Riding the Ducks

So for years now I have wanted to ride the ducks! I have always heard that Philly locals are surprised at how much they enjoyed it. When you see the boat go by on the street and crazy people quacking at you, it seems like it might be a little silly and embarrassing. But it was fun and I learned some things about Philly that I did not know before.

Here we are after receiving our official quakers.

The tour guide showing us the proper way of doing things.

So I learned that Race St. was once called Sassafras St. Now I know about Sassafras Market, I love that little shop, but I had no idea that it was named after the old street. The street name was changed to Race street because it was the street that the horse races would go down, obviously!

I think my favorite part of the ride was going into the Delaware River and being right underneath the Ben Franklin Bridge. It was an awesome perspective of the bridge that you just don't get from the street.

It was a beautiful day on Monday and nice to take the day off and relax after the wedding the night before. I will post those pictures this weekend. Don's mom leaves tomorrow and I won't feel so bad about trying to get work done while entertaining. We have had fun with her on her visit and luckily the weather was good.

Backed up, on everything.

I have had a very busy couple of weeks and am working on getting caught up. I have an awesome wedding from Sunday to post but I am still going through images, so in the next day or two I will have something to post. Don's mom is in town and we have been doing some fun things instead of working. We rode the ducks on Monday and I have some fun pictures to post from that as well.
I am also in the process of putting together 15 framed prints for the Pennsylvania Hospital's Solution for Women. They are opening a brand new office on Delancy St. between 7th and 8th. My wonderful clients Katria and George put me in touch them and it has been an awesome experience and opportunity. The prints are all large scale, 20x24 and 24x24, I had them printed on metallic paper and they look amazing. The center opens this week and I should be hanging my prints sometime next week. They will be up for a year.

Amidst all of my craziness baby Carver is getting so big and I have not spent nearly enough time with Linette and Kyle. Linette sent this to me this photo this morning, isn't that little guy the cutest thing? I can really see a lot of Kyle in him now that he is getting bigger.I stole this from her blog, Carver is going to inherit Kyle's crazy faces.

I have to get over there and spend some time, that is my main goal for the coming week. Its been about three weeks too long since I have seen these guys. Apologies to all my friends actually, I have become the busy woman with no time for a social life.

Stay tuned I have a lot fun posts coming up.

Noah's Slideshow

Finally here it is!

Enjoy your slideshow.
Have a fun, safe holiday weekend.

Baby Noah

Wow this week has been a crazy week. I photographed baby Noah on Monday and this is the first chance I am getting to post anything about it! I don't have a slide show for you yet, it is almost finished and will be up at some point tomorrow. Please check back. In the mean time here are two of my favorites.

Tara and Mike had me out to photograph her parents 60th Birthday Party a couple of weeks ago and her mom called me the next day to give them this shoot for mothers day! Such a thoughtful family. We had a great time and Noah is a an adorable little boy.
Until tomorrow....

Jane and Brian's Engagement Shoot

Jane and Brian were a lot of fun today. I knew they were going to be an easy couple when this was the first shot I got! They were really excited for the shoot.
They are getting married in September at the Valley Green Inn. So we figured we would do some pictures in the City for their engagement shoot.

Old City has so many cute little side streets, great spots for photographs.

OOh don't they look so sexy here!

They both have amazing eyes.

Jane used to go running down to the south street bridge when she lived in the city and she never noticed the big people sculptures, now I am sure she won't forget them.
It was great hanging out with you guys today. I am excited to see you in September.

Here is your slide show.

Baby Ellena 8 Months

Sweet little Ellena has been very sick for the past two weeks and when I spoke to Melissa this morning to see if everything was ok or if she wanted to cancel she said, "are you kidding me you are booked for the next eight weeks!" So the shoot went on as planned, but I think Ellena was feeling much better. She is exactly 8 months old today, how about that! She has grown a lot!

We took her to the park for some fresh air. She wasn't sure about the swings at first but she caught on and enjoyed herself. The sky was amazing this afternoon.

I just like this little moment between Melissa and Ellena.

Isn't she the cutest little thing with those little pigtails?

I think this might be my favorite of the day, her expression is too darn cute.

Daddy Mike couldn't make this shoot, but we will do another one with the whole family I promise. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope Ellena is feeling better.

