This photo represents the perfect storm for me because I love tightly cropped photos, I love well balanced light, I love Olivia’s eyes & I love big hair.
I had an idea to photography Olivia today. It wasn’t a well thought out idea but I kinda knew what I wanted.
When we arrived to the location for the photos, things just didn’t go in any direction that wanted.
The one goal was to use my Alien Bee beauty dish. I used it & the photos looked good but like I wanted in my mind. So then I decided to go with available light. Well, those photos didn’t come out as I had hoped.
I didn’t think the photos were a loss but I just wasn’t felling it 100% but I’m happy that Olivia was a willing model!
The above is a available light shot. To see a portrait lit using the beauty dish, click here.
My sweet little Boo Boo just had her 5th birthday & she’s so very excited about being a big girl.
Suite Suzy prepared a week of indulgent birthday activities for Boo Boo & I for one am happy that they are over.
Next up for Boo Boo is kindergarten in the fall & she’s already plotting her back pack choices.
Kids!
So I get a call from my little cousin Precious Jules earlier saying, I think I see you daughter on a Citgo ad. I’m like no way.
Minutes later I had a screen shot in my inbox.
Upon opening, I was like OMG! Look at my baby snaggle toothed baby on a Citgo “Fueling Good” ad campaign.
I guess I’m just really happy that the ad was not for BP.
My images sell all over the world via Getty & I never know their final destination so this is quite funny. And ironically, I ran across a thread on the Getty contributors site where a photographer wanted to know what his photographs were being used for.
As a matter of fact, it is highly umproefessional/inappropriate to contact clients who purchase your images through a stock agency. When you sign on as a stock seller, you give up certain controls. It’s business & it is what it is.
Remember little Kellen? Well, he recently turned one.
In Korean culture, the one year birthday or “Tol” is historically very significant.
Way back when, due to Korea’s climate, and many childhood illnesses, childhood mortality was extremely high. Many children unfortunately died within their first year of birth.
After the age of one, the survival rate improved, which made this a significant moment for the child & their family.
Tol has two meanings in Korean. The most common meaning is a child’s first birthday. It can also be used as a generic description for birthdays: Chut-tol (first birthday), Du-tol (second birthday), Seo-tol (third birthday), etc.
According to my favorite online source; Wikipedia, A boy would traditionally wear: pink or striped jogori (jacket) with puple or gray paji (pants), striped durumagi (long jacket), a blue vest printed with a gold or silver pattern or a striped magoja (jacket), a jonbok (long blue vest) with a gold or silver pattern, bokgun (black hat with a long tail), and a tarae-busun (traditional socks).
And as you can see, Kellen was a #1 Stunna!
Thanks Brandon & Kathleen for trusting me helping you to preserve Kellen’s special moments!
You can see a few more images from my session with Kellen here.
My sweet Boo Boo had her 1st gymnastics meet today & it was totally cute seeing her do her little exercises.
She likes to practice all the time in our living room, which drives me totally nuts.
Now that summer is here, she will have to do all of that jumping & flipping outside.
She’s totally cute & I love her but all that indoor play drives me nuts…
Expecting? Know someone who is? Let’s talk about a newborn photography session!
Right now, she’s my baby.
Tomorrow, she’s my baby.
Forever she is mine to care for, love, nurture & hold.
I value her playfulness, inquisitiveness & yes sometimes her wild child craziness.
She is my daughter.
A perfect being in my eye.
The spitting images of love between my wife and I.
What more can a man want but more.
The other day I stumbled upon Amelia’s goggles & was like, I have to get a fun little photo of her in these with her afro.
So today, when she got home, I asked her if I could take her photo. To my surprise, she said, “no, I don’t feel like taking a picture Baba.” I begged & even tried to bribe her with candy, chips & cheese. Each bribery attempt fell short!
After one hour of basically one-sided negotiations, she caved in. The caveat was that I had to wait until dinner.
To make a long story longer but not really, after dinner, she came down to my makeshift studio & said OK, I’m ready now.
By the time we were done, she was like; I’m out of here & just left.
I guess, I photograph my kids too much but I know one day, they’ll appreciate it. That, or, I’ll just have some good shit to blackmail them with when they are older & successful. Emphasis on successful!
While strolling through New York’s China Town, I spotted these vivid dragon fruits being sold by market vendors all over the place.
