Last week, while on vacay in NYC I had the awesome opportunity to photograph Janella. What made it awesome was that she’s a great person & it was her birthday, working on the Brooklyn Bridge & then getting a mini tour of Brooklyn during the course of the shoot.

I told Suite Suzy that working with Janella was the best shoot I had all summer. It was totally easy going, not too hot & we laughed all the way through it.  I cannot work & be serious without laughter!

Janella is totally a Brooklyn girl & describes herself as an intense but free-spirited workaholic (a union representative who LOVES her career).  She also says that she is a bit much (but she’s cool with that). She’s happy,  loves to laugh, and makes the effort to be a good friend to really good people.

I say that, she’s just all that!

Since Janella is all things Brooklyn, she wanted to incorporate her city in the shoot, so the Brooklyn Bridge seemed like a natural location choice.

My one concern was that people would be all over the place on the bridge but that was far from the case. People that walked past cleared the way & even complimented my model. That was pretty cool.

This may sound crazy but I really felt like I knew what I was doing when we were on the bridge. I was in a very nice zone!

After we wrapped at the BB, we headed to the Brooklyn Museum, which is MASSIVE! Outside of the museum are some great backdrop features that could yield some very diverse images. Shit, it was almost like being in a candy store.

Oh, I have to mention that Janella & I both had assistants on the shoot. Olivia was my right hand woman working the reflector, swapping out lenses for me & making sure I had water.  Janella was assisted by out mutual GREAT friend Renea! Without Renea, my last two shoots in NYC would have not been positive.

Renea certainly helped Janella throughout the shoot but moreover she was the on-set comedienne. Her impersonations are totally classic. At one point, she gave me a brain freeze laughing at her Iman voice impersonation. That shit needs to be recorded!!!!

Anyway, as we got ready to wrap, we stumbled upon a reflection pool at the museum & my imagination got a little wild.  Before you know it, Janella was in the middle of the pool & from there, my favorite shot of the day was born.

It was a well spent & productive 3 hours!

Post shoot, Olivia & I met up with the rest of the family & had a great lunch at Junior’s where I had a corned beef & pastrami sandwich. Yes!!! I ate beef & it was damn good!

My weekend road trip to NYC was much better than I had hoped or expected. We had very few concrete plans & yet everything came together perfectly!!!

I was able to enjoy happy hour at one of my favorite watering holes in the village with a friend, had tons of delicious meals, did a little people watching at Coney Island while getting broke paying for kids rides, randomly met 2 social media contacts in person, I got to dance at the Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson party in Prospect Park, set off an awesome photo shot in Brooklyn & I picked up macarons from MacarOn Café. PERFECT, PERFECT PERFECT!

The trip had several highlights but I think was the Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson party, which was hosted & organized by Spike Lee. It was nothing less than epic!

Over the course of 6 hours, attendees were treated to MJ impersonators, surprise guests like Snoop Dogg & kick ass dancers. What a great way to spend a day in Prospect Park!

Then I had a GREAT photo shoot (images coming soon) around Brooklyn with an awesome Virgo. I’ll spill the beans in a later post but I will say that your boy put in some work!

Next up:

- Fashion week is 9 days away & I’m like whoa! My mind says that I’m ready but it doesn’t feel like it.

- Classes start next week also & I have not registered. I think I will take two classes but one class sounds so much better. I need to hurry up & finish! Blah!

- Today is the last day to vote in the Black Weblog Awards. Please vote for Tafari’s Mindspill for best photo blog! Help me make this happen! >>> http://tinyurl.com/292zw38 AND YOU CAN VOTE MORE THAN ONCE!

Be sure to also check out & vote for some of my favorites peeps & reads!

• Afrobella
• Black and Married with Kids
• Friday Favecast
• The Gentlemen’s Standard
• Kiss My Black Ads
• Mostbeautifullist
• SoulBounce
• What Would Thembi Do?
• Womanist Musings

- In 19 short days, I officially enter my late 30s.

In NYC for the weekend on a little get-a-way. Not many plans but I will be spending a lot of time in Brooklyn this trip.

Right now, I have a 2-location photo shoot in Brooklyn, spending afternoon at Coney Island & chilling at Spike Lee’s “Brooklyn Loves Michael Jackson” party.

Before I part for the road trip home, I will be making a stop at the Macaron Café for a dozen of macarons. I cannot wait for that!!!!

