I love my clients, fans, supporters–yes, you. Your comments, words of encouragement and general support give me the motivation to be the best photographer I can be. Thank You. I made you a Valentine. I wish you more love than you know what to do with on Valentine’s Day and every day. XO

And some Valentines I made for friends and teachers…

And some SweetHearts that never quite made the cut…

Love to all!

Remember the Love-A-Fair Slogan from the 2011 NC State Fair 2011? Well, I have a love affair with my camera and ferris wheels. I was chasing a spunky little girl when I shot these. I wish I had more time but I still love them. Maybe I will enter one into the 2012 photography competition at the fair.

We hear it often, so-and-so has chemo, so-and-so is feeling sick from chemo, the chemo made her hair fall out, chemo, chemo, chemo. Have you ever wondered what chemo looks like? Its rather innocuous. Its just a tube of liquid. Liquid that has to be wrapped in a biohazard bag, a liquid that requires hospital staff to gown and glove up to administer the drug, and liquid that sends parents home with gloves and biohazard bags for when diapers need to be changed. I have to admit, I expected a big production knowing the side effects. But its a delayed torture method…it only takes 15 minutes or so to administer. The short terms side effects hit hours afterwards and last a few weeks. The long terms side effects can take a lifetime to rear its ugly head.

I joined Ella and her family for a dose of chemo. I left these photos in color because it was pretty alarming for her Mom to see the drug as a red liquid. The hospital even tried to conceal this with a more pleasant green bag.

Ella had a trip to the hospital about a week after this dose of chemo. She has a fever and very low white blood cell counts (these are the cells that fight infection). She is expeceted to go home any day now.  Please keep her in your thoughts.

Ella’s dose of chemo was cutting into her nap time. She started to soothe herself by rubbing her belly button. I can’t refuse sweet little toddler hands and a cute little belly button, so I starting taking photos.  When I reviewed the images at home, I noticed her hands were in the “I love you” position in American Sign Language. I thought it was a coincidence but her Dad told me that she does use that sign.

So, Happy Valentine’s Day a little early. I think they should make a new conversation heart that says “We Click”, just for photographers and our sweet little models.

Striving for More (http://www.striving4more.org/) is an organization located in Raleigh, NC dedicated to ensuring that children with cancer and their families receive quality emotional and spiritual support. In addition to organizing events for families affected by childhood cancer, Striving for More also brought the Beads of Courage program to both UNC Children’s Hospital and Duke University’s Children’s Hospital.

Beads of Courage  is a program that allows children tell their meidcal journey using colorful beads as meaningful symbols of courage that commemorate milestones they have achieved along their unique treatment path. The beads are donated by artists around the world. They really provide a visual story of what each child has endured. http://www.beadsofcourage.org/

I was at the hopital when my friend Ella recived some of her beads. It was a very speccial day, she recieved her bead for losing her hair. That bead is a special face bead. Most of the others are colored glass beads. Ella already has a necklace of beads about as long as she is tall.

She changes her look faster than a chameleon changes colors.  I can do a full session within minutes with her. Even with a mask you can see her different looks just by looking at one eye.  I think she was a model in her past life. She is a gift to a photographer.

 

And Shhh…its a church zone, quiet. And, like my drama queen, not sure NOLA knows quiet but its worth a try!

I have learned everything I know about Art from my seven year old son. He has a self-taught encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. He knows biographies of famous artists, which museums hold which paintings, when and where they were painted, etc. Its amazing. The Impressionists, namely Vincent van Gogh, are his favorite. We visited the Museum of Modern Art in NYC to see Starry Night, the painting that was on the top of his bucket list to see. After a year or so of studying art, he asked me why all the artists are all dead. I reassured him that there are artists who are still alive but unfortunately, I could not name any. He just wanted to meet a living artist.

Fast forward to last week. I was talking with the *fantabulous* art teacher at my son’s school and we agreed to do an “Artists All Around Us” display in the school. The goal is to have all students realize they are living within a community of great artists. Each quarter, a different artist from the school community will have their art work featured–it may be a student, faculty member or parent.

I am so proud to have my son learn over time that he is indeed surrounded by some great artists. I also hope this will reassure to each student and adult in the school community that you do not have to be dead and have your work in a museum to be a great artist.

The first display features the work by a CCR teacher in the school. Here is  her artist’s statement on the project: “Located on the outskirts of Apex, is a 75 acre farm which has been in my family for over a hundred years. My great-grandfather originally built these barns in the early 1900s. Recently, my dad remodeled the red barn after my brother, Jonathan, passed away. A couple of months ago, my dad and I watched a special on PBS about barn quilts in the western part of NC. We loved the idea and decided to make a “barn quilt” and hang it. This project has since evolved and has been a great way for our family to remember my brother. ” –Jennifer Long

A close up of her work can be seen in this post: http://josphotomojo.com/?p=1708

Oh My. I was feeling tired with all the usual photo locations. I was about to start scouting for a new hot spot when I was talking with a friend and she told me about her parent’s property in the area with tobacco houses, barns, fields, etc. She told me that there was alot of junk there (that is code for “awesome location”) and it would not really be great for photos. With that, I pounced. She and her family were willing to let me shoot there and its my new favorite location. I am in love and re-inspired. Here are some photos from my test session…