Birthday Celebration with Friends AND Their EGO’s

The first birthday party I remember was at the age of 4 when Mom and Dad got me a Rainbow-Brite cake, and invited a few of my friends, but a whole bunch of theirs.  I am not knocking their choice – I was 4, and I really did not feel like I got the short end of the stick.  By the age of 13, I had scored big!  That year, Mom and Dad had my birthday party at Pear Apple County Fair, which later became the building for my old church back in TX.  But I remember that birthday party because all of my closest friends were there with their siblings, and the food was great… and even though I look back at pictures and wonder how did mom let me out of that house like that, back then, I think I was looking good for myself.   For another pre-teen birthday, I got to take several of my closest friends ice-skating, and I can’t remember if The Preacher’s Wife had come out yet, but I did feel like Whitney when recall how many times I fell on the ice.  What was even more memorable that birthday was when we listened to “Not Gon’ Cry” by Mary J. Blige off of the Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack, and we sang it like we’d sacrificed 11 years out of our lives for a man.  But that still wasn’t the best part… the best part was when Mary J. was about to curse, and all of us stopped singing because we KNEW we were not going to get away with that, especially not while my Mom was driving!

Well, birthdays have come a long ways since then, from the Sweet Sixteens on MTV where parents are dropping “Meet Me at the Alter with Your White Dress” money on to Alter Ego Birthday Parties! I recently had the pleasure of photographing a group of friends in an Alter Ego Session as they celebrated a milestone birthday.  Some of the ego themes we came up with on the spot, but they all came out nicely and provided a nice contrast of their personalities.  The highlight for me was laying out the keepsake Photobook that they ordered with all of their poses and merges.  See the pages below!

Cover

Star

Free Spirit

Special Delivery

Business Woman

The Diva

Back Cover

I Think She Just Might be “The One” :: Atlanta Engagement Portraits

I was recently blessed with an opportunity to do an engagement portrait session in Atlanta, GA (my old stomping grounds) at the beautiful Piedmont Park in Midtown.  The last time I was at this park was a while back when I was shooting for leisure at a jazz festival.  With the years in between, I think I may have forgotten just how beautiful this park is, but I just had to walk around for only 30 seconds to begin to see how many picture-perfect scenes there were for a photo shoot.  As far as parks go, I don’t think I’ve seen a better park for portraits – but y’all I’m still young and I haven’t been everywhere!  Needless to say, there were so many other shots that I wanted to take, but time and daylight escaped us.  Below are a few images from this recent engagement session.

One more side bar note:  The only thing more beautiful than the park that warm summer day was the couple and the love they had for each other!

The Ring

Down the Street\

Up Close and Personal

By the Water

Looking out together

I got your back

That Sunday, That Summer

I guess I’ve always been a “hopeless romantic” as the phrase goes.  Perhaps it stems from the 15+ Barbies I used to have with the 3-story Barbie house with elevator, or it may have come from the countless times I’ve watched Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, or maybe it was just ingrained in my DNA that I would love those romantic exchanges… Regardless of the origins, I simply love to capture weddings and engagement sessions.  They never grow old to me or lose their excitement!  And just as no two flowers are identical, no two couples express their love in the same way or have their wedding go the exact same way.  I recently was blessed with the opportunity to photograph a Delaware couple in New Jersey as they made their union official.

Some say love is blind, others say it’s color blind, and really, I am not sure which is true, but I do know that I (and all of the other wedding guests) saw love emanating so powerfully through this couple as they exchanged their vows.  You can see select images below from this wedding and you can also view the slideshow here.

The Rings

The Shoes

The Candy

The Hummer

The Candles

The Communion

The Parents

The Fellas

The Ladies

The Chase

The Couple

The Kiss

The Whisper

The Kids

The Chair Dance

The Dollar Dance

The Hands


To View Slideshow, click on the PLAY button below, or click here


View Slideshow here

I don’t need a Valentine’s Day to tell you how much I love you!

Over the years, I have been so blessed by the presence of family in my life.  You see, members of my family were the first to believe in me, the first to give me a chance with this camera, and the first to purchase me a great camera.  They were the folks that kept posing for me when they were ready for me to be done like an hour and a half ago.  My family has supported my business and ALL of my pursuits through the years, so I cherish and value family.

