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I was fortunate to be taking my mom sabbatical
from commercial photography when shooting models
as if they were mannequins, was literally and figuratively in vogue.
Blank faces and empty eyes have never held any appeal to me.
When you take a picture of someone,
you are asking them to give you a piece of their soul.
I want to see what they are feeling behind their eyes.
When they are willing to share that with you,
you just can’t help but care about them.
Every once in awhile, someone comes along who has something more.
You sense them before you see them,
they change the energy in the room.
It is something that you can’t describe, and “it” is the “IT” factor.
Having someone with “IT”, in front of my camera
is one of my greatest joys,
I am completely 100% in the moment,
and the rest of the world disappears.
I used to have to have an assistant stand behind me “just in case”,
when I was shooting with one particular male model.
When I would ask him to look into the camera and stare me down,
my legs would buckle beneath me!
Recently I have been lucky enough to shoot
with an incredibly special “IT” girl.
She is a sixteen-year-old student at a high school of performing arts,
is a talented ballerina and actress, and just plain has it.
I have shot with her for a client a few times,
and plan to do a test shoot with all of the bells and whistles soon.
Even at 5’7”, she could still be a successful model,
and if she really goes for it and works for it,
she will be a tremendously successful actress.
This is Isabella. Watch for her!
*UPDATE
Bella just returned from a Seventeen Magazine shoot in NYC.
She also recorded a song that you can listen to here
She sings, she dances, she acts, she models.
I am so excited to see what the future holds for her!
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It really is extraordinary how social media has changed most of our lives.
Through Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, blogs and more,
we are connecting and sharing in a way that we could have never imagined.
I sometimes think of it as a springboard that has come from those musings that we have while we’re in the shower, the thoughts that have never before been given a voice!
In one day, I can connect with an old friend,
make a business connection, read a beautiful quote,
look at a painting from a master artist, and in the next click
see a picture of what an acquaintance had for lunch,
The list is endless, and certainly runs from the banal to the sublime.
At it’s very best, it does some good in the world.
After the devastating earthquake in Haiti,
I wondered what I could do from here, and while browsing
through Flickr, I saw that Andrew Newson had a group called
Charity Print Auctions, “A group dedicated to raising money for charities, and in particular, natural disasters like the recent earthquake in Haiti.”
I thought, I can do that! I can do that without a budget, or committees,
or without planning. I can just sit down at my computer,
and start a page on Facebook to raise money for Haiti relief.
Art Auction For Haiti, is now in it’s third week,
and has raised over $12,000 in that short time!
Although I may have started the page,
I couldn’t have done it without the generous donations from artists,
bidders, and champions of the cause.
I thank all who have participated in one way or another,
and I thank social media for making it possible!
These are a handful of the donated images.
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