Your slideshow

New Lens, Self Portrait

I just bought about the cheapest little lens you can get, a 50mm 1.8 and I love it. It's only about a hundred bucks, it's tiny, light and super fast. I get excited with new equipment and I can't wait to try it out so I usually try it out on myself.This little lens is great used wide open, you get such a short depth of field helping soften a lot of the image. I played with this one in photoshop, bumped the contrast, saturation and a little gaussian blur to even out my skin tones. I like it.
I am excited to use the new lens on some shoots this weekend. Always good to have some variety.

Farewell Smick

Well its official, Smick has been sold and Ape and I are moved out. Tommy has been great to us the whole 3 1/2 years we were there. We were very lucky to have such a great place, and in Manayunk at that.
We were at the house last night gathering that last bit of stuff, you know that last bit of "stuff" at the end of the move. Junk box's and stuff you don't know what to do with. We put a ton of stuff out for trash and no joke with in like 15 minutes half the stuff had already been trash picked.
It was very strange to see the house empty and hear the empty echo's as you walked through the house. It was such a cozy place. I am going to miss my office, Don built me an awesome built-in desk specially for matting prints and constructing stuff. I am working on getting something like that together in the new place. I will also miss the backyard, all my lillies that are starting to come up, they double each year. At Don's we don't have a little yard, just some concrete, but we are working on a container garden.

These were lilies from last year. I also had gladiolas, and a a hydrangea that is filling in nicely this year.

Good-bye Smick St it was great and I hope the new tenants will tend to the garden.

Catching Up

The past couple of weeks have flown by. Spring is almost gone, although the weather has been perfect and I have tried my best to take it all in. Last summer we planted a tree in front of the house, in the fall we got to watch the leaves change color for the first time and it has been really special watching it this spring. It was a bit of a late bloomer, the leaves came in first and then it produced these beautiful white flowers. It is a Green Hawthorn; crataegus viridis 'Winter King'.

I have enjoyed morning walks with Don and Alma.

My friend April's 30th birthday was on Sunday. A big group of us met at Fez for dinner. Its a fun experience eating with your hands and being entertained by belly dancers.

Margie and Tammi enjoying the one dish with utensils.

Ape grooving with the belly dancer

After my shoot with DG and Hofherr we headed back to Apes for a few pictures with their new dog Harley.

Harley is named after Hofherr's favorite toy. Can you guess what that might be?

Fun with the fisheye!

DG and Hofherr giving Ape some good ole birthday lovin.

My very good friend Linette now has her own blog! I have kept you up to date on her throughout her pregnancy and the introduction of Carver, now you can check in to see what she is up to in new mommy town. Its going to be hard pulling her away from this little guy but I am excited for her to shoot with me on some weddings this summer. (I stole this photo of her and Carver from her blog.)
And if that was not enough information for you, my Mom has her own blog now! Hopefully she will continue to write on it and tell some stories, she is a great story teller.

One last thing, I saw Helvetica, the movie tonight at Drexel. If you are into graphic design or film you should really see this documentary. Who knew a type face could have such an impact, well designers knew but you know what I mean, maybe. Go see it if you get a chance, it will be touring all summer, it will have a limited release in major cities, and the DVD will be out this fall. Its great, designers have a wonderful sense of humor.

Thats it for me tonight. Have a good one.

Dawn and Hofherr

Dawn and Mike (known to friends as Hofherr) are two very good friends of mine getting married July 14th out in Pittsburgh. I am very excited to shoot their wedding as the group of people who will make up the wedding and wedding party are some of the greatest people you will ever know. Their close group of friends are going to make this a wedding to remember. Not to mention Dawn and Hofherr who are one of the cutest couples you have ever met.
They first dated in college, went down totally separate paths only to keep coming back to each other. Finally the timing worked out and here we are! I am really excited for these two, they make a great couple and great friends.
Dawn has one of the most infectious laughs you have ever heard. When she laughs you can not help but laugh and smile with her. I am happy we had the chance to get together to take these photos. It was great seeing you guys and I am so excited for your wedding weekend extravaganza!

Enjoy your sideshow!

Happy Mother's Day!

