A Higher Calling…

November 11, 2010November 11, 2010
by Victoria J

So often, when we hear that someone has a “calling” on their lives, we assume that they are called into full-time ministry in the church… and honestly, that is the nature of the photos I wanted to share today, but, that is not the only type of calling a person can have. For me, I’ve heard the beckons of my camera for many years now, and I answered it. And I did not start out as a “professional photographer” who relied on the earnings from this “ministry” as my sole income – no. As a matter of fact, it has been a process, but it is one that I’m glad I took. How many of us have these inklings, these proclivities, these leanings, these passions, and these talents that lay dormant in us? How many of us have heard people tell us that we are really really good at something, but we get scared to move forward with it? Again, I am not implying that you should quit your job, I only want to encourage you to not let your talents pass you by.

Recently, I had a headshot portrait session with a youth pastor in Pennsylvania. The session was great, well-run, and I felt the images really captured his personality and his calling… But what really stood out when I was touching up the images was how his entire “look” came together. He had the ascots, the ties, ultimate color coordination, Luis sunshades, jackets, vests, and then some – and he only did 3 outfit changes. But the reason that so much attention and detail went into the stylistic elements was because someone else was walking in their calling. On the set, the Pastor had his Style Consultant putting his outfits together and just making sure that he was wearing all of the accessories the right way. His Consultant was willing to take risks with some of the outfits, and pair things that you might not automatically pair together, but it all worked, well. So when you see the final product, know that it wasn’t only my ability to capture this Pastor – not at all. What you see is all 3 of us – the Pastor, the Style Consultant, and myself – walking in our callings! My question to you is what is your calling, and are you walking in it?

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

Call Him “Mr. O”

October 27, 2010October 27, 2010
by Victoria J

The other day at the School Reform Town Hall Meeting at Bus Boys and Poets, one of the panelist shared a statistic that is still shocking every time that I hear it: of all US teachers, only 1.9% are black males. This measure does not show that black males have no desire to teach because if you take a closer look at the data, you will see that the #1 profession for black males with a bachelor’s degree is Primary Teacher, #3 Secondary Teacher, #9 Administrator, and the #10 profession is Counselor. The issue really was found in looking at the number of black males that actually earn a college degree, which is 15% (a bachelor’s degree is typically a requirement for teacher certification).

I share these numbers not to paint a negative image, but rather to motivate and encourage others towards college and possibly the teaching profession. Contrary to popular belief, teaching can be a lucrative career, but even more than that, it provides people with an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of our future leaders! As I complete my graduate degree in education, I have the pleasure of learning and teaching alongside a few distinguished gentleman. Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph one of these men in a portrait session at a local elementary school. Below are images of “Mr. O,” and by the way, if you see something that you like, feel free to post a comment!

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!

The Whole Family

Daddy and Me

Mommy and Me

That Game We Play

Look How High I can Jump!

Mommy and Daddy Showing Me Love!

Stuck in the Middle!

Relax, Relate, Release!

October 14, 2010October 17, 2010
by Victoria J

If you’ve been around for a while now, you may be familiar with the Different World episode where the psychiatrist told Whitley to “Relax, relate, and release!” as it concerned her ex-boyfriend, who had moved on to someone else. A year later, there was an episode on Family Matters where Carl picked up a pamphlet for lowering his blood pressure, which contained the following chant: “3-2-1… 1-2-3… what the heck is bothering me.” Though I don’t feel that either of these strategies effectively helped their intendeds bring their emotions under control, I do feel that there is value in being able to get rid of stress (I am still trying to perfect this in my own life). Some people use vacations, others can make due with a nice quiet bath, and others meditate or participate in yoga. Whatever you choose, please, don’t sweat the small stuff, and steer as clear from stress as possible (believe me, this will add years to your life)!

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph a woman during and after her yoga class in Washington, DC (select images below). I was excited to see many of the poses as this was the first yoga I’d ever witnessed, yet many of the poses reminded of things I’d seen in church. I hope you all enjoy, and if you see something you like, PLEASE don’t hesitate to leave your feedback! Thanks!

I Like Having You Around…

September 20, 2010November 20, 2010
by Victoria J

I recently had the opportunity to photograph a family in a portrait session, and it is always exciting to see how the dynamics vary from family to family. With this particular family, the little boy was at that age where he really liked hanging out with dad; he wanted to go wherever dad went. The whole session just reminded more and more of the importance of family and having a combination of the male and female perspectives in parenting. I share some of the images from this session because I don’t feel that we see enough of these kinds of images!

By the way, if you like what you see, please feel free to leave a comment!

Fun and Free…

September 20, 2010
by Victoria J

Now I am not referring to the price of this headshot session at all, rather, I am referencing the general flavor of the session. I had the opportunity a while back to photograph a woman in a headshot portrait session in Maryland. Her main goal from the session was to have nice images to post on social networking/media sites, so this drove the kinds of poses that we used.

Check out select images from this session below, and if you see something you like, PLEASE leave a comment!