year time span, the park underwent several changes, but many things did stay the same. The biggest changes I noticed were the hand sanitizer dispensers visible throughout the park, the electronic ticket scanners, and the fact that they changed my old restaurant from the Oaks to Seafire Grille. I remember back in the day, the Oaks was the restaurant that was always open, no matter what life-threatening storm was going on – we were still opened and serving customers. Literally, one day, there was a serious storm, well-equipped with long streaks of lightning, earth-shaking thunder, flickering lights, and more, and our restaurant stayed open until the park closed while all of the other restaurants got to close early. Still, I enjoyed my time at Sea World because there I learned how to work efficiently, quickly, and hard! These values have carried into many other arenas, including school and my own business.

Below are images from a trip to Texas around Christmas time. By the way, I included a throw-back photograph of me when in my “flattering” uniform after a hard day’s work. If memory serves me correctly, this photograph was taken by my uncle.

Reunited, and It Feels So Good…

August 16, 2010
by Victoria J

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of photographing a mother and her daughter at Brandywine Park in Wilmington, DE. So a few weeks ago, this same woman’s mother wanted to schedule a portrait session with the three generations, and we decided to use the same venue. So my mission became clear: use this background, but use it in such a way so that it does not look like the same photo session from 2 years ago. Well the season difference definitely worked in my favor (the first session was in the fall, this session was in the summer). So in the end, we worked in different areas of this very large park, but, to be a little nostalgic, we used a couple of the same scenes from the first session. I have truly been blessed with some great, and photogenic clients; they make my job easy!

I have included the new images as well as a couple of throw back images from this family portrait session.