Cherry Blossoms

It's almost that time of year that the beautiful Cherry Blossom trees will be blooming. I am going to be scheduling a bunch of photo shoots underneath those beautiful trees both in the NYC and in Brooklyn. Let me know if you want to sign up!

How to Take Compelling Photographs of your Children

Check out this link on webbybites to learn about how to take compelling photos of your children.


Here is a brief summary...

In this video, photographer Karen Haberberg, discuses and give numerous examples of ways to take interesting and memorable photographs of your children. She teaches you ways to organize various elements within the frame, create effective designs, and convey messages and emotions through the images you shoot. Join Karen in the segment to learn ways to take better, more compelling photographs of your children.

Julie and Ed's Wedding

Julie is a friend from high school and her younger sister and I go way back as well. Her older sister and my brother were friends in high school too. Despite the fact that I hadn't spoken to her in many years, I was incredibly excited to be asked to photograph her wedding.

When I arrived it was like walking into a room with my own family in some way. Her family is warm, inviting, non-judgemental and loving. What's amazing is that her parents are remarried with children, and yet they all mesh so beautifully and happily.

Her husband is so lovely and would you believe that his brother is dating Julie's sister now?! It was a very special wedding.

Update

Sorry it's been so long since I have been able to blog. I was away in Costa Rica, then was shooting like crazy, and then had surgery. These are not excuses but did slow me down a bit. But I am BACK!

Costa Rica was beautiful. Not my kind of trip photographically because I prefer shooting people, not animals and landscapes but I will post a few regardless.





So one of the coolest parts of Costa Rica was visiting my husband's friend from college, Stephen Brooks. So, we left our friends who we were travelling with and flew to San Jose. We were instructed to rent a four wheel drive car because the road could get a little hairy. The drive that should have taken 45 minutes according to Stephen, took an hour and 15 minutes. We arrived at his "street", which was not a street at all. It was a rocky dirt path of terror. We drove up through three small rivers and over some boulders (with my two year old in the back seat crying that her tushy hurt from the bumps). I looked at my husband and said, "this is crazy," and he agreed.

We finally arrived at what Stephen called "a gate" and what we would refer to as a barbed wire fence. We moved the wire aside and drove in to see if we could find his house. There were no houses which you can see from the photos. We found Stephen, who is the sweetest and most enthusiastic person I have met in a long time, and he gave us a tour of the land. He recently bought 75 acres of land to build properties that are solar powered and strictly adhere to living off the land amongst a community of people. Stephen eats mostly what grows on the land; we had many excellent mandarins. He built a kitchen (no fridge of course), and an outhouse. They use their poop for compost. They have running water for showers and they have no need for much money, yet he is quite entrepenurial. He has several businesses, one being Kopali, which helps local farmers bring fruits and other products directly to the market. You can buy them at Fairway, Whole Foods, etc. I LOVE the pineapple flavor as does my two year old.



After we had a snack, we headed for a short walk to the river so we could take a swim. Stephen's version of a short walk is a three mile hike through slippery areas infested with mosquitoes. I must say though, it was absolutely beautiful and the sounds that you hear are special. Just what you would imagine from a rainforest... toucans, monkeys, butterflies, all living together creating this harmonious world. I would have really loved it if I had sneakers and bug spray and my two year old didn't have to be carried the entire time. We finally get to the creek and Stephen and my husband strip out of their clothes and jump right in.

I love the guy. He is the real thing. If he had two mandarins left and their was nothing else to eat, he would surely give you one. You can check him out on the new show he is hosting on ABC Live Well called Save My Planet.

Photo of the Week

Photos of the Week

Family Portraits