things im thankful for
November 30th, 2009
What a whirlwind of a weekend. We spent most of it cooking, cleaning and spending time with each family, friends and each other. It was very nice but this morning I was actually looking forward to dropping Conner off at school. That Staples commercial came to mind. You know, the one they play at the end of the summer where the father is dancing around the store throwing school supplies into the basket while “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” plays in the background. Anyways, Ty is sleeping and it’s the quietest it’s been since before the holiday began. I can’t believe that now we have to prepare for Christmas. One more weekend of shooting and a few more weeks of holiday madness before a much needed break come January. I have a long list of personal things I need to do.
To top off the Thanksgiving weekend, here are a few things I’m thankful for this year. Things I’ve thought about over the crazy weekend and even though I’m probably one the biggest pessimists in the world, these are a few of things that keep me from thinking the sky is falling. I’m thankful for:
Two healthy gorgeous boys who make all the bad things in the world disappear.
A warm house.
Tyler’s smile that melts my heart over and over.
Witnessing Conner’s personality develop more and more every day.
At the end of the day, picking up what seems like 100 plastic dinosaurs.
New flannel sheets.
Hanging Christmas lights in our backyard.
Double ovens, 2 Refridgerators and new (finally!) dining room furniture all of which made our Thanksgiving dinner possible.
Memories of my grandmother in Colorado.
Vintage photos I recently received of my mother.
The fact that I have been able to make a living from something I love almost more than life itself.
My husband who can always make me laugh, no matter what is going on and is more positive than I will ever be.
My father’s encouragement.
Tomorrow.
What are you thankful for?
A photo of our Thanksgiving table taken my Lauren, my brother-in-laws girlfriend.
CC, Central Park, NY
November 24th, 2009
Since most likely tomorrow I will be buried in the kitchen, I will wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving today and leave you with the adorable CC. I’ve been photographing CC since she turned one, when I shot her birthday. Since, we meet once a year for her holiday card photo shoot. I love our shoots because it’s usually just the two of us. Of course mom tags along, who is very cool, and occasionally their dog Ginger joins us but this year it was just CC. I got to do a little study of her. She is full of spunk and doesn’t sit for more than a minute. We ran around the park and every once in awhile she would stop to strike a pose and then continued on. We giggled alot. She loves acting silly. I loved it.
This was our last shot, on our way out of the park, shot from the hip.
a short week
November 23rd, 2009
It’s a short week. We are hosting Thanksgiving. It will be our first holiday in our house, where we are hosting. I’m looking forward to cooking over the next few days. On our menu: citrus glazed carrots, beets with herbs and butter, brussel sprouts, fig+prosciutto stuffing, polenta cakes, sweet potatoes au gratin, rosemary smashed potatoes, some yummy appetizers… you get the idea. In the meantime I’m trying to get through all of my processing. Up to my eyeballs in Photoshop and Lightroom.
l’ll leave you with this little guy. Central Park in the fall with Liam.
the mcaskin family, new york, ny
November 20th, 2009
This gorgeous family came to me through another client of mine, Lan. She bought the McAskins a gift certificate for the arrival of Colin. What a cutie. We started off at their apartment, shot a few on the bed. Colin took a snooze so Milly colored and showed off a few of her ballet moves while we waited. She is such a little girl, into all things that glitter, princesses and strawberry ice cream. Hmmm… I sometimes wish some of those girlie things existed in my world. Once Colin rose we headed to the MPD where luckily the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck was waiting. De-lish. Thanks McAskins for a wonderful afternoon. It was great to meet you.
the wall family, new york, ny
November 18th, 2009
Let me start off by saying this was one of my favorite shoots this year. I think Charlie’s parents will be surprised to hear me say that, primarily because on the morning I arrived Charlie had very little interest in being photographed. I met Charlie several years ago at one of my mini shoots so I expected him to be the same willing model he was back then, which wasn’t quite the case. I walked into the Wall’s cheery and beautifully decorated apartment to find Charlie buried in the couch.