On this Mother's Day I wanted to put the spotlight on my Mom. I rarely get to spend mothers day with her since she lives in New Mexico, but I always think of her and try to celebrate her best I can. I came across some old photographs of her that I wanted to share.

This is a portrait of her when she was a rainbow princess. I wish she still had that dress. It was a beautiful red.

This was taken on her 18 month European honeymoon.

My Parents hitchhiked around Europe for 18 months on their honeymoon. My mom still has great memories from that trip and we keep finding great photos like this as things get moved around and unpacked. I am always hording and stealing old transparencies I find when I go home.

I just love this photo of her. (Again found the old transparencies one year, and took them home with me.)
Speed forward many many years. I am putting this into the mix because it is a fun photo and I think my grandma, happy mother's day Grandma, looks like the Grannie from the Beverly Hill Billies. This photo was taken the summer I brought Don to NM for the first time.

Don, Me, Grandma and Mom.

These were taken last summer. I love this photo of my mom it shows the "look" she always gives you and the color represents her personality so well. She is older now but I think she is still beautiful as ever.

Mother and Daughter

After looking through tons of photos from this past Christmas I realized I don't have a single one with just me and her. I do a great job of documenting events when I am home but I think next time I need to get someone else to have a little photo shoot of just me and my mom.

Happy Mothers Day Mom! I am sorry I am not there to spend it with you, but I love you and you are the best mom a girl could ever ask for. I hope you enjoyed your day.

Chaise + Corbel

I recently took some photos for Bobbi Adair and her new shop Chaise + Corbel in Old City Philadelphia. Bobbi is Kristin's mom, and I thought I would give her new shop a little love on the blog. The shop is located at 244 Race St. I think it's super cute.
Bobbi sells the full line of skeem candles. Three degrees of separation come into play here because Geoff Weiser, the owner of skeem, is an alumni of Drexel Design, same as Don. It's a small world here in Philly. I love these candles. You really have to visit the store to see the variety of goodies she has, there is something for everyone. I love this line of bags, they are all made from old newpapers. I bought a little clutch purse but she also has wine holders, and other styles of bags. She has everything from furniture to bedding to plates and jewelry.If you happen to stop in, say hi for me.

Bob and Abby's 60th Birthday Party

Bob and Abby's wonderful daughters threw them a birthday party to remember. Their closest friends and family gathered at Alphabet Soup to celebrate with them. (read the newest review for alphabet soup, you should go!) I have not been around a more caring, loving and friendly group of individuals in a long time. It was such a pleasure to be there documenting their day.

The family portrait

Bob and Abby, the beaming couple.

Happy Birthday!

Mother and her beautiful daughtersAlphabet Soup is an adorable restaurant. I loved their chairs.

The babies of the party

This little guy uses his pointer finger for everything!

I took portraits of all the couples at the party and wanted to include everyone in this post, so this is going to be a little long, but so worth it.

And finally the lovely daughters that were responsible for me being there to document this special day.
Thank you so much for having a wonderful family. Wishing you all the best and many more birthdays to come.

Philadelphia Preppy

I am naturally a people watcher, could you tell? Today I was doing some errands and a little shopping downtown and I don't know why but I found much amusement with these guys.

I always carry a camera on me and I apologize that you can not totally see why these guys amused me so much but here is the description. I grew up in New Mexico and during my high school days everyone was preppy you didn't think twice about it really. I admit I stole my brother's polo shirts and wore them to school. Since living in Philadelphia for 10 years, wow, I don't see much prep any more. Its all about the grunge urban hipster here, so when you see these preppy guys they really stick out. I was walking behind them for a couple of blocks just observing, the guy on the right was smoking a cigar and I admit I like the smell so I didn't mind but it got my attention. I started to look a little further into their group and the one thing that really got me is they all had matching sunglass straps, you know the foam thing you attach to your sunglasses so they won't fall off your head. Again this is fine but the combination of all three of them having identical straps and cruising the Rittenhouse area was just amusing to me. I quickly pulled out my camera to document it and as I was doing that I passed by one of the grunge urban hipsters I was telling you about and he totally saw the same thing I did. I got the nod of approval from him as he saw me snap this photo.

Just one of those things that reminds me where I came from. Have a great weekend everyone!