New Jersey: Headshots: Kristen

For as much as I love shooting, I must say that my absolute favorite part of my work these days is creating my blog entries. I become so excited at my sessions and can not wait to get home, upload the images and share them! Yesterday was such an incredible 12 hour day with Kristen in Long Branch and all over Asbury Park, NJ that I truly spent the entire 90 min train ride writing this blog entry in my head...and falling asleep because I was exhausted. No matter which way I write this, it is not to possible express the amazingness that was my day with Kristen on a mere web page. So I decided to keep the actual day to myself and just talk about how awesome Kristen is! Here goes: A graduate of the prestigious Baldwin-Wallace Musical Theater Program, over the last 11 years Kristen has made an incredible name for herself as a professional singer. She has traveled the world on 5 different cruise lines, they continue to call her to come back, performed in countless shows both in and out of NYC and even had a 7 month stint as a showgirl in Vegas for the longest running Burlesque show in town...Jubilee. ( I know what your next question is and the answer is "NO" not that type of showgirl.)  Since moving home to NJ she now spends her days teaching, loving her amazing scientist boyfriend, Darryl and their cat Wasabi ,who I saw play catch and it was really funny, and keeping her chops fresh by singing for pleasure. If you want to hear her fabulous soprano she will be singing in a show called "Gay and Be Glitter" with Cabaret for Life on July 30. The mission of this non-profit  is to "bring talented people together to help those in need."  If you happen to meet her and want a song...her "best 16" ends on a high "D"....so prepare to have your socks knocked off!

This one is for my Undergrad B.W. peeps who will recognize her expression right away as the consummate "Kristen smile." I think Kristen's favorite phrase to say is "I am so happy for you!" (and she means it every single time)

Looks like she can play, right?! Yeah, absolutely can not...yet. But she looks great and is going to take lessons so that she can rock out at Honey Child Music where she teaches music to Littles !

"Thanks for picking me up at the train station and sharing your home and your cat with me and for taking me to lunch and showing me where the movie Annie was filmed, and telling me all about your amazing adventures over the last 8 years."

enjoy*

Girl's Weekend:: Cambridge

The pervasive power of friendship is one aspect of my life where I am continually amazed. What I have done to deserve the incredible friends who have either come into my life for a mere time, or have endured throughout the years, I can not say. All I know for certain is that I am wildly grateful and blessed to have a few people who have seen my "ugly cry" and love me anyway. I reflect on this because "Girl's Weekend, Boston 2010" allowed me to think about my own girlfriends even more. The shoot was an amazing opportunity to be a voyeur amongst a fabulous group of women who have been the best of friends practically since birth. Once a year these ladies make it a point to put their friendship first and choose a weekend to get together. This year was BOSTON!!! They've also created a "sisterhood of the traveling scrapbook" as such, and each get together is well documented with lasting memories for years to come!

It was clear from the moment I arrived that this was going to be a terrific afternoon and Megan, Andrea, Amanda and Anne did not disappoint. They were up for anything and everything and even "got their sass" on for a few shots just for fun. Not a harsh word amongst them, they simply laughed and worked it for the camera all afternoon.

In the 20 some odd years they've been friends there have been way more ups than downs and it is absolutely clear how much love, admiration, and respect they have for each other. And of course the day wouldn't be complete without a rousing round of Croc-a-dill-e-o-ma...just look, you'll see...

    "dress up" 

    This is the "sass" I was talking about...

    Personally... I call this game "Down By The Banks." Apparently, there are a variety of names!

enjoy*

Just a typical fall day in New England...

When Mychal first asked me to shoot her dog Gretchen,  I admit I was both intrigued and a bit nervous. I had visions of arriving at the location and there being a completely innocent little pup, humiliated in leather and lace, waiting for me with weepy eyes and a deflated spirit. So I laid down the law before I accepted the gig "NO ANIMAL CLOTHING OF ANY SORT!" (I made my father swear to this when we gave him his Beagle a few years ago and I couldn't possibly go back on my core values) Mychal is a recent transplant to Boston and since it turned out to be a gorgeous day on Sunday it was a no-brainer to have our session outside with the beautiful foliage. There isn't anything else quite like it and I thought it would be a great way to remember her time in New England when she looks back at these images in years to come. Gretchen and Mychal are quite a twosome and they were a hoot to watch play together...kinda made me want one of my own.



Um...yeah, the tree kind of made my LIFE!

"seriously, mom...give me the treat or I am DONE cooperating"


"Thanks for lunch, Mychal and have a great trip to St Louis, Gretchen! "

enjoy*

Boston:: Headshots: Sarah

"YES," you have seen this beautiful face before. Although, this time Sarah was much more willing to be photographed as she actually needs the photos for her fantastic website that is "coming soon." Sarah is a highly sought after consultant for major companies to help them figure out who they are and how to brand themselves in the world. She is incredibly passionate about her work, amazing at it, and still manages to be completely fabulous in every other area of her life as well. I totally took advantage of her skills and made her tell me all her secrets before I would release any photos into her hands! (sneaky) We had an awesome afternoon and I learned that if necessary I can totally create a studio in my apt! All those books I read on studio lighting have paid off. Learning is good! However, you will not see any examples here as the rain did let up for 5 mins and we hauled our butts outside and got the best shots of the day. "Overcast" is my friend!


just for my amusement as her smile is awesome, but also because the feet in the background belong to some guy who ran by us and totally thought he had it "goin on" (oy vey!)
be kind to one another*

what is love...???

Thank God I'm surrounded by inspiring people who know.


Happy Valentine's day friends.

Enjoy *

plastic pants

This is my college roommate, Kim. Isn't she awesome? She is one of the funniest women I have ever met in my life. College was a blast with her around. We hadn't seen each other since graduation, but had no trouble picking up right where we left off and literally talking for 7 hours straight. Don't you love friends like that? I didn't interrupt our time together with too many pics, but I grabbed a few quickly to remember the day. She literally smiles like that all the time!

As we were walking around campus and taking in everything that has changed we noticed a bulletin board with important information regarding safe sex. In light of Valentine's day tomorrow I pass this useful nugget on to my devoted readers :

"NO MEANS NO AND PASSED OUT DOES NOT MEAN YES!"

In other words...."mom, leave dad alone"



enjoy*

nurse elizabeth

This is one of my best friends, Elizabeth. In case you can't tell from her picture...she is awesome. On Sunday she graduated from her accelerated nursing program (where she was the smartest and best dressed in her class) and now she only has 4 more years before she can reach her actual goal of becoming the best nurse practitioner ever!!! This chick is the real deal. She loves all things medical more than anyone I know. I mean she actually watches Grey's Anatomy for the medical jargon! (who does that?)

This is Liz's boyfriend Nick who didn't hesitate to tell me that blogs are dumb and no one would be reading mine. He's a pretty cool guy though. He and Liz are awesome together. I think he likes her most because when his ankle was falling off this year and he had to have this crazy looking scaffolding like contraption on his foot with pins coming out of it to hold his ankle together, Liz was so incredibly excited to be the one to clean the oozing puss that poured out of it. Now that's a special kind of love.

This is "the fam." Nick is hiding behind Mr. Huser.
Congrats Liz! Thanks for including me in your special day.

hot mamma

This is my girlfriend Anne and her awesome daughter Mia. They were in Denver for a few days and I decided that it would be a fun opportunity to take some pictures. They were great sports about me stopping all of the time to figure out how to work my ridiculously complex and "way too cool for me" camera. A good time was had by all. Anne is totally beautiful inside and out and wait for it...100% single! Can you believe it? If you're ever in Utah you should totally look her up.