Tuesday, November 24, 2009

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?!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

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!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

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!!