Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

In Vanity Fair’s September 2010 issue, there was a poll asking people several questions.  One of the questions was,  ”The King Tut exhibition is currently in the U.S., showing the objects that were buried with him in his tomb, because the Egyptians believed the pharaoh could take things with him into the afterlife. If you could take one of these objects with you to use in the afterlife, which would you take?’ The choices were..

a family photo album (47%)

a pet (25%)

an iPhone or Blackberry (9%)

A favorite car (5%)

A big screen TV (3%)

Our family photos are mostly being stored on computers, rarely printed, no longer put in albums, and ultimately not looked at very often!  We are taking more photographs than ever before in history… and we aren’t doing much to care for these family photos for future generations of our own families.  Ask any computer technician how many people they work with who have lost ALL of their family photos on their hard drive that crashed because they had no backup.  It is common today, unfortunately.  And the statistics in restoring those family photos from a crashed hard drive  are painfully low.  

Let’s start creating photo albums again.  Years and years from now, no one is going to feel a CD or DVD pull at their heart strings as they rummage through old memorabilia!  But if they were printed images of family members, friends, pets, vacations, and cherished memories, these tangible photos would be little priceless pieces of the past that family would hang onto, preserve, pass down.  This is what they were talking about in the survey, NOT our hard drives. 

I briefly touch upon how I am guilty of not printing family snapshots and how I’m turning a new leaf in a post entitled Capturing The Moments That Matter Most.  It’s been great fun to go through my personal photos, choose the ones that make me smile, print them, and store them in my acid-free box that I created marked “Our Family 2010.”  Finally.  Our friends and family are enjoying the little capture moments on our coffee table. 

Now I’m hoping I can encourage more of you to create tangible treasures of those scads of images you’ve left unattended on your hard drives!  Photograph, back up, burn, AND PRINT!

Recently, I had a newborn photography session that turned into a family portrait session.  Three-month-old Emerson brought his parents and his older brother, Henry.  I photographed Henry when he was born.  We had lots of fun and got some great images.  We couldn’t resist putting Henry in my new bear outfit and I can’t resist sharing the image with you!  What an angelic face!  Sean and Lindsay are both teachers and have lots of patience and love children.  It’s obvious. 

I look forward to watching these little men grow.  I continue to create portraits of little boy after little boy in the studio!  Are there any little girls out there, folks?  I have great tutus. But the boys just won’t look good in them, you know?!  LOL.

I end up spending so much time with families like this when they come in to the J. Love Photography studio.  I don’t wear a watch, I don’t have a clock here.  Time stands still.  We laugh, play, pose, try different things, and interact in a way that is enjoyable for everyone.  There is something about the tenderness we witness as photographers when parents come with their new babies. When they forget about us and just enjoy the moment, we make photographs like my favorite one below.  I can feel Lindsay’s gentle touch as she cradles Emerson and coos to him.  Can’t you?  Ahhhhhh. Love my job!

I’ve been photographing these sisters for a few years now.  So cute.  Crazy energy fills the room!!  We had great fun.  Here are my favorites. Enjoy.

Is it possible that I am 55 today?  I thought that it would be appropriate, for someone who is ALWAYS on the other side of the lens, to share a slice of my life with all of you.  As I put this show together, memories flooded in like a tsunami.

How many hair colors and hairdos have I had in my life for cripe’s sakes?  How many faces can I make? !  My red wig in high school was a favorite.  I then sported red hair for about 25 years only changing it when I married Rod not so long ago.  Read the rest of this entry »

Schoolcraft College wanted to do something special for Women’s History Month so I was asked to photograph some of the women there.  As I have a deep interest in women and their families, I asked if they could bring in the females in their families so I could photograph them as well.  Many of them did indeed bring in their grandmothers, mothers, daughters.   We had a ball!

I photographed way too many women to show them all here, but it was a great time sharing a day with these women and meeting their families, hearing their stories, and sharing laughter. Read the rest of this entry »