Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens/ Nichols Family Portraits

When Rachel saw an old college friend in my Harlem Renaissance Engagement, she was eager to learn more about having portraits of her family taken. Coincidentally, Rachel and Dewayne are also Vanderbilt alumni. The only caveat was that they live in Houston and I split my time between New York and Los Angeles. 


We decided it best for me to travel to Houston to meet Rachel, Dewayne and their brood. What a treat that was! They are such a beautiful, radiant family and I was so flattered at their invitation to fly all the way to H-town to document this moment in time. 


It is HOT (96' in the AM!) around the clock in Houston all summer long so we agreed to shoot first thing in the morning at 8:00am since Dewayne and Rachel are joined by Jonathan, 5 months; Delainie, 2; and Farrah, 13. They chose the Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Gardens and we worked hard to sustain the attention of the littlest Nichols' which wasn't hard with the the help of some sweet treats and bubbles.  

Griffith Park Hike With the Fam!

While there was 20" of snow last weekend in NYC, it was 60' here in Los Angeles. Eat your heart out, east coasters - It pays to be bi coastal! With the sun out we were obligated to bask under the sun at one of mt favorite Los Angeles destinations, Griffith Park. I'm an outdoorsy person but it is a farce that all Californians are. My cousin and husband were ready to kill me since we began our hike descending the mountain and completed the hike with a one mile uphill battle! I on the other hand couldn't have felt more alive under the California sun and the subsequent endorphin rush from the hike. And yes, that's the Pacific Ocean in the very last image - it had just rained and the smog levels were low so visibility was on point!

*** All images shot with a my Canon PowerShoot ***

West Village Impromptu Shoot

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?