It quickly became very clear he wasn’t going to budge anytime soon. I spent some time chatting with him in his room but no such luck yet. Mom and Dad joined.
We moved onto lunch. Stacy and Anne bought some sandwiches from this amazing Vietnamese take out place not far from their apartment. (God I miss the city.) Charlie had some fuel too. I got alot of this:
And some of this:
I knew we weren’t going to get Charlie to pose. I continued to shoot primarily from the hip and just documented the morning as it unfolded. I rarely brought my camera above my shoulders, thank god for auto focus.
Croissant were made into jelly boats.
Crazy straws were built.
Smiles appeared.
Charlie started to come around. Stacy was very good at playing into Charlie’s silly side. Distracting with humor is KEY. We shot a few more in his room.
We moved to the living room to share some M&Ms with their chihuahua Katie.
And then we went outside.
I learned alot from this shoot. I learned I really love to document. No posing, just capturing what is there in front of me. I learned I want to do more of this. A day in the life. Rain or shine. Smiles or frowns. Luckily the Wall’s handled Charlie’s resistance to the shoot beautifully. There was no panic that there wouldn’t be perfectly posed photos and look what we got instead – perfectly unposed photos. Honest, true, real photos. Let me come and document a morning or afternoon with you and your family, willing models not required.
the silcock family, central park, ny
November 17th, 2009
Casey called me awhile back to purchase a gift certificate for his wife, I believe it was for her birthday. Some time passed, they booked their shoot, Conner got sick, we rescheduled, it rained, we rescheduled. Finally we met and our shoot took place. I knew it was going to be a good shoot from Casey’s vibe. Very laid back, funny and shares my admiration for Pete Yorn. He works in promotions at the Verve Music Group and when he bought the gift certificate way back when, he sent me a box of cds. Cool right? Anyways, their daughter Samantha is one cute cookie. Look at her haircut. Not surprisingly she loves music and loves to dance. We covered alot of ground that afternoon. She didn’t want to sit for a minute unless Shark Bites were involved.
Thanks so much for your patience Silcock fam. It was such a pleasure. Oh and the I think the light that day was worth the wait. If only every day was like this… oh right, that’s what we call California.
the wydra family, rye, ny
November 16th, 2009
The Wydra family is a new client, I’m so glad they found me. We had a wonderful morning at the Pepsico Sculpture Gardens, which are gorgeous. A place where I will definitely return for future shoots and with Conner and Tyler. The Wydra’s are friends of a few of my NYC clients and recently moved to the burbs just like we did. Big adjustment! So nice to meet you Wydra fam. Hope to see you again.
henry and sam cruise, new york, ny
November 13th, 2009
I spent the morning playing with Henry and Sam. We danced to MJ’s Beat It (Henry is a big fan) and talked about astronauts, which they both were for Halloween. Then we took a walk and had some lunch in their school’s courtyard. A lovely shoot on a morning off from school. Thank you Cruise boys – it was so nice to meet you two.
Dancing to Beat It…
the lane family, mpd, nyc
November 12th, 2009
The last time I photographed the Lane family Dunkin was about 6 months old. Now his sister Sadie has arrived. I love her name – Sadie Lane…. We met at the MPD and headed north to the Highline. Great morning where Dunkin kept us on our toes. He’s full of energy! Thank you Lane family – it was good to see you 4.
the weidmans, meatpacking disrict and the highline, nyc
November 10th, 2009
The Weidman family received a gift certificate for the birth of their youngest, Charlie. How cute is he? Mom waited for the fall to arrive and we both really wanted to shoot at the Highline. It was pretty crowded and sunny but I think we made it work. We started on the streets of the Meatpacking district and then headed up to the new elevated park. The kids couldn’t wait to see what was in store. Even though on a weekend it’s not the easiest place to shoot, it sure is cool. It was great to see you Weidmans. Thank you for a great shoot!
