It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

December 15, 2010December 15, 2010
by Victoria J

On the day after Thanksgiving, we gathered at one of my Aunt’s house for a Sister Portrait Session. When my Aunts and my Mom get together, it is always an interesting and exciting time. I often times get invited to tag along, but on this occasion, I was contracted to do a portrait session! Now, we had been together for the past 3 days as one day we celebrated a birthday, then we celebrated Thanksgiving, now we were doing the portrait session, and that evening we were having a game night, but in spite of all of this QT (quality time), everyone still had love for each other. And when these ladies get together, you cannot control or stop the laughter! But that’s what makes them so beautiful on the outside as well as the inside! They don’t take themselves too seriously, they won’t hold onto unforgiveness for too long, they will celebrate with you, and at times they will laugh at themselves!

I never had a real sister, but this holiday season, I felt like I was a Sister-In-Training. Below are images from our recent Sister Portrait Session in the DC area. By the way, if you see something you like, please feel free to leave a comment!

And because I was working with family, I got to get in one of the shots. Thankfully the timer worked well!

A Special Bond

December 6, 2010December 6, 2010
by Victoria J

No matter what kind of portrait session I find myself at, I am always amazed by the dynamics between family members, couples, or friends. Honestly, unless I’ve seen the individuals interact previously, I don’t know what I will get, but I am more than ready to work with it! In a recent family portrait session, I was excited to see the firm bonds between the children and their parents. As a matter of fact, these elementary-aged children enjoyed being photographed with their parents (and readily did the activities that I proposed). As I processed through the photographs last night, I reflected on why this was so significant. Now, I do not have any children of my own, but the more and more I “live” I see the sacrifices that parents make for their children. I see the price that working adults pay as they get up in the morning to go to jobs that may not be as exciting just to be able to provide a better life for their legacy. Then occasionally, I run across one of those ungrateful children that feels entitled to the fruits of their parents’ labor. Or worst yet, I remember my own days in middle school and high school when I had the nerve to think I dressed better than my parents, the same people that purchased the very clothes I wore. I had the nerve to be embarrassed to be seen in the school hallways or the mall with my parents, even though I expected them to cover the bill of our shopping exploits. I say all of this to share the beauty of the exchanges between mother and son and father and daughter. They were truly precious moments, moments that I hope last, moments that I hope can be reflected upon with a smile! I don’t imagine that too many children read this blog (because I can get a little lengthy), but to the parents, I say, remember that no matter what your children do, they really do still love you! When they get to those teenage years, remember that it is just a phase, and soon enough, they will be on their own working and will start to value the sacrifices you made for them!

Below are images from a recent family portrait session in Glen Burnie, MD. By the way, if you see something you like, please do not hesitate to leave a comment below!

Passionately Purple!

November 29, 2010November 29, 2010
by Victoria J

I recently had the pleasure of photographing a portrait session with a mother and her daughter. Interestingly enough when I was looking through the proofs, I surprised myself as only about 16% of the images were in black and white. Now when I do portrait sessions, unless requested otherwise by my clients, I will tend to make a larger percentage (maybe 30-40%) of the images to be in black and white because that makes the images look like instant vintage (classics)! Perhaps this stems from my first photography class in college when all we shot in was black and white, but truth be told, I had an affinity for black and white even before that. I remember one day back when I was in high school or my freshman year of college, I contacted my best friend and told her that I wanted to do a photo shoot of her in black and white. It was perfect because I planned on doing some deep finger waves in her hair and making her look like she was in the 1920’s. Well, if you would believe, my friend went and got her hair done in twists with a ponytail. She looked nice, but it wasn’t what I wanted for my photo shoot.

Alright, I digressed… With this recent portrait session, it was not long before I realized why I left so many of the images in color: they were wearing my favorite color! So yes, as a photographer, I do have a little color bias – I admitted it! But in all honesty, the shades of purple they wore were so vibrant, and they especially popped against the complimentary golden color of the fall leaves in the background!

Below I have included images from a recent family portrait session at Valley Garden Park in Greenville, DE. By the way if you’re ever in the Wilmington, DE area, you should definitely check out this park; there are so many photo-ops!

DISCLAIMER: If you see something you like, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment!

Baby Love

November 22, 2010November 22, 2010
by Victoria J

For those of you who have been with me since the beginning of this blog, you will remember this beautiful Virginia couple that I photographed during a maternity session back in February (I think that was blog post #2, “She’s Having a Baby”). Well, six months ago, little Mark Jr. graced the world with his presence, and a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of capturing him and his parents in a family portrait session. The highlight of the afternoon for me was the moment that I knew which image was going to be my favorite image from the entire session! This happened when I was getting a photograph of Dad and baby on the ground, and I was trying to capture their natural interaction. Well just like in the portrait session in February, Dad knew exactly what to do to get a smile, laugh, and priceless expression from one of the loves of his life! The end result was as my Granddad would say, “Beautiful!”

