Ilene Squires Photography
Renauld is not only friends with Brian, one of my very first faces you can check out HERE, but he also went to school in Tenessee with my husband, Jorge. Naturally, we were destined to work together! If you haven't guessed, Renauld has done some commercial work himself. I mean, how could he not with those dimples and stature?! He only affirms my belief that beautiful people make my job as a photographer infinitely easier and since there were so many shots to choose from, I decided to feature just one. In moving forward with my Faces of Harlem Project I am thinking of creating a separate space for images to live which I will be launching by the end of the year. New Years surprise? Maybe! For now, enjoy what I've offered of Renauld and please email me at ilene {dot} squires {at} gmail {dot} com if you are interested in being featured for this project or know of someone who is.
Michelle Patrick and I had the pleasure of meeting through her goddaughter Alice, who I featured a couple of weeks ago HERE. For years now, I've heard about Michelle and all the lovely eccentricities about Alice's own family and her New York experience. (Alice hails from the Westside, as does yours truly). That said, I had no doubt Michelle would be candid and witty just the way Alice is. When I initially reached out to Michelle about coming to her Sugar Hill residence to snap a few portraits for my project, she extended an invitation to come to her birthday party where there would be "... women of all shapes and sizes." Elated, I of course packed my equipment up for a quick jaunt uptown! A former soap opera writer, Michelle had quite an eclectic group of friends who had many stories about the way "... the city used to be" to boot. My favorite ditty was the stairwell tour where I learned Michelle's personal history; she had images dating back to the turn of the century and stories to match! Here's a sneak peak and please email me at ilene {dot} squires {at} gmail {dot} com if you are interested in being featured or know of someone who is.
D'wayne and my husband Jorge, are best buds from their college days at Vanderbilt. Though we always thought of D'wayne as the eternal bachelor, a couple of years ago he finally met his match with his lovely bride to be, Jewelle. As you can see, they are quite a handsome couple and recently celebrated their engagement at Don Coqui, where Jewelle is in her family's restaurant business. Her father is the Jimmy as in Jimmy's Bronx Cafe, Jimmy. Nonetheless, POSH, couldn't better describe their special evening. Jewelle and D'wayne haven't set a date yet but their wedding will be nothing short of spectacular from start to finish. They know we would expect nothing less from such refined people. BTW - isn't Jewelle's dress DIVINE?! !Felicidades on your engagement!
I've been trying to decide on which new lens I want to add to my work flow after upgrading to the Canon 5D Mark II this summer. I had a couple of gigs over the weekend so I rented the Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* Lens from Adorama Rental Company. If you are a professional or amateur and don't know about ARC, find out about them today! Their prices are cheap and they cater to the photog on the go. Weekend rates, Thursday - Monday, are the best in the City. I was previously in love with the 50mm f/1.4 but the 85mm was nothing short of amazing. The sharpness was purely magazine status and the wide aperture allows to shoot hand held at night (albeit noisy, without flash). Most artists use the 85 for video capture, but since I am still video defunct, I used it for my portraits. Over the weekend, as I was leaving the West Village eatery, Malatesta (bring cash, have the tiramisu and make rezzies by phone), my friends decided on an impropmtu photo shoot in the heart of the West Village - my second favorite NYC neighborhood with Harlem being the pact leader! Stay tuned for features from two new faces in my Faces of Harlem project that I shot yesterday. I am back logged on posts, including extensions from the sneak peaks that I already blogged about over the past couple of months. I'm ready for the Thanksgiving holiday, are you?
Alice and I met when I took over a maternity leave position at an elite private school in Chelsea a while back. We hit it off immediately with our sarcastic sense of humor and knack for stretching 5 minute stories into hour long narratives. These qualities are ever so useful when working with children! Alice and her beau, an aspiring photographer (and stylist) at Tucked LLC, just relocated to Harlem. Luckily they are my neighbors and we rendevous'd last weekend for some quick portraits for my Harlem project. Here's a sneak peak! Email me at ilene {dot} squires {at} gmail {dot} com if you are interested in being featured for this project or know of someone who is.
Amber Hawk Swanson and I met through a mutual friend and our portrait session together only proved that New York is still a place of inifinite opprtunity. As I am bobbing and weaving through my personal project(s), specifically, Faces of Harlem, I've been wondering alot about my pitch to galleries and how to use the project as a stepping stone for artist fellowship applications. Enter Amber. Here timing was impeccably perfect. She recently left a nonprofit career with NYFA to grow her own consulting practice for artists. Her goal is to coach artists through MFA, fellowship and proposal processes. Amber is also available for speaking engagements and can be reached HERE. These images will be featured on her new website when it goes live later this year. Have a great week, everyone!
