Portraiture
Ranjit
I recently had the pleasure of designing adorable Ranjit’s modeling portfolio. Kudos to Don Pavlish for his lighting prowess and intern Katie Cutshaw for so keenly holding Ranjit’s attention. What a beautiful boy!
Ann and Sky
These California girls braved an incredibly frigid autumn day (in tank tops and skirts no less) in order to shoot some photos of their product line for Divinity Within Designs. All of the patterns on this exceedingly cozy yoga gear were designed by Sky and Ann and almost seem to breathe energy, balance, and bright bold strength. Ann also teaches a form of yoga she developed called Gypsy Yoga Flow at her studio DiviniTree in Santa Cruz, California. Her flexibility and passion for her practice were glowingly evident during our shoot!
Stanek Family
This has been the perfect fall for outdoor lifestyle photographs. Throw in a magical castle (Squire’s Castle, that is!), beautiful leaves, three cute kiddos, and a variety of adorable plaids and you’ve got some serious fun. The Stanek kids have no shortage of energy, and it was really great to play hide and seek through the castle window – a new concept in photography for me, and a great way to get kids to participate!
Thanks, Stanek family! I hope you enjoy these images as much as I liked taking them!
Wheelock Family
This shoot felt like going Home. Quite literally! Meadow Ridge, a fantastically gorgeous event property, home to Art and Linda Smith and childhood home of Seneca Smith Wheelock, is just a few miles west of my childhood home. Fall is magical in this part of northeast Ohio, and I was so excited to be shooting the Wheelock’s in such a nostalgic location.
I have known the Smith family since I was a very small girl, and I have to admit that I teared up more than once during the course of our session. I have always admired and respected the Smith family, so it goes without saying that being able to provide them with photographs of their first grandson was an unbelievable honor.
Seneca has matured into a gorgeous, great-natured woman, and her little family is so sweet and hysterically funny!
Please enjoy these favorites from our time together.
By the way, if you are planning on getting married, having a family reunion, or celebrating in general, you really should check out Meadow Ridge Farm! I have shot a number of events there and find it to be so incredibly charming!
Kasl Family
I loved everything about this session. Warm autumn air, bright overcast skies (a photographer’s dream), kind hearts, a new park to explore, puppies, and an extremely adorable child. Happy 1st birthday little one, and many thanks to the Kasl family for being so sweet, gracious, and incredibly photogenic!
Janelle
Janelle is moving to Seattle soon, and I wanted to give her a proper Cleveland send off. A beautiful lake and gritty but highly compelling urban architecture are two of Cleveland’s finest offerings, and Janelle shows them off splendidly. Not too long ago I saw this doorway while driving down Detroit Avenue and I immediately knew it would be great for shooting. Little did I know that Janelle’s outfit would harmonize so well with the color palette! I love this sort of coincidence! This lovely lady will be sorely missed, but I am confident that she’ll thrive in her new home.
**Hair by Brett at Barber Shop Rock in Lakewood, Ohio
More from this shoot to come. Stay tuned!
Hoover and Ketterer Kids
I would honestly have a really difficult time finding a more beautiful, energetic, expressive bunch than this group of cousins. As any photographer knows, it can be a little difficult shooting kids, especially with location AND outfit changes, but these five stayed so attentive! Dare I say the girls may soon be in the running for America’s Next Top Model; so much sass!
It was difficult for me to choose which photos to feature. I have to say, I love how the camera series turned out! I brought a suitcase full of props with me just in case attention spans started to wane and this vintage camera turned out to be a wonderful little curiosity! Hopefully we have some budding photographers in the bunch!
Special thanks to the Ketterer and Hoover parents for raising such fun and photogenic kids!
Roxanne Starnik of Blisse
About an hour before I was to meet Roxanne for our shoot I checked the weather once more; it was hot and drowningly humid, and the internets informed me of a 90% chance of thunderstorms. I texted Roxanne to make sure she wanted to brave both the heat and the elements. She sent back a resounding “YES” with multiple exclamation points. With this sort of energy, I knew I was in for some fun.
I decided to shoot Roxanne at the abandoned Coast Guard building in Cleveland at the northwest end of the Flats where the Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie. We drove the short distance to the park and hiked about a mile through woods, a small open area filled with wild flowers with a fabulous view of downtown, and then turned north to walk the concrete pathway out over the lake to the building.
The structure is worse for the wear but charming nonetheless, featuring bold curves and stark white walls, which fit my concept for this shoot perfectly. Roxanne donned the gown we thrifted a few days before and we began just as the thunder started to clap and little droplets fell from the sky. The wind picked up and the duvet we bought as a prop was instantly transformed into a billowing fairy cape or playful giant white caterpillar – whatever suits your fancy.
About twenty minutes into our session it started to pour. Not just a downpour, but utterly fierce, like beestings on our skin. It was then that our friend Leia came to meet us, skipping down the concrete walkway with a laughably large umbrella in what looked like a monsoon, waves lapping up all around her. We laughed at how wet we were and trudged back to our cars with gear in tow (safe and sound and dry in my camera bag, of course).
It was magical, to say the least. The photos prove it.
Roxanne is a member of the band JJ Magazine and has recently released an album called “34″ with her solo project Blisse. If you would like more information regarding the purchase of a CD or upcoming shows, please send me an email via my contact page and I will pass the information along!
Megachurch
Some might say that my love for this band is littered with bias, (full disclosure: my boyfriend is the drummer) but the innovative, fun, and wonderfully loud Megachurch are among my favorite acts in Cleveland, and dare I say on my radar in general. I’m often at a loss when describing them to others; yes, there are two bassists, a drummer, and strategically placed samples that take the place of vocals, but it doesn’t stop there. This review by David Fitzgerald of flagpole.com sums them up in a fabulously articulate fashion.
“. . . the creative, satyrical Megachurch, whose members incorporate audio clips from church sermons into their relentless, angular riffing. Everything from gay marriage to speaking in tongues is touched on in these sound bites, and in one instance that made me laugh out loud, a blazing number came to a dead stop as some disembodied preacher shouted “Be Healed!” The clips are never offensive, just illuminating, and they help keep focus on the band’s message, adding memorable punctuation to their otherwise incomprehensible lyrical attacks on the perceived hypocrisy of the religious right. Consisting of a lightning-fast drummer and dueling bassists, musically the band at times suggested defunct Athens low-end collective Coulier on lots of speed, but their complicated, march-to-Hell licks conjured up visions of Mastodon. Their closing number had the faintest hint of some dark choir of fallen angels behind it, sounding both triumphant and wholly ominous, like a victory song for the armies of the night. These guys live up to their undeniably awesome name, and it’s always nice to see a band accomplish the rare feat of “standing for something” without being obnoxious about it. Megachurch wants to make you think, and if God hasn’t struck them down yet, I think he might like what he sees.”
Megachurch have a busy summer schedule ahead of them, including a shared bill with Trans Am at the Summer in the City Free Concert Series at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You can purchase their recently released album on both CD and vinyl here or download the album at iTunes.