I recently had a family portrait session with a wonderful family, and I was so blessed by this opportunity to capture their moments because you could not help but to see their genuine love for one another!  In a time when the media feeds us so many broken and unloving families – especially families of color – it is good to see images of those solid families that are there for each other, and ready to smile and encourage each other!  From the brothers to the sisters to the husbands and wives, this family was not shy with their love and affection for one another.  All that I could say was the phrase I remember my granddad using all the time in his latter years, “Beautiful!”

See images from this recent family portrait session below.

The Whole Family

The Family on the Rock

Mom and Dad with the Girls

Hubby and Wife

I wanna run to you

Just the Girls

Just the Boys

Another Family Photo

A Mommy’s Love

When it comes to photography, I think my first love was the portrait.  Whether I was capturing an individual or a family or friends, it was all just as thrilling.  Sometimes I would pose people, and then other times, I’d just let the natural moments flow and captured them.  It was in the free-flowing moments that the true personalities of my subjects were captured.  Well, I recently had the opportunity to photograph a mother and her son in Delaware – what a joy!  As the son was still under a year old, I really was able to just capture the moments that happened, especially since he couldn’t really understand my direction 😉  Needless to say, the session went well, and I believe that I captured the essence of Mommy and Baby, but don’t take my word for it!  Check out select pictures from this session below!

I can stay up here...

Mama, Look at Me

Blowing Bubbles

Love from the Pier

Mama's Kiss

Mama

The Moments in Between the Pose

As a photographer, I am often commissioned to photograph people in poses, and with some pre-planning and on-the-set adjustments, these can yield some very timeless photographs.  However, I find that some of the most authentic and memorable images happen when you catch those moments in-between the pose.  I recently went out on Saturday with my brother and a friend in DC, and I endeavored to capture the moments in between the pose and the moments that just happened, unscripted.

A Little fatiguedI believe he claimed to be tired as I was taking this image, but honestly, these are the types of images that I am used to capturing whenever bring out my camera… I think it’s a “don’t you have enough pictures of me” kind of thing.

Janora is ready to tell me somethingShe was telling a good story here, and I just love how much she lights up in the process!

Cracking Up!Now beyond the looks of avoidance, my brother will laugh so heartily in photographs – and the laughs are genuine.  I can’t remember who said what at this time, but he was going!

Janor pointingAt some point, she was telling a story of this salsa dancer.

Darren engaged in the story He was reminiscing with her of the salsa dancer’s wild dance moves.

Janora laughing in the cameraNow this was more of a pose amidst the beautiful residential streets.

She's looking for somethingNow most ladies can attest to this one… You have that huge handbag that can fit everything you need for an entire day, but when you go to look for something small, it’s truly a task.

Both are looking for something in that purseSadly, I am not sure if she ever found what she was looking for at that moment…

A legitimate attempt at a poseNow, I was trying to get a pose around this time, but some dogs were on the other side fighting and they had more of my subjects’ attention than I did.

Almost... doesn't countShe still has her eyes on those dogs… but I love her facial expression!

Camera FolksJust as I brought out my camera, so too did they…

Beautiful FlowersAnd this was what had both of their attention!

And now that I’ve shown all of the moments in between the pose, I figured I’d show one of the poses because they truly are a beautiful couple…

(drum roll please…)

A Beautiful Couple

“Don’t Come Near Me with that NEEDLE”

When I was in school, birthday celebrations were on great if they included a nice restaurant… Nowadays, people are bringing in their new years with split personalities, I mean Alter Ego sessions.  With these kind of parties, a photographer, like myself, will be hired to photograph at least two different poses with a particular theme or story line.  The photographer will then merge the photographs into a seamless image and have them ready for the “Reveal Party” about 3 weeks later.  Here are some recent images from my latest session…

“Don’t Come Near Me with that NEEDLE!”

Don't come near me with that needle!

“I can think of a lot of OTHER things I’d rather do than go to school!”

I don't wanna go to school

“Now Lil’ Miss Hot-To-Trot know that skirt ain’t long enough to go to school in!”

Church lady and School Girl