The Family at 22.

Tonight I had the opportunity to photograph an old friend from high school and her little family. We went to a local park and enjoyed the subtle sunset, the gorgeous fall leaves, talking to trees, and trying to sidestep the mud puddles. It was a lovely evening which reminded me of my love for photography. I've been  working so much taking photographs for school pictures which requires little thought and no knowledge of a camera. It pays bills but it is not the artistic outlet for me. Tonight capturing Xiao's little actions and expressions had me smiling all evening. I was glad to get my love back, just in time for Xiao to invite me over for dinner at house 22. He warmed my heart.

"Xiao, how old are you?"

"FIVE!"

Maternity shoot

Lately, I am willing to make money any way I can with my camera. I have a rekindled love for photography and I am eager to make a living with it. So this weekend I brought my camera out to Buffalo to photograph some old friends getting ready for a new addition to the family. I was a little nervous and kept spouting off questions about names, babies, what it felt like... I've never done a maternity shoot before and a lot of my research was studio photography. So it was a little different photographing the couple outside in the public and being able to show the beauty of pregnancy under the different clothes. (A lot of shoots have nudity to show off the pregnant body). Not to mention the weather was pretty gray, so it made things a little unpredictable. Of course once we got to shooting, everything seemed normal. I scared my boyfriend into thinking I wanted babies right this moment. I witnessed the beautiful moments of Mark helping Nécole cross over the little streams. It was so simple and so sweet and it made me appreciate the little actions that make a difference instead of the grand gestures. I love the feeling of these photos which seemed to capture the sweet gestures of these soon to be parents. It was a good evening.