Glorious Gloria

I absolutely adore photographing pregnant women. They are so glorious and elegant in their roundness, perfect Madonna's. Gloria, 7 months pregnant, didn't disappoint, except for the fact that, even though she was carrying only in her belly, we had to keep prodding a pushing and turning the little tiny thing so that the belly would show! She was a super good sport about it, though, and hubby Sean, daughters, Kiley and Taylor and neice Amethyst just rounded out the fun. We shot on the grounds of the JW Marriott, which I think is my favorite place to shoot in the Phoenix area, and it was pretty gosh darn cold out, but Glamorous Gloria was incredible! There should be no way that a pregnant woman could look this good! She looked all glowy and dewey, with very "now" hair and absolutely perfect makeup. Her arms and legs are more toned than mine, and I'm here to tell you, I'm not pregnant. For those of you who are photographers trying to get insight into why I do what I do...I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't really have a rhyme or reason on how I shoot...of course there are some poses that everyone adores, so I always shoot them, but all of a sudden I recalled a shot that the great Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Ioss had shot, with a swimsuit model on a gourd. I couldn't get it out of my head, but of course, gourds aren't just always hanging around in the desert. The sun had sunk behind the horizon. We were walking out the parking lot, and there were a triumvirate of giant gourd-like vases just hanging out there. I have walked past them a thousand times, without even noticing them, but I knew that Gloria would not only pull it off...she would make it her own. And she did, of course! Another moment for the books. Ahhhh, photography. I just love it. To see that particular image, you're just going to have to mosey over to my facebook page: (but not until later this evening...ooh, the anticipation of it all! ) http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Anthem-AZ/Barbara-Stitzer-Photography/45325794506?ref=ts, and while you're there, why don't you become a fan! You'll have access to the latest and greatest as it happens, and it's a lot of fun!

The Raskin Family

Every once in a while, I meet a family who is so chic, so interesting, so totally COOL that I'm kind of intimidated. I mean, don't get me wrong, I adore 99.9% of my families that I shoot, and usually work with them for years and years, but you know the ones I mean...the people who have so very much going for them that they really don't need to be nice to you, and you wouldn't hate them for it, but how, somehow, they are just the ones who are incredibly kind, welcoming, open, (which is key, really, on both party's parts in making meaningful pictures) and inexplicably, you realize that you've totally clicked. This is how I feel about the Raskin family. The moment I met Joan, and her daughter Maddie, her husband Randy, and sons Remi and Jonathan, I felt like I came home, they were so welcoming, and I really wanted to do right by them.

Of course, I got nervous and kind of tanked. A light stand fell on poor Randy's foot, I had just taken a new lens out of the box and didn't realize that I was on manual focus while shooting in autofocus mode, something that I had never done in 16 years of shooting... so I tried hard not to show my total mortification, closed my eyes, took a deep breath and forced away the nerves... through it all, they were totally gracious about it, laughing and funny and carrying my bags out to the car, something that NO ONE ever offers to do, I might add. Then, at the viewing, after really complimenting the heck out of me, which is always a nice thing, Joan and I got into a very much needed conversation on my part...I just felt so honored that she would share like that with me. The more I see of that woman, the more I admire her. She's totally my role model. Am I allowed to have a role model so much younger, prettier and skinnier than me? Well, either way, I'm taking it! And, we got some shots that are different and funny and totally them, ones I'm really very proud of. They made it to the front slide show of my website, http://www.barbstitzer.com/, if you would like to see my favorites!

We shot baby Jake and his mom and dad at sunset, at my favorite place and time to shoot...this kid was so much fun to shoot! He's at this glorious age where he never stops...we went up and down the stairs at least a hundred times, then he ran up and down the grass hills, giggling and smiling the whole time. It was such a fun day!

Jonnika and Kelly

I've known Jonnika since Zoe was her flyer at American Elite cheer, five years ago, and have had the great fortune to shoot both of her sister's pregnancies, which were both totally different and beautiful, so when Jonnika called and told me that she was eight months along and wanting to do something edgy, I totally jumped at the chance! We started at City North, a very cool location in North Phoenix that has a "live, work, eat" philosophy and a generally urban chic vibe. Well, let me tell you that no one was shopping, eating, or doing anything else but gawking at this whippet thin, muscle bound, wearing her regular pants, 5'10" supermodel who totally took over that three block area. Construction workers, businessmen, and moms with strollers literally stopped and stared at her utter presence. The lust factor was so high, I would have feared a riot if it weren't for the amazing Kelly, a doting, totally sweet gentle giant of a gentleman taking care of Jonnika, catering to her every whim, telling her how amazingly beautiful she is, (she is!) and generally projecting the fact that he thinks she's the greatest thing since fried twinkies and it would be best if everyone would just stay back or he'd bite off their heads and chew them while we were shooting. These guys are truly a great couple, one who I totally expect to be shooting their 50th wedding anniversary, and I never say that about anyone. We then moved to the JW Marriott, a favorite spot of mine; every angle is fabulous there, and did some more! Mom, Janis joined us and took some shots, which was great, I mean, who could resist?!

The Weaver Family

Kristie came to me on the same mission as lots of people with little kids...to have everyone smiling and looking at the camera, especially her beautiful little daughter, Emma,who has an aversion to cameras...and, of course, we got a lot of those, but like all plans with kids, the unexpected is always better, if you're just willing to let go of your preconceived notions, and was ultimately what she was attracted to. I always talk about "the magic"; the zig when you're expecting a zag, a moment that you could never, in a million years force, moments which after 16 years of being a professional photographer, still give me a thrill when they come up, which they do in almost every shoot, so when I had Kristie and her hubby kiss, and the kids put their hands over their eyes, which was really cute, but then Owen peeked out just a little bit, and I almost lost it. Now some people might say, "oh, they weren't looking", "oh, you can't see our whole faces looking straight at the camera", and I always think about that, because I want to be sensitive to my client's needs, of course, but I never judge the quality of a picture by whether people are looking or smiling, as evidenced by my walls. It was a moment...a moment that you couldn't plan for or pose...I just had to be there to capture it. And, fortunately, Kristie was savvy enough to actually order them for her home...I'm so excited for her!

These puppies camto me via the lovely Anne, who wanted to have a shot of her sweet "babies". They were so much fun! Pumpkin, the pomeranian in front, kept doing donuts all around the ser, she was so excite! I love photographing dogs!!

Angela is just the most interesting person. She's so well traveled. She was in Europe last year, and is going back again this year. She has the cutest little doggie whose teeth show out, has done a ton of unique, interesting jobs, and we just had a lot of fun taking pictures of her new show girl self.