Portraits of Jenn

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing Jenn (a sister red head!)  She needed some head shots for an upcoming Connecticut teen pageant and she's also interested in pursuing modeling.  She was up for an outdoor experience so she and her Mom and their little dog Bootles met me at one of my all time favorite places, Elizabeth Park.  

We had a lot of fun exploring the gardens and surrounding areas for locations.  And I had a great time directing her all over the place!  Yes, you read that right.......I had a great time directing.  It was like I was speaking from a different source, a direct line from vision to mouth.  It rocked!  I'm sure it helped that Jenn was so into it, she made my visions a reality in the .....uh....click of a shutter. ;)  Here are some highlights from the shoot.  

She's a natural model.  

This was after a couple cart wheels to loosen up the moment.  It worked.

 

I loved her sandals.

And of course we stopped to smell the roses.  This one is my personal favorite.

Good Luck in the Pageant Jenn!

Riding High

One of this summer's highlight has to be Abbie's riding lessons.  She's been eager for years but also a little scared of the whole idea.  All her fears melted away when we got to spend some time at Julia's beautiful horse farm.  

It was kizmit that I reconnected with Julia (a former instructor at a horse therapy barn where I volunteered) at Carla's studio opening party last Spring.....small world.  I told her my daughter wanted to be around horses and do barn work and grooming and she said "come on over".  Well it only took about 10 minutes of watching Julia's gift of humor and patience with a student rider and Abbie knew she didn't want to wait any longer to learn. So she and Pippin the pony got busy.....  

I just love the way she beams through her entire lesson.  

Look Ma......no hands!  Naa, actually she was doing her balance exercises.

Evan and Julia's son Mason kept each other busy during Abbie's lesson.

And this beauty is Beau.  I just loved the way Beau and Abbie were in stride together......

And of course I could not ignore Mason's awesome boots!

And that's how I pass the time during her lessons. ;)

Rhode Island Yaahhhhd Sale

Last weekend I got to visit one of my favorite families and one particular lady I've known for probably many lives.  I met Yesha when she was just 11 and knew I wanted her for my little sister.  She's my soul sister for sure and one of the most positive forces walking this planet.  Well, she's moving away and I went to visit during her weekend long Rhode Island "Yaahhhd Sale".  Liquidating a day care center certainly makes for colorful images.  To top it off I had the great pleasure of sharing the trip and surprising them with their friend Susannah.  Susannah is so much fun and so easy to be with, it's no surprise that I eventually came down with a case of laughing pains.  She's also crazy (like me) over Lucky Charms.....how can you not love that!    

A trip to the mall late in the day resulted in some killer Converse Sneaks for Leif & Susannah.

Nicky, carpenter extraordinaire & super neighbor friend, displays his permanent allegiance to his team.

As this door closes, there's another in SD about to open.

It's not just the Red high tops that inspire this artist.  Leif has always had a talent for drawing, and his dragons are wild and intricate.

Little ball, big hope.

Happy hour feet.

Rockin the high tops....

Susannah's funkadelic Converse

Nicky's Preston

Impossible not to get great shots of the "Bops"

Genuine Brotherly love.

The goodie jars in Yesha's kitchen are always a huge hit

At their house, all is colorful.

That's me, chillin in their guest house with a cold one.

Leif did a great job keeping an eye on the lemonade sales.

Thanks for a super weekend Yesha, Matt, Leif, Finn, Xan, Susannah, Elizabeth, Nicky, Barbara & Preston!

Rockin Out!

Last Friday night Dave and I surprised ourselves and managed to get down to an after 10pm gig and a 45 minute drive to see that crazy cat Johnny Vibrato rock out on his guitar. He's one of our favorite musicians. He does mostly his own rockin blues songs and whatever favorite covers he's in the mood for. We love him cause he's the real raw deal. I've never seen anyone disappear so completely into an instrument! He and his guitar rock as one.....even on top of the bar or tables or whatever he can work in the room.

I brought my camera to play with in the intimate and intensely dark restaurant/bar La Vita Gustosa. Then when I walked in and heard the music I looked at the drummer and found it was none other than our favorite drummer man Liviu Pop! He's a rockin, funky jazz drummer who we catch at the jazz shows at Szechuan Tokyo in town. We could not have seen that coming. So we were doubly treated to major talent and endless energy. And I have add that Johnny and Liviu are sooooo genuine, gracious and fun loving it's energizing to be around them.

I think it was going on like 2am and Johnny brought out his acoustic guitar and played some of his new songs and John Prine's "Angel From Montgomery" (which I sing at least every day in the car....with Bonnie) Be still my heart.......I love acoustic guitar! Then after the show, he shared some more acoustic with us. What a night... and morning!......we didn't get home till 3am.

It's good to know Dave and I can still manage that once in awhile.

Spring vacation

Thankfully I was not on the receiving end of his next throw........but ya gotta love the electric doo!

Zach's bliss......

I got to spend some time last week during this blissful weather down on Mari's farm.  They have lots of animals to snuggle especially bunnies.  The kids love to spend the day there......ok, who am I kidding, they'd love to live there and spend their days exploring the woods and swamps, climbing trees and catching critters.

Some down time

Oren, the charmer, at 3 1/2 months.

Discovery is everywhere.......

The simple pleasure of making spit bubbles to impress Mom...  

Joy's joy.

You know you wish you could ROCK this hat............

It's school vacation week so I've had the opportunity to have a little down time while home with my kids during this super warm Spring week.  On Monday I got to hang out with my friend Joy, who brought her 3 1/2 month old son.  Now, as much as I love being with Joy, I gotta say, her baby boy stole the spotlight all afternoon.