If you see me on the streets NYC, holla at me!

So I’m at an event tonight where my friend Shades is being recognized for a piece of public art he designed is being unveiled.

While he was posing for a photo, I was looking at the photographer snap her shot. When she was done taking the photo, she turned to me and asked if I had “camera envy.” I smiled and said yes.

That bitch was shooting with a Nikon D200 with a kit lens on it. Yeah I’ll be envious of that old janky shit if you want me to be.

She really had it twisted!

I tried sangria on my 2nd trip to Barcelona, SP many, many years ago (98′).

I was on a 3-day layover and hanging with my fellow flight attendant buddies, Nitza Rodriguez, Gladys Montisenos & Jorge Carballo who was our self-appointed city tour guide.

On this one particular day, we did a little shopping, people watching & tons of tapas eating. It was perfect! As the sun began to set, Jorge found a little restaurant for us to have dinner.

The restaurant was quite small yet charming & I remember all of the marinating octopi & squid in this case & dangling lights hanging from the ceiling.

Jorge, Nitza & Gladys all had paella & I recall it smelling & looking WONDERFUL but since I cannot eat shell fish, I settled on a chicken dish. The chicken was pan-fried in olive oil with garlic & I swear to this day that it was the best chicken I ever had.

Most importantly, Jorge ordered a pitcher of sangria. When it came to the table, I asked what it was (I was young & not as international & sexy as I am now). When Jorge explained, I was like sure, pour me a glass up.

Well, several glasses later I remember us getting in a cab & me waking up in my hotel room with no sheets on the bed.

After that night out dining, laughing etc, I was hooked on sangria!

Sangria goes with any meal if you ask me but it’s PERFECT on hot summer evenings when enjoyed with friends.

My recipe is fail-safe & certainly a crowd pleaser. If you try it, I hope that you will enjoy.

Ingredients:
- 3 bottles of red wine (Doesn’t need to be super expensive. I used a mix of Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon)
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- ½ cup Cherry brandy
- ½ cup Grand Marnier
- 2 Apples sliced (granny smith & pink ladies are perfect)
- 1 Orange sliced (I prefer navel)
- 1 Star fruit sliced
- 1 Lemon sliced
- 1 cup Strawberries

The Jump Off:
- In a large pitcher, mix your liquids & sugar until the sugar is dissolved
- Mix in all of your fruit & refrigerate over night.
- Before serving, your sangria give it a good stir then enjoy glass after glass.

Factoid:
Sangria was introduced to America at the 1964 World’s Fair in Ney York City.

This evening I worked an event for the Woodward Avenue Action Association where they celebrated a new Tribute light feature on Woodward Ave in Pontiac.

This newest Tribute light feature is the 2nd on Woodward Ave with the 1st being in Ferndale.  If planning goes well, we will see a 3rd in Detroit next spring.

If you’re not from the Detroit area, Woodward is a significant stretch of roadway because it is thriving as the premier business, creative, cultural, recreational destination in metro-Detroit. Woodward has been recognized as a Michigan Heritage Route and National Scenic Byway & it’s considered as Michigan’s “main street” as it travels along 27 miles through 11 communities.

The timing of the event was perfect because there is TONS of traffic up & down Woodward Ave as people gear up for the Woodward Dream Cruise. Classic cars were all over the place.

Even at the Tribute event, there were several classic Pontiac cars that were built in the city.

So after the event was over, I decided to head to Sonic for a slush & fries & got caught up in all of the madness along Woodward. The traffic was basically bumper-to-bumper for miles on end. People were our looking at the cars, the cars were creeping along slowly as the drivers were flossing the muscle cars, candy coated paint jobs, fat tires & white wall.

It was really a stimulating spectacle.

At one point, I noticed a banana yellow car parked in a light & I basically broke my neck to get over to it.

It was a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air & it was PERFECT & so bright. The interior was even more impressive as it was totally new.

After I finished taking snapshots, I jumped on the road & wondered why cars have no imagination anymore.

Will anything we’re driving now be exciting to see in 50 years? I don’t thinks so but then again, I’m no car enthusiast.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to photograph friend, radio host of Cocoa Mode (XM169 The Power) & DMV area yogini; Shawna Renee.

Shawna & I met 2 years ago when were both in my BFF’s wedding & we’ve been friends ever since. Actually, I was a fan before I was friend but that’s a long radio listener story.