Check out images below from this Virginia Family Portrait Session. Side Note: If you see something you like, PLEASE don’t hesitate to leave a comment!

Let the Boys Do What Boys Do…

November 20, 2010
by Victoria J

When photographing people, I often times get to direct the session. I tell this person to tilt their head to the right, and then tell that person to put her hand on his shoulder. Well, I am normally the one calling the shots, but when there are children… When there are children, there is no formula. You may try something and it just doesn’t work. Or you may encounter a child with their own agenda… Whatever situation you have, you just have to be flexible, and let the kids be kids! In order to let the children be themselves, I will often incorporate the things they like into the set. For example, we used a toy guitar with one boy today, and in another session, we used candy. I often like to let children run and jump and take a couple of pictures with their silliest faces. I will work with them in exchange for their cooperation with me!

Interestingly enough I have to employ some of these same approaches when I am in the classroom. I found something that a child identifies with, and then I use that thing to help them grasp a concept or do what I need them to do. Just this past week, I was observing in a Pre-K class where a little boy was not eating a Lunchable that his mother packed. I had already observed that he had some fascination with Spiderman because Spiderman was on his backpack, his lunch bag, and his jacket. So I started speaking with the little boy, and I let him know that in order for Spiderman to be able to jump from building to building, he has to eat his food so that he could get strong. Thankfully this approach worked for the 3-year old, and I later used the same Spiderman appeal to help him stop crying after he got the “books” sticker when he wanted the “basketball” sticker.

Back to Photography :: Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph a mother and her son in Maryland, and let me tell you, her son was full of all the zeal and energy that little boys have! My favorite shot from the session was when we used the candy that he was eating in the photos. I had he and his mother throw the candy up in the air and then try to catch it. Again, I did not use a formula! I just let the boy do what boys do! … and that’s play! See select photographs below.

By the way, if you see something you like, PLEASE leave a comment below!

For the Love of Family!

October 24, 2010November 20, 2010
by Victoria J

If I could make the world a better place to live, one of the first areas I would start with is the family! That is one of the first societal institutions that we encounter on this earth, and that unit can greatly contribute to our quality of life and in some cases, our plight in life. If I could, I would ensure that every child came from a loving father and mother that encouraged and disciplined them, but ultimately wanted them to be the very best that they could be! I would ensure that each child had at least 3 cousins that just loved them for who they are and spent time with them with no strings attached! I would make sure that each child had enough aunts and uncles to share in their upbringing, help them reach their goals, and offer real heart-felt hugs that let the children know without a shadow of a doubt that they are loved. I would ensure that everyone had at least 1 sibling so that they can always have a travel buddy and exploration partner and someone to help them learn early on the value of sharing! I would ensure that every child had the opportunity to engage with at least one set of grandparents so that they could know what great homecooking looks, smells, and tastes like, and so they could have a few moments in life where they get spoiled beyond measure (we all need just a few of those moments)!

Throughout the course of my life, I’ve been blessed with family – and some friends so close that they became family. And it was in the structure of my family (immediate and extended) that I had the opportunity to excel, succeed, thrive, explore, love, do right AND wrong, grow and mature, forgive, and so much more! Often times, people think that if you feed the hungry, you’ll make the world better. Well, I feel that if you connect people with loving family, the family members will look out for their own. They will show a member in lack how to fish and where fish are most plentiful.

Anyway, if I could, I would… but for now, I will just shares images from a recent family portrait session, where I saw the kind of “FAMILY” that I’ve been discussing. Often times, people tell me of how blessed they are by my gifts and the way that I capture their moments in time, but so often, they have no idea how the opportunity to capture statistic-defying images blesses me! I hope you all enjoy… and if you see something you like, PLEASE (I’m trying not to beg) leave a comment!

AND THEN WE HAD A LITTLE FUN!!!!

I Love the Kids!

October 17, 2010November 20, 2010
by Victoria J

After you’ve photographed enough family portrait and headshot sessions, you pretty much know what will work, and you can almost go on autopilot during a photo session… unless you have a child on the set! Children add such an element of surprise as you don’t know what mood they will be in or how long they will be willing to work with you. On this note, you also don’t know if they will be able to get into the poses that you want them to or if they will start creating their own poses instead of doing the ones that you have suggested. Even more related, you don’t know if they will have so much fun doing the things you asked them to do to the extent that they want to continue to do the same thing for the rest of the session. No matter what happens, it’s always a new experience and the kids keep my job interesting and exciting!

I recently had the pleasure of photographing a family in Washington, DC at the beautiful Meridian Hill Park, and what a joy this session was! The daughter was so precious and such a pleasure to work with that I asked her mother if the little girl could regularly come with to portrait sessions as my designated “Poser.” I have included images from this session below, and if you see something you like, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT BELOW!