I’ve always wanted to try them but can never find them in my area. So after searching for the best deal, I picked up 3 & spent 12 bucks (sold based on weight).
So now that I had these beauties in my grasp, I just had to get them home in one piece with no bruises.
Once I got home, I decided to challenge Olivia & Sade to a 5 buck challenge if they could name the fruit.
As soon as they got home from school, I presented the challenge, and then showed them the fruit to identify.
Out of almost nowhere, Olivia blurted out “that’s a dragon fruit.” I was like what, you know?!?!?! She was like, yes, I saw it on a show on the Disney Channel 2 years ago & thought it was interesting.
She put a big smile on my face because I just thought it was so random.
Well today, after photographing the fruit, we all gave it a try. Sadly, no one really cared for it, but I said that we had to eat the one we opened to not be wasteful.
The fruit has the consistency of a pear or cantaloupe. It doesn’t really have a smell & the taste is like no other fruit I’ve had. It was not all that sweet as I had hoped & heard about.
I have 2 more left & I’m giving 1 to a friend. I think I will let the last one ripen a bit more to see if that will make a difference.
Have you tried dragon fruit? If so what did you think? And what’s the most exotic/strangest fruit that you’ve tried?
Oh, here’s a link to a few more shots of the fruit.
My post title is inspired by N’Damdi’s song “Insecurity” from Her “A Weird Kinda Wonderful” album 2005.
“Do you know who you are?
Can you see what they see?
Didn’t you know it’s insecurity?So beam inside with pride.
Turn it on your outside.
Let the world now.”
I think like most brown skinned girls, my baby sister Sade has self esteem issues because she is not like other girls. She has lovely brown skin, a big beautiful nose, gorgeous nappy hair & a winning personality (when she is not tripping).
No matter what, Suite Suzy & I tell her, Sade’s Black girl issues seem to persist, with somethings being more obvious that others.
Although I am raising three beautiful Black girls, I feel like I really have to work on Sade’s self esteem. We keep her hair professionally done (of course), Suite Suzy always makes sure the kids are freshly dipped & they are all involved in extra curricular activities.
One thing I find particularly interesting about Sade’s Black girl issues is that she is dying to have her hair pressed. Apparently, she is one of few Black girls in her school with natural hair. She knows that having a hot press or perm is not going to happen as long as she is under my roof.
Sometimes I wonder if either Suite Suzy or I were a darker hue of brown, would Sade have a different outlook on her image. I guess, I will never know.
To all my blog reading boos, did you have Black girl issues growing up, do you have them now, how do you navigate? What advice can you give that I/we may need to consider?
By the way, check out Sade’s latest photoshoot, with noted Negro photographer Tafari K. Stevenson-Howard
One of my most cherished relationships is with my Cousin Dee. I remember when I moved to Detroit from Alabama (1979), my brother Topot, Cousin Connie & I used to fight over Cousin Dee because we wanted her all to our selves. My grandmother Mommie would break us up & ask us when are we fighting over that yellow nigga. The answer was always cuz.
Over the last 29 years, Cousin Connie grew to not like me or Cousin Dee & we all try to keep a small distance from Topot. So I guess I won the cousin fight.
Now that my sister Baby has children, I am excited about seeing the relationship of my daughters & her sons blossom & become life long.
When I think about Boo Boo & Bay Bay, I like wish that they will have a similar relationship to mine & Cousin Dee’s.
Over the past few days, Bay Bay stayed with us & he & Boo Boo raised certain hell from sun up to sundown. There were few moments when they were separated & it was cute to watch, especially when they fought over a spray bottle. When he went to sleep, she went, when he had to potty, she did too & they demanded to bath together.
The only ones who did not as much fun this weekend was Olivia & Sade because they were charged with keeping the dynamic diaper duo out of trouble.
This afternoon, when I was getting ready to take Bay Bay home, he got sad & Amelia begged to ride her cousin home. Her argument was convincing so she got to go.
During the drive, they laughed & screamed like they do & I was so happy when they fell asleep because I was starting to get a headache.
Once we got to Baby’s house we chatted about the kids as we sipped on peach Faygo & ate Flaming Hot Cheetos. We both agreed to get off of our lazy asses & take turns making the drive so that the kids can develop the way we did when as kids. Relationships with cousins are important & special in my eye.
As I was leaving to go home, we joked about me having all the girls & she has all the boys. Hopefully there will be no more kids!!!