Anyway, Shawna was in need of some new photos for some exciting new projects, so she hit up yours truly.

My original idea for a photo back drop feel through like a mutha. It’s amazing what how 3 locked doors can destroy plans.

Fortunately, Shawna, was very flexible so we made a quick revamp & the rest is history. During our session, we set up shop on the Detroit River Walk, Millender Center & the Dequindre Cut. It was a quick, sweaty & thirst filled 3 hours.

I’m not sure who said photography was easy because it sure is not! With that said, I’d like to send a special shout out to my baby Olivia who assisted me during the shoot.

One of these days, when someone writes my autobiography, I will talk about how I got Shawna to do the butterfly & why she rode my back during the shoot. It’s about that hard work I was just talking about.

Anyway, I’m tired & need to sign off. The weekend was AWESOME but now I’m feeling it.

My photo shoot today had last minute time change, so I used my extra hour to head to Mexican Town to pick up some treats from La Gloria Bakery.

The La Gloria Bakery kinda has any Mexican baked goodies you can imagine but I LOVE their cookies & raspberry roll.

After going broke on cookies etc, I decided to stroll the new Bagley Pedestrian Bridge for shits & giggles.

The bridge is architecturally beautiful but sadly tagged by graffiti & litter. I guess this is Detroit, what should I expect?

Anyway, when I got home with the cookies, Suite Suzy & the kids were quite happy.

I got caught up in a new font & I just could not fight it, especially when it was on sale. A typeface sale? For real? Like in real life? Well, I took the bait.

Anyway, meet “Tilden Sans.” It’s sleek, simple & SEXY from Detroit to New York!

Font whore confession.

Yesterday, I worked an assignment for The Detroit Parade Company at a Detroit Tigers baseball game.

Initially, I thought the assignment would be pretty easy but I was far from correct in my thinking.

The assignment was to photograph different festive elements, visitors & the 1st pitch of the game.

What made this assignment somewhat tough was the HEAT!  It was so hot & humid yesterday. I was wondering when I would drop from a heat stroke.  Luckily, that never happened but I do think I had a mini stroke at one point.

At one point, I was blinded from sweat dripping in my eyes & that was not cool. All of napkins that I had in my pocket were soaked from sweat. I was just a sweaty mess. From the image above, you can see just how sweaty I was. People were asking me if I spilled a drink on myself & sadly I had to say no, it’s sweat.

After, my job was done, I was actually able to sit, cool down & enjoy the game with friends.

Well, I enjoyed the game as much as I could because toward the 6th inning, it started raining. I just threw my hands up on looking and feeling decent for the day.

If you know me, then you know that I’m no sports fan whatsoever, but I was so excited to see the Tigers break their losing streak with a good win against the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s clear that they won because I was there!

What a day. A fun day nonetheless!

This time of year is amazing for wild flowers in my area. A tapestry of purples, whites, oranges, blues & yellows are scattered throughout the fields near my home.

Of all the wild flowers around, I love Queen Anne’s Lace & Woodland-edge Sunflowers & Chicory.

Yesterday when I stopped to photograph these on the edge of the road, I damn near caused an accident while coming to a quick stop.

Sometimes my artist & flower loving mindset takes me out of the reality zone momentarily. I need to do better.

Are you a wild flower lover? What are your local favorites???

Factoid:
Queen Anne’s Lace seeds can be & were used as a contraceptive dating far back as the 4th century B.C.

This evening after enjoying happy hour cocktails with The Good Dr. Long downtown Ann Arbor we stumbled upon a little classic car show.

It was not too busy out, so we were able to enjoy some really beautiful gems on display. The interesting thing is that I’m not a car enthusiast at all but the vivid colors were too attractive to deny. And the cars were super clean! Each making my car look like the homeless crack head cousin that no one likes to talk about.

Of the many cars that were on display, I was totally struck by this 1950s Plymouth PowerFlite.

While I was photographing it, I overheard two men talking about how clean the white walls were & how they missed the look. That made me smile.

When I think of white wall tires, I think of pimps (don’t judge me) & I hear William DeVaughn’s “Be Thankful for What You Got” playing in my head.

I would love to go for a spin in this PowerFlite with or without a diamond in the back, sunroof top or TV antennae’s. I’m just saying.